Karen L. Johnston

Karen L. Johnston is a Member of the Construction and Manufacturing industry groups, focusing primarily on workplace safety & health and litigation. She practices out of the Firm’s office in Denver, Colorado. 

Karen’s practice centers on workplace safety and health and related civil, criminal and administrative litigation. She counsels and represents mining industry – including metal, nonmetal, and coal mine operators and contractors – construction, energy, and general industry clients in all aspects of their regulatory safety and health matters and in crisis management.

Her litigation experience is extensive, from pretrial discovery through appeal. She defends clients in regulatory matters before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) in issues under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, respectively. She also represents clients before various state Occupational Safety and Health agencies. In addition, Karen is well-versed in issues arising under the Safe Explosives Act, including licensing and permitting.

Karen’s favorite part of her work is visiting clients at the mine sites to get a firsthand account of what it is like to work at and manage these facilities. She loves training supervisors and safety professionals on best practices and helping to keep these worksites safe and compliant.

Karen has authored several published articles on safety and health topics, and she regularly presents on workplace safety and health topics to various national and state industry and trade association groups. She also conducts seminars and training programs on safety and health enforcement and discrimination topics under various state and federal acts.

Out of the office, Karen spends time traveling, reading, knitting, and rooting on the University of Denver Pioneers hockey team. She and her husband love dogs – particularly Boxers – and all of their dogs have been named after various mythological gods and heroes.