Plano, TX—Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Tonya L. Johannsen is acknowledged as Top Pinnacle Attorney of the Year 2023 for her contributions to the Legal field and her accomplishments as a premier counselor.
Ms. Johannsen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Teacher Education from Eastern New Mexico University. She spent four years teaching 9th-grade English but was encouraged to move into educational administration. Instead, she decided to pursue her childhood dream of being a lawyer. She earned her Juris Doctor at the Texas Tech University School of Law in 1983 and became certified by the Texas and American Bar Associations. She then began a position as a litigation associate, and in 1990, after seven years as an associate, became an equity shareholder at Winstead PC. In 1998, she became a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Feld and worked as General Counsel for the Beck Group from 2008-2019. Ms. Johannsen was previously a respected member of Counsel at Estes Thorne & Carr PLLC from 2019-2021. She notes that she strengthened the financial services practice group by increasing the client base, managing liability, and providing legal strategies.
Ms. Johannsen is known for her storytelling abilities, simplifying complex issues in a way that clients, judges, and juries can understand and to which they can relate. She specializes in cases involving the construction and banking industries and has worked as a commercial litigator for more than 30 years.
Ms. Johannsen started a new role at Canterbury Law in Dallas, TX, in 2021, which is a nationally recognized leader in the construction legal industry. According to the attorney, Canterbury Law is known for its work in the fields of construction, corporate law, commercial real estate, trucking and transportation, and alternative dispute resolution.
Ms. Johannsen has been recognized for her work in the field with numerous awards, including being named one of the 100 Best Litigators by Dallas Business Lawyers in 1996; being the recipient of a Fellowship with the Construction Lawyers Society of America in 1997; an honoree of the National Diversity Lawyer’s Council; chosen as the 2019 Outstanding Alumni Award by the Texas Tech School of Law; selected as the Dallas Bar Association’s “Inspiring Woman” award; named Digital Magazine’s Top Attorney of the Year 2021, and included on D Magazine’s 2020 and 2021 list of Best Lawyers for Construction and Commercial Litigation. For 25 years, she has been an AV Preeminent Rated Attorney.
For more information, please visit https://www.canterburylaw.com.
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