EXPERIENCE

Ms. Keela Johnson is an equity shareholder in our Family Law group. Ms. Johnson concentrates her practice in all areas of domestic relations and matters that impact the family, including high asset divorce and custody litigation. She serves as a court appointed guardian ad litem and parenting time coordinator in complex parenting time and custody matters, often in the middle of a contentious divorce. Ms. Johnson collaborates with her partners at Giarmarco, Mullins and Horton to identify and protect assets by using a team approach in the representation of clients.

Prior to practicing law, Ms. Johnson was a mental health therapist for more than seven years. This experience allows her to bring a different perspective to emotionally charged and high conflict cases. Ms. Johnson cares about her clients and their concerns about the legal process. She understands that divorce is a time of transition and strives to help her clients understand the legal process and develop a plan, not just to see their case from beginning to end but post-judgment as well. She is highly respected by her professional colleagues as well as by judges.

Ms. Johnson is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Family Law Section where she was elected to serve multiple terms on the Family Law council and appointed as chair of the Guardian ad Litem sub-committee.

Ms. Johnson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a prestigious and highly selective group of lawyers considered experts in family law. She serves on the Michigan AAML annual seminar committee.

Ms. Johnson is active in the Oakland County Bar Association, where she served as Chair of the Family Court Committee and served as a Barrister for the American Inns of Court, Oakland County Chapter. She is a Life Fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation.

Ms. Johnson is a member of American Bar Association; the Macomb County Bar Association; the Genesee County Bar Association; the Wayne County Family Bar; Women Lawyers Association of Michigan; and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.  Ms. Johnson also serves as a trustee for the Michigan Inter-Professional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family.

Ms. Johnson graduated, summa cum laude, from Upper Iowa University. She received her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, in guidance and counseling. She earned her law degree from Western Michigan Cooley Law School where she graduated cum laude.

ARTICLES

• Is There a Formula for Parenting Time?, State Bar of Michigan Bar Journal, February 2023
•  A Return to Civility in the Legal Profession, Oakland County Bar Association, Laches (2019)

•  Think about your Future before Contracting Away your Rights, Oakland County Bar
Association, Laches (2011)
•  The New Face in Paternity, Oakland County Bar Association, Laches (2012)