Johnson joined the faculty in 2006. She currently oversees UBalt’s Clinical Law Program as Associate Dean for Experiential Education and serves as the director of the Bronfein Family Law Clinic and a co-director of the Center on Applied Feminism. Professor Johnson’s scholarship focuses on issues relating to gender, feminist legal theory, and clinical legal education, and her articles have been published in the U.C. Davis Law Review, the B.Y.U. Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, and the Temple Law Review, among others. She is co-author of the book Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework for Law Students and Practitioners. Johnson has been a Visiting Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law (2020-21) and at Georgetown University Law School (2012-2013). Prior to joining the UBalt faculty, Johnson directed the Domestic Violence Clinic at the Washington College of Law, American University; was an employment discrimination litigator, with a special focus on sexual harassment law, at the D.C. firms of Terris, Pravlik & Wagner, Kalijarvi, Chuzi & Newman and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights; was a Georgetown Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow; clerked for the Hon. Hector M. Laffitte in the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico; and served as articles editor for the Wisconsin Law Review.

 As Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Johnson oversees UBalt's Clinical Law Program, comprising twelve law clinics, and the Externship Program. Johnson directs the Bronfein Family Law Clinic, where students represent clients in litigation and systemic advocacy relating to domestic violence and other family law issues. She also teaches Family Law, Property Law, and Special Topics in Applied Feminism and is co-director of the Center on Applied Feminism, which applies the insights of feminist legal theory to legal practice and policy.

She has held several leadership roles in the clinical legal education community including Co-President of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), Chair of the Planning Committee, American Association of Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education 2014 Conference, and on the Planning Committee for the 2016 Conference. She has also had a leadership role in many feminist organizations and projects, including the Advisory Panel for the Feminist Judgments book series and the Board of Directors of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland.

Johnson has received several awards and recognitions, including the 2020 UBalt Law Outstanding Scholarship award; the 2019 UBalt Law Outstanding Service by a Full-Time Faculty Member award; the 2017 UBalt Law Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Faculty Member award; Top 25 Women Professors in Maryland in 2013; the 2012 USM Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Public Service; and Professor of the Year award by the UBalt Women's Bar Association in 2011 and 2008. Johnson is a member of the bars of the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.