 He served as chairman, president and CEO of Protective Life Corporation from 2002-2017, and as executive chairman from 2017-2019.Earlier in his career, Johns served as General Counsel at Sonat and helped found Maynard Cooper & Gale, a law firm in Birmingham, Alabama.He was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in late 2013, in part for his nine years of service to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.