Skip to Main Content
Services Talent Knowledge
Site Search
Menu

JonDevendorf

Partner

"Jon Devendorf is incredibly talented, tenacious, highly analytical, and thoughtful." —Client in Chambers & Partners

Overview

Biography

A trial attorney with over 25 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts, administrative and regulatory forums, arbitration, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, Jon handles a wide array of complex commercial and real estate litigation matters. As noted by a client in Chambers & Partners, Jon “is a very good litigator. He deals with complicated subject matter in litigation and is able to learn on the fly. He also has great client control.”

Jon prosecutes and defends claims involving business contracts, partnership agreements, shareholder interests, corporate dissolution, financial disputes, and other business interests. He also draws upon his early training as an assistant district attorney to investigate, prosecute, and defend matters involving corporate claims for damages and asset recovery for employee deceit, misconduct, and fraud. His clients include public and private companies, regulated entities, sole-member and closely held businesses, and individuals.

In real estate matters, Jon represents title insurers, title agencies, land-use organizations, member associations, and individuals in disputes concerning real estate interests. He regularly handles actions involving title to real property, boundary disagreements, easements and land-use rights, waterfront interests, and timber disputes.

Bar Associations

  • Onondaga County Bar Association, Board of Directors Member
     
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Represents government interests in multi-jurisdiction Native American land claims.
  • Represents multinational telecommunication companies in contract disputes and constitutional challenges to prohibitive regulatory codes.
  • Represents regulated utilities in the prosecution and defense of multi-million contract claims and business disputes.
  • Represented a $10 million trust and fiduciary in contested accounting and decanting proceedings.
  • Represented a historic foundation in legal proceedings involving title, possession, and deaccessioning claims on a Thomas Cole master painting.
  • Represented a Fortune 100 defense contractor in defense-of-contract action and the prosecution of counterclaims.
  • Defended a class-action lawsuit for a major NYC retailer.
  • Prosecuted a lawsuit for a multinational manufacturer to recover business opportunity and other losses.
  • Prosecuted fraud, waste, and corporate malfeasance claims in derivative action, leading to a multi-million settlement.
  • Defended shareholder-derivative action for a major manufacturer, leading to case dismissal.
  • Defended a franchisee against an automobile manufacturer in termination action.
  • Defended a class-action lawsuit seeking to block a bank merger.
  • Administering a $10 million taxable estate, including extensive real estate holdings in a contested estate with a lost will and potential right of election.

Prior Experience

  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Partner
  • Westchester County, New York, Assistant District Attorney

Selected Community Activities

  • Boys & Girls Club of Syracuse, Executive Board Member
  • United Way Policy Council for Success by Six, Legislative Team Chair

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Commercial Litigation, 2019–2026
  • Chambers USA, Upstate New York: Litigation: General Commercial, 2015–2025
  • Legal 500, New York City Elite, Commercial Disputes, 2025
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Business Litigation, 2009–2024
  • Daily Record, Power 20 Litigation List, 2021
  • Barclay Damon, Clifford H. Wilson Award for Excellence in Mentoring

Featured Media

Alerts

Attention Providers! OMIG Audit Update: New Settlement Flexibility at Lower Confidence Payment Restored and DME Protocol Released

Alerts

NYS Trial Court Holds: Animals Are Family Too

Alerts

Website Accessibility Lawsuits: Several "Tester" Plaintiffs—Victor Lopez, Myrna Driffin, Damon Jones, Tazinique Echols, and Ashley Bahena—Targeting Businesses in Recent Flurry of Lawsuits

Alerts

Website Accessibility Lawsuits: Several "Tester" Plaintiffs—Brian Flores Gerardo, Jonathan Drummond, Makeda Evans, Andre Campbell, and Zephyrin Victor—Targeting Businesses in Recent Flurry of Lawsuits

Alerts

New York State Executive Order Expands Pharmacist Authority to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines Without Prescription

Alerts

Federal Judge Halts DOE's Crackdown on Diversity Programs