Attorneys
Michael B. Johnson
John Mark Stephens
Sarah L. Stephens
Christopher T. Colby
Greg Dimmick
Michael B. Johnson
Mike Johnson has over 20 years of extensive real estate experience, having represented clients in all areas of real estate finance, development, acquisition, disposition, leasing, loan restructuring, workouts and foreclosures. Mike's practice consists of an active representation of lenders, banks and insurance companies in all aspects of financing, including loan purchase and sale agreements, interim financing transactions and cash management agreements, as well as varied representation of developers and property owners in workouts, foreclosures and deeds in lieu of foreclosure transactions. Mike recently represented a lender in structuring a $360 million dollar loan for securitization that was secured by six retirement communities in Florida. He represented another lender in closing a complex financing transaction secured by hotels in Florida and Ohio, both owned by the George Steinbrenner family. In addition, Mike also represents numerous borrowers. He represented the borrower in structuring a $140 million dollar Federal Land Bank loan (largest ever in the State of Texas), secured by the nearly 4000 acre Brinkmann Ranch in Frisco, Texas.
Born in Gage, Oklahoma in 1964, Mike obtained a B.B.A degree in finance, magna cum laude, from Oklahoma State University in 1986. A member of Phi Delta Phi, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award from the College of Business Administration. In 1989, Mike earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He was a member of Phi Alpha Delta and served on the Board of Advocates at OU.
In addition to real estate, Mike has considerable litigation experience and is licensed to practice law in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mike began his legal career with Payne & Vendig, P.C. in Dallas, focusing on litigation (primarily involving oil and gas) and real estate transactions. Mike joined Winstead, Sechrest & Minick P.C. in 1997 and was elected partner in 1999. As a member of Winstead's Real Estate Development & Investments Finance Group, in 2007 Mike's clients accounted for the third highest total of revenue generations in a firm of more than 300 attorneys. Mike is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Dallas Bar Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, as well as serving on the University Park Leadership Council and the 2009 University Park YMCA Partners Campaign.
Mike resides in University Park with his wife and three children. He is active in his children's school and athletic activities, coaching two baseball teams and a soccer team. He is a member of the Church of the Incarnation Episcopal Church and also enjoys spending time with his family at their ranch in Point, Texas.
Mike may be reached at 214-542-3605 or MJohnson@JSLLawFirm.com.
John Mark Stephens
John Mark Stephens brings to Johnson Stephens Law over 25 years of both legal and banking experience, as a commercial and real estate lender for a major national bank and a regional lender, as well as representing clients in all areas of real estate finance transactions, including acquisition, development, and leasing of active real estate projects. John Mark also has extensive experience with real estate loan restructuring, workouts, foreclosures and disposition of distressed properties. He also has managed several successful real estate auctions for a national lender. John Mark represents both national and regional lenders and real estate developers in his legal practice. In addition, he has extensive experience in agricultural collection and litigation activities for a subsidiary of a multi-national foreign-owned supplier of agricultural products and services.
Born in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1962, John Mark obtained a B.B.A. degree in finance from Texas Tech University in 1985. Thereafter, he began his banking career as a commercial and real estate lender with Texas Commerce Bank in Houston, successfully completing the Robert Morris Associates credit analysis school, and continued his banking career with Chemical Bank, Chase Bank, and American State Bank in Lubbock Texas.
John Mark earned a Juris Doctorate from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2000, with magna cum laude honors. John Mark was an editor with the Texas Tech Law Review and his extensive analysis of the 2001 UCC revisions regarding agricultural liens was published in the Texas Tech Law Review. John Mark also served as senior editor of the Texas Tech Banking Journal and received high honors in numerous courses. John Mark is a graduate of the Southern Methodist Southwestern School Graduate School of Banking.
John Mark is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He is licensed to practice law in the U.S. District Courts and Federal Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas and the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
John Mark is the proud father of two adult daughters, one active grandson and twins that keep him young and gray. John Mark and his wife Sandra reside in Richardson and are members of the Waterview Preservation Association.
John Mark may be reached at 214-404-8725 or JMStephens@JSLLawFirm.com.
Sarah L. Stephens
Sarah is a Partner of Johnson Stephens Law, PLLC and a transactional attorney who primarily practices in the areas of business and commercial real estate. Her practice includes the representation of sellers, purchasers, lenders, developers, landlords and tenants in a wide range of real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, financing, development, and leasing of various real and personal property assets, in addition to entity formation and structure, and contract drafting and negotiation.
Sarah graduated from Texas Tech University summa cum laude in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies. She later earned her Juris Doctorate from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2014. Sarah is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and is also a member of the United States Federal District Courts for the Northern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, and Western District of Texas. Sarah may be reached at SStephens@JSLLawFirm.com.
Christopher T. Colby
Chris has a diverse practice that primarily focuses on tort and commercial litigation in trial and appellate proceedings in federal and state court, including disputes regarding insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, breach of contract, claims handling practices, loan default, statutory claims, and personal injury. He has tried cases in federal and state courts, and represents clients in federal and state matters in Texas, Colorado, and other regions of the United States. Chris also advises clients and handles matters on the preparation of personal wills, estates, and trusts, and on implementing strategies for the development of business practices and procedures, including risk management, confidentiality, privacy, and electronic data.
Chris’s experience includes:
- serving as lead counsel in Texas and Colorado federal and state court lawsuits involving insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, breach of contract, statutory claims, wrongful death, personal injury, and declaratory judgment;
- representing a large insurance company in trial in a Texas federal court dispute over uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits;
- representing individuals at trial in Texas state court actions involving wrongful death and personal injury;
- representing a large poultry company in trial in a Texas state court lawsuit involving breach of contract;
- obtaining summary judgment for a large auto insurer in a Colorado federal court matter involving an auto policy exclusion for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage for a single-vehicle accident;
- obtaining summary judgment for a large auto insurer in a Colorado federal court matter, and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, on the application of an auto policy’s intentional act exclusion;
- obtaining summary judgment in multiple Texas state court matters involving the online, electronic rejection of uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits;
- obtaining summary judgment for a large auto insurer in a Colorado federal court dispute regarding the written rejection of uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits;
- obtaining summary judgment and recovery of attorneys’ fees for a large commercial insurer in a dispute between insurers regarding priority of coverage in the defense of a state court suit;
- managing and coordinating high-volume discovery responses for a large auto insurer in lawsuits in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
Representative cases for Chris include:
- Tucker v. Government Employees Ins. Co., 2014 WL 1395946 (D. Colo. Apr. 10, 2014), appeal pending, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Johnson v. GEICO Indemnity Co., Civil Act. No. 12-CV-02260-RPM (D. Colo. May 16, 2013)
- Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Moore, 427 Fed. Appx. 643 (10th Cir. 2011)
- Nutmeg Ins. Co. v. Employers Ins. Co. of Wausau, 2006 WL 453235 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 24, 2006)
- Lincoln General Ins. Co. v. Aisha’s Learning Center, 2004 WL 2533575 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 9, 2004), aff’d, 468 F.3d 857 (5th Cir. 2006)
- Copeland v. Ayers, 138 S.W.3d 652 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2004, pet. denied)
- Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp., Inc. v. Fischer, 111 S.W.3d 67 (Tex. 2003)
- LaTaste Enterprises v. City of Addison, 115 S.W.3d 730 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2003, pet. denied)
Chris graduated magna cum laude from Abilene Christian University in 1997, and graduated cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2001. During law school, Chris was a member of the Texas Tech Law Review and its Managing Editor in 2000-2001. In 2000, he authored the Outstanding Student Article for Book 4, Volume 3, of the Texas Tech Law Review: “There’s a New Sheriff in Town: The Texas Vexatious Litigants Statute and its Application to Frivolous and Harassing Litigation,” 31 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 1291.
Chris is licensed to practice in Texas and Colorado. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Colorado Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Tenth Circuits; the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Chris was also named a Texas Super Lawyer, Rising Star, from 2006-2012 (Super Lawyers is a Thomson Reuters service).
Chris has presented on the following: “Joint and Several Liability,” PLRB/LIRB 2012 Regional Adjusters Conference, Dallas; “Emerging Theories and Limits, Including Latent Claims, Product Cases, and New Coverage Issues,” University of Houston Law Foundation – Advanced Insurance and Tort Claims Seminar, Dallas, 2008-09; “Update on the 2003 Legislative Change in Texas Tort Law,” 2003 Bad Faith Seminar sponsored by Cowles & Thompson, P.C.
Chris and his wife, Kara, live in Coppell with their two children, and are members of St. Ann’s Parish. Chris and Kara are active members of their community, volunteering with YMCA basketball, Cub Scouts, PTO, and Coppell Baseball Association.
Chris may be reached at 214-552-2866 or CColby@JSLLawFirm.com
Greg Dimmick
Of Counsel
Greg Dimmick focuses his practice almost exclusively on litigation and serves his clients in the courtroom as well as in arbitration. Greg joins Johnson, Stephens & Leal, PLLC with notable trial experience, having practiced for many years in the Dallas litigation department of one of the world’s largest international law firms and as a partner in two Texas firms with a national litigation practice.
The following is a representative sample of Greg’s litigation accomplishments:
- Following two week arbitration hearing, obtained approximately $1.8 million award for lost future royalties and attorneys’ fees on behalf of franchisor of early childhood education centers.
- Prevailed on motion to dismiss claims of alleged franchise disclosure violations under the Wisconsin Franchise Investment Law, resulting in dismissal of all claims against franchise client with prejudice. Affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals following oral argument.
- Represented and served as first chair and lead trial counsel in a two-week commercial arbitration involving claims of more than $10 million.
- Represented debt consolidation company in a lease dispute and served as first chair in a Dallas County bench trial involving claims of more than $30 million.
- Represented debt consolidation company and served as lead counsel in dozens of matters ranging from large commercial disputes, employment litigation, trade secret claims and the enforcement of non-competition agreements with former employees.
- Represented large, national commercial dairy and served as lead counsel in the defense of personal injury claims.
- Represented international shipping and logistics company in multiple employment, personal injury and commercial matters, serving as first chair in jury trial resulting in a favorable client verdict.
- Represented the federal government in two cases against Fortune 100 companies, each resulting in eight figure settlements.
Greg graduated with Honors from Texas Tech University School of law, where he served as the Fifth Circuit Editor of the Texas Tech Law Review, and member of the Legal Research Board and Board of Barristers. Greg is a member of the Order of Barristers and represented Texas Tech in numerous national mock trial competitions, placing first in the William W. Daniel National Mock Trial Competition. Greg resides in Dallas and may be reached at 214 490-1344 or GDimmick@JSLLawFirm.com
Practice Areas- Commercial Litigation
- Franchise Litigation
- Probate Litigation
- Serious Personal Injury Litigation
- State Bar of Texas
- Dallas Bar Association
- “Arbitration vs. Litigation: Pick Your Poison” presented at the Texas Lawyer In-House Counsel Summit, Dallas Texas (September 2016)
- “Conducting Internal Investigations: Process and Ethical Challenges” Texas Lawyer In-House Summit (October 2014)
- Supreme Court of Texas
- Fifth Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court – Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court – Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court – Western District of Texas
