Sharon B. Johnson

Senior Advisor

Contact

  • Washington

Education

Sharon Johnson specializes in financial, microeconomic, and quantitative assessments of damages in commercial disputes. With more than twenty years of experience, Ms. Johnson has consulted on a wide variety of complex litigation and arbitration, including international arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR), the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).

She has served clients within such industries as financial institutions, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, computers and semiconductors, telecommunications, manufacturing, real estate, and energy—including electric utilities, petroleum, and natural gas. Ms. Johnson has directed analyses and developed expert testimony in cases involving breach of contract claims, business valuation disputes, corporate transaction litigation, private equity disputes, intellectual property, and securities litigation.

Breach of contract

Ms. Johnson has estimated damages in numerous contract disputes, including supply and marketing agreements in energy, commodities, and manufacturing industries; lease and management agreements; and employment agreements for investment managers.

Financial institutions

She has advised clients on liability and damages issues in matters involving banks, securities firms, investment advisors, insurance companies, and private equity firms. Her analyses have addressed industry practices, fiduciary responsibilities, fee reasonableness, and damages. She has also assessed the economic features of private-equity agreements, estimated benefits accruing from private-equity funds, and developed models to allocate carried interest.

Securities

She has addressed market efficiency, loss causation, materiality, alternative damages scenarios, and projected settlement outcomes on behalf of clients facing investor lawsuits. She has also analyzed the value of securities in matters involving allegations of fraudulent conveyance and preferential transfer; examined markets for foreign sovereign debt; and assessed trading behavior and initial public offer (IPO) share allocations for clients facing government investigations.

Corporate transaction litigation

Ms. Johnson has analyzed economic, financial, and governance issues in matters related to mergers, acquisitions, and asset transactions, including disclosure, material adverse change, fraud, and shareholder lawsuits. She has conducted valuations of enterprises and potential merger synergies, assessed auction procedures and outcomes, and assessed benefits exchanged in corporate transactions.

International arbitration

She has assisted counsel in commercial and investor-state arbitrations involving a variety of industries, including private equity, telecommunications, manufacturing, energy, and insurance. She has examined the economic features of investor agreements, assessed the value of control premiums, calculated damages related to supply agreements, and estimated the diminution in value resulting from changes in regulation.

  • “Controversial Topics in Damage Valuation,” International Comparative Legal Guide to: International Arbitration, 2015