Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson is one of the three founders of Dentons' Kansas City office. Due to his broad experience in several areas of the law, Johnson helps clients successfully navigate challenges presented by government regulation, employment and labor relations, election and campaign finance law, free expression, and telecommunications regulation.

Johnson also practices in the First Amendment field, through his longstanding representation of media companies and individual reporters. His experience extends to issues of election administration and campaign finance, where he has handled matters involving political campaigns, redistricting and voting rights. He regularly handles matters involving current issues in the field of media law, including advice on First Amendment-related issues such as libel, copyright clearance and news story analysis. 

Johnson has taught First Amendment Law at the KU School of Journalism and Mass Communications since 2008 and election law and campaign finance at the KU School of Law since 2010. He has also taught courses concerning privacy, origins of free speech and political campaigns. At the School of Journalism and the School of Law, he routinely interfaces with scholars with cutting-edge knowledge of the study of journalism and law. He routinely addresses professional groups on election issues and access to public records and meetings, and conducts private training sessions for clients on competition and employment issues.

Johnson has been on the board of directors of the University Daily Kansan, the student newspaper at KU, since 2014, and served as board chair from 2014 to 2019. He also has served on the board of the ACLU of Kansas since 2013. He has handled a number of cases for the ACLU, including the cases in which the Kansas proof of citizenship requirement was declared unconstitutional, single-sex marriage laws in Kansas were overturned, and the location of polling places in Dodge City, Kansas, was challenged.