Family Law

• Divorce
• Child Support
  Or she could retain the child and seek child support. This happened in the celebrated (infamous among third party A.R.T. practitioners) case of
• Adoption
  Mark Johnson was also the attorney in the first Artificial Insemination/Traditional Surrogacy in Georgia in 1992, where the intended parents and surrogate relocated from New York after their surrogate was pregnant in their arranged surrogacy and the New York legislature subsequently outlawed the procedure. Johnson combined elements of the pre-birth Declaratory Judgment of Paternity from his groundbreaking gestational surrogacy approach, coupled with a step-parent adoption where the intended mother replaced the surrogate. Again, the Georgia Attorney General and the Trial Court agreed with, and adopted, another new approach formulated by Mark Johnson.
• Paternity
  The laws of a particular state may permit determination of paternity and maternity of the child prior to birth of the child. If so, the following matters should be addressed...
• Premarital Agreement
  Prenuptial agreement — A prenup is an agreement between two people about to be married regarding the division of marital assets in the event they divorce.
• Guardianship
• Child Abuse
  A comparable standard of care was articulated in a wrongful death case involving a traditional surrogate and the same late Noel Keane as broker. Huddleston v. ICA, Inc., 23 FLR 1387 (Pa. Sup. Ct., 1997) witnessed the killing of the child born of the surrogate by the single man/intended father within six weeks of the child's birth. The appellate court applied the higher standard of the Stiver decision, noting that a “special relationship†exists in the surrogacy business among all of the participants, resulting in an affirmative duty of protection. As such, the business is liable for foreseeable consequences which included child abuse.

Criminal Law

• Wrongful Death
• Misdemeanors
  Child abandonment shall be punishable as a misdemeanor, unless the abandoning parent leaves the state while the abandoned child is in a dependent condition. In that event, the abandoning parent shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment of not less than one nor more than three years.
• Restraining Order

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  Because shares are privately traded, an owner wanting to sell his or her shares may have difficulty in finding a buyer. The shareholder agreement may place restrictions on the transfer of shares, such as requiring the approval of the other shareholders.
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Business Formation
  At Mark A. Johnson, PC, we can guide you throughout the business formation process and make sure you choose the entity that best meets your business needs — both now and in the future as your company grows.
• Business Disputes
  My business law firm is founded on the principle of providing high-quality legal representation that is client-centered, intellectually innovative, and solution-oriented.
• Business Transactions
  Marietta business transactions attorney Mark A. Johnson has been providing legal services to Metro Atlanta, Georgia businesses for more than 30 years. We facilitate business transactions by providing our clients with legal advice regarding...
• Limited Liability Companies
  Formation and organization of for-profit and not-for-profit entities including business and professional corporations, S corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), joint ventures, partnerships, and sole proprietorships
• Trade Secrets
• Intellectual Property
  For an initial consultation to discuss your intellectual property issues with attorney Mark Johnson, please call or contact us online.

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  Cafeteria Plans: Are a type of employee benefit plan pursuant to Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, which allow employees to choose between different types of benefits, including health insurance, group-term life insurance, voluntary "supplemental" insurance (dental, vision, cancer, hospital confinement, accident, etc.), and flexible spending accounts through the plan. Employees' pretax contributions are not subject to federal, state, or social security taxes. Employers save on the employer portion of FICA, FUTA, and workers' compensation insurance premiums.
• Non-compete Agreement
  To ensure that employees who leave your company do not take your intellectual property to subsequently compete with you unfairly, you can require your employees to sign a non-compete agreement prior to leaving your employment. As courts do not enforce non-compete agreements that are contrary to the public good or are overly burdensome, it is important for businesses to have their non-compete agreements drafted by competent and experienced intellectual property law attorneys.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  Real estate litigation — A judge or jury resolves a real estate dispute in a legal proceeding. We argue cases in court on behalf of our clients, but can also resolve disputes by negotiating settlements or through mediation.
• Construction Litigation
• Eminent Domain
  Cobb County v. Webb Dev. Corp., 398 S.E.2d 3, 260 Ga. 605 (S. Ct. 1990). Developer compelled county exercise of eminent domain powers for sewer out-fall line to service residential subdivision, where adjacent landowner refused any traversing of his property for sewer out-fall line. American Bar Association Section on Land Use, Condemnation and Zoning noted this was the only case where a private individual compelled a condemning authority to exercise its powers of eminent domain. Secured $500,000 settlement on behalf of developer on 42 USC §1983 damages claim against county.
• Land Use and Zoning
  Purchase and sale agreements — The first step in buying or selling real estate is negotiating a real estate contract. In addition to standard terms identifying the parties, the legal description of the property, price, terms of payment and closing date, a commercial real estate contract often requires additional provisions dealing with environmental or hazardous conditions, zoning and land use, liability insurance, assignment rights, dispute resolution, indemnification, and liquidated damages.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  As our clients' businesses in the Metro Atlanta area grow, so does their wealth. And just as we care about our clients' businesses, the law firm of Mark A. Johnson, PC cares about preserving their wealth for the future and for their families. That is why we provide our clients with personal legal services, including estate planning, wills, trusts and estate administration.
• Wills
  Disposition of any frozen embryos or eggs which are maintained by the infertility physician/clinic should be addressed in the agreement or in the last will and testament of the infertile couple. There are obvious costs to continue to maintain frozen embryos. Methods of disposal can be quite controversial, so they should certainly be addressed. They include...
• Trusts
  Special needs planning and trusts — A special needs trust enables a beneficiary with special needs to derive benefits from your assets without jeopardizing existing Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid benefits.
• Power of Attorney
  Planning for incapacity — A living will is a document stating your preferences for the provision, withholding, and withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment in the event you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. A healthcare proxy, also known as a healthcare power of attorney, enables a person you select to make healthcare decisions for you in the event that you become unable to communicate.
• Probate

Finance Law

• Foreclosure
  Foreclosure — A legal action forces a transfer of ownership of a property to a lender when the owner has not made payments on a mortgage loan secured by the property.
• Tax Law
  There are even more taxes for which your business may be responsible, such as property tax, capital gains tax, and franchise tax. Let Mark Johnson help you plan and manage your tax liability. For a free initial consultation to discuss your specific needs, please call Mark A. Johnson, PC, or contact us online.