Amy Johnsgard - Encinitas, CA

Biography

Amy’s practice focuses on environmental advocacy and litigation matters, including real estate disputes, commercial disputes, and personal injury matters.

Amy handles each case zealously and with an eye toward efficient resolution of her clients’ unique legal disputes and personal goals. She has worked hard to earn a reputation as an effective, strategic, ethical, and conscientious advocate. She goes above and beyond for her clients realizing that, in many situations, the results of their cases make a lasting impact on their lives.

Background and Education

A San Diego native, Amy obtained her bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Pomona College. Her passion for the law developed during the five years prior to law school when she worked as a paralegal for a solo practitioner and mediator in La Jolla. During that time, she also devoted hundreds of hours serving indigent HIV+ residents of the community through the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program. Providing literally life-saving legal aid to these individuals was an empowering experience which provided insight into the unique role lawyers play in society to help those confronted with injustice or injury.

Amy attended from the University of San Diego School of Law on a 3-year academic scholarship, where she graduated cum laude and Order of the Coif. After her first semester in law school, she earned a prestigious clerkship with the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. She also assisted in the defense of personal injury actions brought against the government during an internship at the Office of the United States Attorney, Southern District. During her third year, she served as a judicial extern to the Honorable William V. Gallo where she gained additional perspective about the judicial system. She was an editor of the Journal of Climate and Energy Law and worked with the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (“EPIC”) to craft a climate action plan for the City of San Diego.

Bar and Court Admissions

Amy is licensed to practice law in all state and federal courts in California.

Publications and Press

Amy’s article, Agents of Change: How Collaboration among Insurers and the Public Sector Can Manage Risk and Foster Climate-Neutral Behavior, was published in the Harvard Law and Policy Review in the winter of 2012 (available at: http://harvardlpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/6.1_10_Johnsgard.pdf). She was interviewed on KPBS in 2018 regarding the class action litigation she filed against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: https://www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2018/04/12/zuckerberg-testimony-reveals-lawmaker-confusion-fa.

Quote

“Fight for the things you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg