Ellis M. Johnston III
Supervisory Attorney - Trial Team Leader
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. magna cum laude
Duke University, B.A. cum laude

Trip Johnston began his legal career in 2001 as a law clerk on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown in San Diego. After completing his clerkship, he became a trial attorney with Federal Defenders in 2002. He chose this office not only because of its excellent appellate practice, but because of its unrivaled training opportunities to become a top-notch federal litigator.

Trip has represented clients in a vast array of criminal cases, from drug importation, alien smuggling, and illegal entry to murder, wiretap cases, armed robbery, RICO conspiracies, and the representation of detainees at Guantanamo. In between dozens of felony jury trials and several arguments before the Ninth Circuit, Trip has been a part of various attorney training committees and seminars with the goal of sharing Federal Defenders' wealth of experience and knowledge with newer attorneys and member of the wider criminal defense community.

Promoted to a supervisory role in 2008, Trip now balances his own case load with the desire to provide more one-on-one collaboration with newer attorneys in their cases. In his role as a trial team leader, he seeks to maintain and nurture Federal Defenders' strong history of aggressive representation and unparalleled success in both the trial and appellate arenas.

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