About Fergus Johnson
About Fergus JohnsonFergus Johnson is a labor and employment attorney with Rose Law APC, where he represents labor organizations and public employees throughout Northern California. His practice is informed by three decades of frontline experience in the fire service and emergency medical services, giving him a rare and practical understanding of the legal, operational, and contractual issues facing firefighters, paramedics, and other public safety professionals.
Fergus currently serves as a firefighter assigned to a heavy rescue company. He is also a licensed paramedic, a credential he has held since 1996. Throughout his career, he has worked extensively in high-risk rescue environments, including structural collapse, confined space, trench, rope, machinery, and vehicle extrication operations. This operational background provides him with firsthand insight into the working conditions, safety concerns, and discipline and grievance issues that commonly arise in public safety employment.
In addition to his operational experience, Fergus is deeply involved in training and professional standards within the fire service. He is an instructor for California State Fire Training and teaches at the basic fire academy level as well as in advanced rescue disciplines. He is a certified instructor for FEMA’s Structural Collapse Specialist and Heavy Equipment Rigging Specialist courses and has served on multiple California State Fire Training curriculum development committees, including structural collapse rescue, confined space rescue, machinery rescue, rope rescue, tower rescue, and animal rescue.
Fergus also serves as a Rescue Team Manager, Rescue Squad Officer, and Heavy Rigger with California Task Force 7, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team operating under the Department of Homeland Security and the California Office of Emergency Services. He has deployed on multiple national disaster responses, including missions to Hawai‘i and Puerto Rico, and is a member of the FEMA US&R Rescue Subgroup.
Before entering legal practice, Fergus was actively involved in labor leadership within the International Association of Firefighters. He served as an executive board member for IAFF Local 522 and Local 1911, where he represented members in grievance and disciplinary hearings, ensured compliance with collective bargaining agreements, negotiated with management, and drafted grievance language. His union service provides him with a practical, ground-level understanding of labor relations and collective bargaining from the perspective of rank-and-file members and union leadership alike.
Fergus is licensed to practice law in the State of California and in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. At Rose Law APC, he focuses on representing labor organizations and public employees, particularly those in public safety roles. His combined experience in the fire service, emergency medical services, union leadership, and law allows him to bring a uniquely informed and pragmatic approach to labor representation at the intersection of public safety and employment law.
Professional History
Rose Law, A Professional Corporation
Attorney
2016 – present
Sacramento Fire Department
Firefighter, Paramedic
2003 – present
California Urban Search and Recue Task Force 7 (FEMA/OES)
Rescue Team Manager, Rescue Squad Officer, Heavy Rigger
2004 – present
California Fire and Rescue Training Authority
Instructor
2007 – 2022
Garden City Fire Department
Instructor
1999 – 2003
Schoolcraft College Fire Academy
Instructor
2000 – 2002
Ann Arbor Townbship Fire Academy
Firefighter
1996 – 1999
Education
Lincoln Law School of Sacramento
Juris Doctor
2009
University of Cinncinnati
Bachelor of Science, cum laude
Bar Admissions
California Supreme Court
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
