Attorney Profile
F. Inge Johnstone
Johnstone Trial Law LLC
Birmingham, AL 35236
(205) 894-8900
Education
The University of Alabama School of Law- J.D. 1995 – 1998, cum laude
Activities and societies: Alabama Law Review
Honors: Highest Grade in Civil Procedure, Maritime Law, and Decedent’s Estates & Trusts
The University of Alabama - Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science, Aug 1990 - Jul 1995
Bar Admissions:
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Alabama
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Texas
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Washington State
Biggest Influences: My grandfather, who retired from Bender Shipping in Mobile and
who taught me that “if you tell someone that you are going to do something, then you do
it” and my dad, who served on the Alabama Supreme Court, who taught me to stand up
for what is right even if it isn’t popular.
Why I Represent People Against Insurance Companies: My grandfather had a ship supply business in the 1950’s. Unfortunately, it wasn’t insured and it burned to the ground. He had to start his whole working life over again. This is the position in which people who have insurance claims wrongfully denied find themselves. They are undergoing one of the toughest times in their lives and find that their trusted safety net was nothing but an empty promise. I do what I do, because it is what my grandad would want me to do.
Work Experience
Inge began practicing law in 1998 at a corporate defense firm, representing corporations and insurance companies. As a defense lawyer, he handled complex and commercial litigation and oversaw litigation for a large healthcare client in over seventy cases across the United States.
Inge briefly worked for a plaintiffs’ class action law firm handling complex litigation. During that time, he traveled the country taking depositions and participating in court hearings. He was on a trial team that tried a six-week defamation case against the NCAA which resulted in a $5 million verdict. He was fortunate enough to be involved in cases ranging from a class action over
the nation’s largest data breach, to mass tort cases like the Bausch & Lomb Renu litigation, to his first homeowner’s insurance fire case. He also saw the Yankees at Yankee stadium, met Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame and deposed a Nobel Prize winner.
In 2008, he started his own firm and began representing policyholders. His first case policyholder case on his own was a fire case involving Allstate and the interpretation of the policy’s “vandalism and malicious mischief” exclusion. He and that client remain friends to this day. Over the next fourteen years, he represented businesses and individuals in cases against insurance companies, in personal injury cases, in consumer cases and in business litigation.
During that time, he began to focus more on policyholders and handled cases involving life insurance, homeowners insurance, renters insurance, individual disability income insurance, short term health insurance, errors and omissions coverage, directors and officers policies, commercial property policies, commercial general liability policies, and even boiler and machinery policies.
At Johnstone Trial law, Inge focuses on representing individual and business policyholders and helping people in serious personal injury cases. He has tried many cases in state and federal courts and loves practicing law. He also tends to “geek out” while reading cases and insurance policies. He also frequently writes and lectures on insurance topics.
Areas of Practice
● Insurance Bad Faith
● Insurance Law
● Personal Injury
● Admiralty & Maritime Law
● Economic & Complex Litigation
● Business Litigation
Bar Admissions
Alabama
Washington State
Texas
U.S. District Court Northern District of Alabama
U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama
U.S. District Court Southern District of Alabama
U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
Professional Associations and Memberships
Birmingham Bar Association
Alabama State Bar
American Association of Justice’s, Member
Alabama Association of Justice, Member
Articles and Lectures
"Insurance Claim Delays, Denials and Underpayment: Dirty Tactics and Bad Faith" - Speaker NBI, April 2024
“Advanced Insurance Bad Faith in Alabama,” NBI, 2022
“Representing Policyholders: What the Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know.” Alabama Association for Justice, Summer Meeting, June 2019
“Thwarting the Short Term Health Care Crisis,” American Association for Justice, Insurance Section Newsletter, Spring 2019
"Insurance Coverage Litigation: Secrets Insurance Companies Don't Want Attorneys to Know,” NBI, 2017
“Auto Injuries: Advanced Plaintiff’s Strategies”, NBI, 2015.
“Rules and Procedures for Federal Court Success,” NBI, 2009
I love to spend time with my fiancé and my boys, play guitar, salsa dance, and cook amazing ribs on my Big Green Egg. I also read, write and speak extensively on personal development. You can find me on Instagram at the_inge_johnstone, on facebook, and on Tik Tok at @theingejohstone. Feel free to reach out to me!