Remembering Dennis Johnson :
Lawyer , storyteller , and hero
By Ariston E . Johnson , Johnson & Sundeen Law Office
Sometimes , it ’ s easy to write about your hero . Most of our heroes are idealized caricatures of people who lived far away from us in place or time . I ’ ve had heroes like that , from Buddy Holly to Thomas Jefferson . It ’ s harder to write about the other kind of hero , the concrete and imperfect human whose lessons are more direct . I am fortunate to have had my hero – that is , my dad – Dennis Edward Johnson , around until his passing at age 65 this past Thanksgiving . He was always my living , breathing , and occasionally annoying , hero . I am sure many others , especially his clients and the young lawyers he mentored , would say the same .
Those who knew Dennis Edward Johnson , even briefly , will certainly remember him telling a story or two . He was a walking storybook , and his repertoire was broad , but especially strong on local and family history . His own story would never fit in this magazine , but this is part of it .
When I was young , Dad ’ s work was a mystery to me and my sister . We didn ’ t know about the austere years at his solo practice when he would have to forego a salary and borrow money to pay his staff until a case settled . I just knew that Mom would sometimes take me to visit him at his office , which was then in the basement of a drugstore on Main Street in Watford City . One time , Mom was traveling , and Dad had no choice but to take us with him to court . The hearing could have been a murder trial or just a scheduling conference for all we knew or cared . We were just proud that we finally got to see our dad in court .
The history of Dad ’ s law practice is not complicated but demonstrates a brave , pioneering spirit beyond what I can imagine . Dad finished law school in 1980 , not long after his 24th birthday . He and Mom , having been married for barely a year , moved to western North Dakota , living with extended family until they could borrow money at 18 % interest to buy a mobile home . He spent most of the summer sitting on a lawn chair , in a grassy field where he would later build his home , preparing for the North Dakota bar exam .
When he got his license to practice law , Dad started his own firm , taking on just about any case that came through the door . Feeling that justice would be better served if he were prosecuting rather than defending criminal cases , he became McKenzie County State ’ s Attorney early in his practice . He filled that elected role for 31 years until the growing county transitioned to a restricted , full-time state ’ s attorney . Ross Sundeen came to Watford City as a summer clerk , then associate , then partner and lifelong best friend in the early 1990s . The practice grew to three lawyers when I moved back home in 2011 and to four when Aaron Weber joined us fulltime in 2015 . Dad practiced law full-time ( and 40 hours a week was barely part-time by his standards ) until the day he went to the hospital with his final illness .
Dennis Johnson
What did he do in those 41 years ? The short answer is he helped people . As state ’ s attorney , he focused on justice rather than an imaginary scoreboard of convictions vs . acquittals . As a plaintiff ’ s lawyer , he cared more about his clients ’ health than their contingent fees . As a person , he was always able to pass along a hard-earned life lesson through a story . Most of the stories were funny , some were long-winded and often repeated , but the lessons were there even if you did not want to listen . It never mattered how busy he was , if the phone rang or someone walked into the office with a question , Dad stopped what he was doing to help . For Dad , there were no strangers or new clients – only friends and longtime clients that he was excited to meet for the first time .
Dad was recognized in life for some of his accomplishments . In the legal arena , he was most proud when his peers in the North Dakota Association for Justice awarded him the Light of Justice award in 2016 . In the personal arena , he was most proud every time his grandchildren smiled and ran to greet Grandpa Dennis . Among his other accolades , “ local historian ” was the one he enjoyed the most . The most visible results of that title are the book “ The End of the Rope ” and the upcoming film based on it , which tell the story of the last lynching in North Dakota . His legal expertise and local roots gave him a broad perspective on those events .
Since his passing , I ’ ve regularly heard from friends , clients , lawyers he had cases with and against , judges , and all manner of people he met along the way . It seems that anyone who met him had a brighter life for it . A busy , hard-working man who makes time to make life better for everyone he meets – that ’ s a real hero .
Ariston E . Johnson is a partner at Johnson & Sundeen in his hometown of Watford City , North Dakota . He graduated from the University of North Dakota ( B . Sci . Comp . Sci . 2003 ) and the College of William and Mary in Virginia ( J . D . 2007 ).
22 THE GAVEL