David Johanson is the Chair of Hawkins Parnell's national Employee Benefits & ERISA group and Partner-in-Charge of the firm's Napa office. He is the former Executive Chairman, President, and majority equity shareholder of Ricor Global Limited and previously led a private equity firm.

Drawing on 40 years as an advisor and litigator, Dave provides strategic and practical legal counsel on employee ownership, executive compensation, equity incentive plans, non-qualified deferred compensation, and employee stock ownership plans. He advises on mergers and acquisitions, tax planning, business succession, estate planning, shareholder disputes, and non-competition issues, among other corporate and ERISA-related matters.

Dave defends companies and executives in complex business, employment, and class action disputes in federal and state courts nationwide. He has represented clients before regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, handling tax controversies, felony criminal indictments, and diverse ownership and business dispute resolutions. He also routinely defends ERISA fiduciaries, plan sponsors, selling shareholders, and investment and valuation advisers in high-stakes litigation spanning ESOP valuation disputes, fiduciary responsibilities, disclosure obligations, and investment issues. In addition, Dave has argued cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits and filed multiple petitions for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nationally recognized for his expertise and leadership in the ESOP field, Dave leads an innovative team that has handled more than 750 ESOP transactions. He is a former member of The ESOP Association's Board of Directors, served multiple terms as Chair of its Legislative and Regulatory Advisory Committee, and chaired the Advisory Committee Chairs Council. He also served over a decade as General Counsel to the National Center for Employee Ownership and on its Board of Directors.