Robert J. Johnston has served as a United States Magistrate Judge since 1987. He graduated from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in 1977, and then clerked for Judge Merlyn H. Hoyt in the Seventh Judicial District in Ely, Nevada.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Johnston was Chief of the Civil Section of the United States Attorney’s Office. From 1979 to 1982, Judge Johnston served as the District Attorney for White Pine County and also maintained a private practice.

Judge Johnston participates in a variety of professional and social organizations. He served on the Pro Se & Prisoner Litigation Committee and the Advisory Committee of Magistrate Judges for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Judge Johnston also served as a Circuit Director for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Magistrate Judge Association. While on the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee from 1996 to 1999, he participated in organizing three circuit conferences. Judge Johnston currently sits on the Court Administration and Case Management Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts and the Ninth Circuit Magistrate Judge Executive Board. He is also an active member of the Nevada Judicial Historical Society and the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society.

In early 2000, Judge Johnston was named as the District of Nevada’s court historian. He is currently taking oral histories of his colleagues. These oral histories will eventually be transcribed and submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Historical Society. Passionate about history, Judge Johnston hopes that the personal interviews provide a more insightful understanding of the person. Among others, he has completed oral histories on Judge John Wooley of Kansas, the last of the original twenty-nine federal magistrate judges; Judge Venetta Tassopulos, the first woman federal magistrate judge; Judge Phyllis Halsey Atkins, the first woman federal magistrate judge from the District of Nevada; and Judge Edward C. Reed, Jr., Senior United States District Judge from the District of Nevada.

Additionally, Judge Johnston is active in local organizations. He is on the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and holds a leadership position within his church. Judge Johnston has taught a class for inmates to prepare them for reentry into the community upon their release from incarceration.

In his spare time, Judge Johnston enjoys running (including the Boston Marathon three times), traveling and spending time with his family.