LAW PORTAL
- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 115-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our rigorous and interdisciplinary curriculum, our invaluable experiential learning opportunities, and the breadth and depth of our specialized areas of concentration and certificate offerings.
- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
Alumni and Giving
The global Trojan network of more than 10,000 law alumni and donors include recognized leaders in numerous fields who are deeply committed to supporting student and law school success.
Peter Johnson
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- IMMIGRANTS AND GLOBAL MIGRATION INITIATIVE (IGMI)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES
Lecturer in Law
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: January 4, 2020
Peter Johnson teaches “Fundamentals of the U.S. Legal System.” His areas of interest include trial advocacy, criminal justice, business litigation and public interest law.
Johnson currently operates his own law practice in Los Angeles, where he represents individuals and entities charged with complex criminal offenses in state and federal courts. He is also a member of the federal indigent defense panel in Los Angeles, where he represents indigent clients before the United States District Court in Los Angeles and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Previously, he was a trial attorney with the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles and Baltimore, and a litigation attorney with a law firm in Washington, D.C.
Johnson earned his BS at the University of Maryland at College Park and his JD from the University of Maryland School of Law (Order of Barristers). In law school, he was a member of the National Trial Team and the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Robert M. Bell, chief judge for the Court of Appeals of Maryland and the Hon. Alexander Williams, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland. He also received his MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, where he lived and taught graduate and undergraduate level courses in business and law.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
CNN
March 31, 2020
Re: Edward McCaffery
Edward McCaffery wrote an op-ed about how the new stimulus bill includes a tax break for the 1%. He said, "Under the change, our rich taxpayer couple... can now deduct an unlimited amount of 'excess losses' in real estate against income from other sources. So now real estate moguls with lucrative day jobs or bountiful capital gains from other investments can go back to living tax-free."
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Thomas D. Lyon
January, 2020
“Children’s concealment of a minor transgression: The role of age, maltreatment, and executive functioning,” (with Shanna Williams and Kelly McWilliams) Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 191 (2020).
Thomas D. Lyon
January, 2020
“The effects of the putative confession and evidence presentation on maltreated and non-maltreated 9- to 12-year-olds’ coached concealment of a minor transgression,” (with Angela Evans) Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 188 (2019).
Dan Simon
January, 2020
"The Adversarial Mindset," Psychology, Public Policy and Law.
