Kristina M. Johnson, partner in the Jones Walker LLP Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, will join the American College of Bankruptcy with 33 others from 24 states and three foreign countries to create the Twenty-Sixth class of American College of Bankruptcy Fellows who will be inducted on March 13, 2015, in Washington D.C. Ms. Johnson is the seventh inductee from Mississippi since its formation in 1989 and is the first female inductee from the state. 

Nominees for this prestigious honor go through a rigorous nomination process and are extended an invitation to join based on their exceptional contributions to the fields of bankruptcy and insolvency and record of achievement. Criteria for selection include: the highest standard of professionalism, ethics, character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership contributing to the enhancement of bankruptcy and insolvency law and practice; sustained evidence of scholarship, teaching, lecturing or writing on bankruptcy or insolvency; and commitment to elevate knowledge and understanding of the profession and public respect for the practice.

The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary professional and educational association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals with 857 Fellows currently from all over the world, which include bankruptcy attorneys, judges, insolvency accountants, turnaround and workout specialists, law professors, government officials, and others who are experts in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency law. The College plays an important role in sustaining professional excellence and supporting educational and pro bono efforts in local communities around the country.

Ms. Johnson is the Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Team Leader for Jones Walker LLP. Her professional career focuses on bankruptcy and creditors' rights, workouts, commercial litigation, and collection matters, all areas in which she often lectures and publishes materials. She is also Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and has served on numerous committees for state and local bar associations, including the Steering Committee to rewrite the Mississippi Local Bankruptcy Rules. She is also an annual contributing author to West's Bankruptcy Exemption Manual.

Ms. Johnson is a Taylor Medalist graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration, summa cum laude, and earned her juris doctor degree, magna cum laude, from The University of Mississippi School of Law. While in law school, she served on the Editorial Board of The Mississippi Law Journal. Ms. Johnson is a member of The Mississippi Bar, the Sections of Business Bankruptcy, Litigation, and Alternate Dispute Resolution of the American Bar Association, and the Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference. She is past president of both the Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference and the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association.

Ms. Johnson has received numerous accolades throughout her career. She has received an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed annually in The Best Lawyers in America® in the areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy since 2006. She was also named "Jackson, MS, Best Lawyers Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law Lawyer of the Year" in 2012. In addition, she was listed in the 2013 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers in the area of Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights and as one of the "Top 50 Lawyers" and "Top 50 Female Lawyers" in the Mid-South. She has previously been recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of Mississippi's "50 Leading Business Women" and one of Mississippi's "Top 40 Under 40."