Super Lawyers
Justia 10 Lawyer rating
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Avvo Rating 10 Kenneth L. Shigley
The National Top 100 Trial Lawyers
National Board of Trial Advocacy
Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent For Ethical Standars and Legal Ability
Bar Register Preemient Lawyers
GeorgiaTrend Legal elite
Georgia Trial Lawyer Association Champion 2018
America's Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys

Firm Profile

Established in 1949, Johnson & Ward was the first and best personal injury plaintiffs’ specialty law firm in Atlanta. The firm’s founders — Inslee Johnson (1911-1996) and Cullen Ward (1921-1979) — were among the founders of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Firm alumni have served as judges of state trial and appellate courts.

Current members of the firm include past presidents of the State Bar of Georgia and Atlanta Bar Association, and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and a past chair of the American Association for Justice Motor Vehicle, Highway and Premises Liability Section.

The current personal injury and wrongful death litigation team includes:

Kenneth L. Shigley

  • Past President, State Bar of Georgia.
  • Lead author, Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation & Practice (2010-2021 editions).
  • First Georgia lawyer to earn three board certifications from the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
  • Past chair, Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia.
  • “Tradition of Excellence Award” from State Bar of Georgia General Practice & Trial Section.
  • Past chair, American Association for Justice Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway & Premises Liability Section.
  • Included in Georgia Super Lawyers and Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.

William C. Lanham.

  • Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
  • Fellow, International Society of Barristers.
  • Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
  • Included in Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers.
  • Mr. Lanham is a trial attorney with nearly a half century of experience specializing in professional negligence, wrongful death, aviation, railroad, product liability and related plaintiffs’ tort litigation. During the Vietnam War, he was an Army JAG officer assigned to represent two defendants in the infamous My Lai Massacre case.

William D. DeGolian. Past president, Atlanta Bar Association. Wide-ranging civil litigation practice. He also practices separately in Washington, Georgia, where he served as mayor.

Clark H. McGehee

  • Georgia Super Lawyer
  • “Top 100 Trial Lawyers.”
  • He has written and lectured extensively in all aspects of civil litigation. More than four decades’ experience as a trial attorney specializing in all aspects of personal injury/wrongful death civil litigation, including automotive/trucking, aviation, railroad, product liability, medical/professional negligence, highway design, architectural/engineering negligence and related Plaintiffs’ tort litigation.

John W. Adkins. The managing partner of Johnson & Ward, Mr. Adkins, is a trial attorney with twenty years of experience specializing in personal injury, wrongful death, auto insurance, premises liability claims, dangerous and defective products, and medical malpractice cases. He is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and Thomas Jefferson Law School

J. Michael Parson is an Atlanta native licensed to practice law in both Georgia and Mississippi. He attended the University of Virginia and is an honor graduate of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia with degrees in Spanish and Political Science. During college, he spent a year abroad in Valencia, Spain. He earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he served as editor for the Mississippi Law Journal was co-chair of the Moot Court Board, and won awards for the highest grades in several courses. Mr. Parsons then worked eight years in law firms defending employers and insurance companies in workers’ compensation cases and liability cases. After seeing how insurance companies treat injured workers, in 2003 he started his own law firm in Atlanta and Savannah to provide personalized, compassionate, and knowledgeable legal assistance to employees and injury victims. He has recovered more than $30 million in workers’ compensation benefits for injured workers and automobile accident victims. In 2023, he brought his practice to Johnson & Ward.

Baxter T. Jones. Practice specialized in trademark and copyright law.

Stanley E. Kreimer. More than 40 years of broad civil litigation experience.

Ed G. Stone. Trial attorney specializing in personal injury, wrongful death, auto insurance, premises liability claims, dangerous and defective products, medical malpractice and workers compensation cases. He is a graduate of Kennesaw State Univeristy and John Marshall Law School.

Christopher Farmer is a graduate of Furman University where he was a six time Dean’s List student. He also graduated from Emory University School of Law where he was a Moot Court Special Team Member and Coach. After rising to equity partner in a prominent insurance defense law firm, in 2003, he took his extensive knowledge of the insurance defense side to another leading plaintiffs’ firm. Since then, Mr. Farmer’s practice has been limited to the representation of innocent victims in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases. He has spoken at a variety of Continuing Legal Education Seminars. He is a graduate of the stellar Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer’s College in Wyoming, which is limited to a small number of the nation’s premier trial attorneys. Mr. Farms has been honored as a Georgia Superlawyer, and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Top Trial Lawyers in America. He is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Association of Justice.

Conor J. Lusnia. A graduate of the University of Florida (B.A. in Economics) and the University of Georgia Law School (Doctor of Law). While in law school, he had productive internships with leading plaintiff personal injury and insurance defense law firms.

If we do not have the “right lawyer” for your case, we have an extensive network and access to a broad network of legal talent across Georgia and the United States and may be able to find the right fit for you.

Johnson & Ward, LLC is an Association of Individuals, Limited Liability Companies and Professional Corporations.

Client Reviews

Attorney Ken Shigley - did his lawyer thing - and increased my "take home amount" of settlement - the amount after paying core medical & legal fees - by over 3000% (three thousand percent) more than what some other law firms could do. He and courtney (his assistant) were like family! True blessings.

Louise W., Client

My mother was a passenger in a horrible car crash in Georgia when the car in which she was passenger was hit by an ex-convict who had no insurance, and who later died from a cocaine overdose. When I learned of mom's injury, I immediately flew in from California. As I work in Silicon Valley, I...

John P., Client

After my parents were killed in a tractor truck accident on December 2013, he fought hard against the insurance companies to help my brother, sister, and I. He was honest and always available to answer any questions I had. Ken went out of his way to meet with my brother and I while on vacation in...

Joan M., Client

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