William D. Johnston

Bill Johnston brings more than 40 years of practice experience as an advocate on behalf of clients in corporate and other business counseling and litigation to assist parties and their counsel as a fulltime mediator, arbitrator, and court-appointed neutral (Special Magistrate).  His focus is corporate governance and complex commercial breach of contract disputes.

Bill's record of service and leadership includes President of the Delaware State Bar Association, President of the American Judicature Society, Chair of the ABA Business Law Section, State Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, and President of the American Counsel Association. Locally, he has served as a pro bono attorney in the Delaware Family Court and with the Veterans Law Clinic of the Delaware State Bar Association. In addition, he is Past Chair of the City of Wilmington Ethics Commission. He has long-promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion, having co-chaired the Diversity Committee of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP and served as a member of three Goal Three entities of the American Bar Association (Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, and Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline). In addition, he served for 24 years, by gubernatorial appointment, as a member of the Delaware State Human Relations Commission. He currently is a member of the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund Fundraising Committee.

Bill is a recipient of the Delaware State Bar Association's "Daniel L. Herrmann Professional Conduct Award" and of the "Kimmel Thynge Award" presented by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Delaware State Bar Association "For Outstanding Contribution to ADR in Delaware."

Bill is a member of and Distinguished Neutral with CPR: International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.  In addition, he is a member of the American Arbitration Association's Roster of Commercial Arbitrators.  He is a Fellow and member of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals (ACAN), and he is a member of the governing Council of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.

For additional information, please see Bill's bio at www.delaware.com.

• Washington and Lee University School of Law  (J.D., 1982)
  • Member, Law Review (1981-82) Member, Moot Court Board (1981-82) Member, Jessup International Law Moot Court Team (1980-81) (Regional Champions 1980-81; National Division Best Brief Award; Baxter Memorial Award for Best Brief Worldwide)
• Colgate University  (A.B., 1979)
  • Member, Colgate Thirteen Member, University Chorus Member, Chamber Singers Member, Sigma Chi Fraternity Invited Participant, U.K. Study Group (Stirling, Scotland and Oxford, England)
• Brandywine High School, Wilmington, DE  (1975)
  • Commencement Speaker, Class President (two terms), Brandywine Award, Chorus, Peer Counseling

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
• Supreme Court of the State of Delaware
• The Best Lawyers in America®, Corporate Law, 2007 to present
• Recognized in 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America 
• Member, National Academy of Distinguished Neutral
• Member and Fellow, Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals

Please contact Christopher Damon, Esq. of Delaware ADR, LLC for details (Christopher.Damon@delawareadr.com).