Brendan Van Johnson was born on June 24,1975 and is an American attorney who served as the 40th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota.
21 Facts About Brendan Johnson
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Brendan Johnson is the son of former US Senator Tim Johnson and currently is a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, where he serves as the Chair of the Firm's National Business Litigation Group and Member of the Firm's Executive Board.
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In 2024, Johnson was recognized as one of America's Top 200 Lawyers for his litigation work and representation of Native American tribes.
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Brendan Johnson was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, and moved with his family to Washington, DC after his father was elected to Congress in 1986.
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Brendan Johnson later returned to Vermillion to attend the University of South Dakota where he was selected for the Harry S Truman Scholarship.
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Brendan Johnson went on to attend the University of Virginia School of Law where he was president of the Student Bar Association and a member of the Raven Honor Society.
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Brendan Johnson moved to Hill City, South Dakota, after graduating from law school to serve as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Karen Schreier, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
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Brendan Johnson later moved to Minnehaha County and became a prosecutor for that county.
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Brendan Johnson was nominated by President Barack Obama as the 40th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on October 15,2009.
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Brendan Johnson stepped down from the position on March 13,2015.
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In 2009, the Attorney General of the United States selected Brendan Johnson to serve as chairman of the Native American Issues Subcommittee.
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Two years later the Attorney General selected Brendan Johnson to serve on the Attorney's General Advisory Committee.
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Brendan Johnson is a member of the Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee.
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Brendan Johnson convened the first statewide Tribal Listening Session, a statewide civil rights conference, and has been an outspoken advocate on violence against women issues.
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Brendan Johnson worked the night shift with tribal police officers, conducted leadership training for Native American youth, and implemented a new statewide community based prosecution strategy.
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Purdon and Brendan Johnson joined the law firm of Robins Kaplan LLP together and now work together on behalf of tribes in private practice.
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In June, 2019, Brendan Johnson submitted an initiated constitutional amendment which he entitled "An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana".
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On September 11,2019, the South Dakota Secretary of State approved Brendan Johnson's proposed Constitutional Amendment for circulation.
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On November 4,2019, Brendan Johnson turned in over 50,000 signatures for review by the South Dakota Secretary of State with the desire to qualify for the 2020 ballot.
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On January 6,2019, Brendan Johnson's proposed amendment qualified for the November 2020 ballot.
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Brendan Johnson appealed the decision to the South Dakota Supreme Court which heard oral arguments in the matter on April 28,2021.