Practice/Organization Description
JohnstonTobey, P.C. is a Dallas-based law firm that represents plaintiffs in cases of professional wrongdoing involving malpractice by attorneys, stockbrokers, financial planners and wealth managers, accountants, business partners and other fiduciaries who rob at pen point.
Firm partners Randy Johnston and Robert Tobey also handle cases of insurance bad faith as well as business and commercial litigation, much of it on a contingent fee basis.
Coyt Randal Johnston is recognized as one of the nation’s finest attorneys in the field of professional malpractice. He is a Texas Super Lawyer, was selected for Texas Lawyer’s Go-To Guide to the most outstanding lawyers in the state, and is regularly chosen one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas.
A somewhat unconventional attorney, Randy admits to a love/hate relationship with the practice of law. He loves the law and what it stands for, and he hates those attorneys who abuse the privilege of making a living from the legal system.
Randy is a published poet who will have a nonfiction book later this year designed to help people in danger of being robbed by the professionals hired to serve them. He is also an accomplished athlete and plays guitar in a blues band called Blue Collar Crime.
Randy entered the malpractice field in 1981, at a time when few attorneys would take on their brethren. Robert Tobey joined him six years later.
In a story in the business section of The Dallas Morning News titled “A Lawyer Who Sues Other Lawyers,” Robert described the working relationship between him and his partner. “Randy is the visionary, the big picture guy,” says Mr. Tobey. “It’s up to me to look for the trees in the way so that we get to the other side of the forest without running into them.”
Robert prepares all the firm’s cases for trial as well as handling his own caseload. Lawyer-related suits account for about 75 percent of JohnstonTobey’s business, while stockbroker/investment fraud, business litigation and accounting malpractice are involved in most of the rest.
The partners estimate that they evaluate 100 or more potential cases before they decide to take one. Not every lost lawsuit involves malpractice, they say, and not every upset client makes a good case. Randy and Robert think of themselves as traffic cops who pull over only the worst offenders.
With states restricting many different types of lawsuits, they say legal malpractice suits are becoming more common. Reasons for a lawsuit include failure to call an important witness or file a necessary document on time.
Randy and Robert feel the biggest sin a lawyer can commit is not caring about the client. And while indifference may not be grounds for a lawsuit, it’s often the first step an attorney can take along the pathway to getting sued.
Professional Associations & Memberships
Robert Tobey:
Board Certified in Consumer and Commercial Law 1995 (Re-certified in 2000 and 2005), Texas Board of Legal Specialization
State Bar of Texas
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors -Tort and Insurance Practice Section –
2005-2007 (Incoming Secretary-Treasurer for 2008)
Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors – Business Litigation Section – 2008
Dallas Trial Lawyers Association (Board of Directors, Five Years)
Dallas Bar Foundation
Coyt Johnston:
”Civil Trial Law,” Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1981 - present
Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Member 1983-1985
Personal Injury Advisory Commission, Member 1993-2000
American Board of Trial Advocates - President, Dallas Chapter 2004
Dallas Bar Association Chairperson, Business Litigation Section, 2000
Dallas Bar Foundation Charter Life Fellow Dallas
Trial Lawyers Association President, 1999 National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Southern Region Instructor Trial Advocacy College of Texas
Instructor Texas Bar Foundation Life Fellow
Texas Trial Lawyers Association Member
Honors and Awards
Robert Tobey:
Texas Super Lawyer, Texas Monthly Magazine, 2003-2007
Assigned Martindale Hubbell’s highest “AV” rating
Coyt Johnston:
Texas Lawyer - Go-To Guide
D Magazine - Best Lawyers in Dallas
Texas Monthly - Texas’ Super Lawyers
Who’s Who in American Law
