Jonathan leverages complex litigation experience in construction, business litigation, insurance recovery and environmental matters to achieve clients’ business goals in even the most challenging cases.
Overview
With significant experience handling construction-related and environmental disputes, Jonathan represents a diverse set of clients in commercial business disputes, both defending and prosecuting claims. He has obtained for his clients multimillion dollar settlements funded by opposing party insurers, obtained recovery of attorneys’ fees for clients utilizing vexatious refusal to pay statutes, and helped invoke policy coverages on legacy insurance policies in environmental matters.
In construction matters, Jonathan represents owners, general contractors and architects in bringing and defending cases involving construction defects, installation defects, and negligent design, including defending related personal injury claims. He is known as a fierce litigator who has many times exposed discovery abuses and obtained sanctions, including when parties improperly withhold important case documents or attempt to mislead the court.
In his environmental matters, Jonathan defends environmental claims, negotiates allocation disputes, and initiates contribution actions for cost recovery associated with remediation of Superfund and other pollution sites, involving polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hydrocarbons, benzene, lead and various other chemicals and heavy metals under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and state environmental statutes.
Additionally, he handles matters involving product pipeline releases and hydrocarbon contamination of soil and groundwater stemming from historical oil refinery and petrochemical operations. He has represented major corporations, privately held companies, public agencies, and individuals in state and federal courts and in arbitrations and mediations across the country.
Prior to entering private practice, Jonathan completed a two-year federal clerkship and served several years as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
Experience
Construction
Obtained multimillion dollar recovery for construction owner in hard-fought construction arbitration involving multiple construction defects and design issues, including HVAC, cast-in-place concrete, and cast-stone.
Environmental
Counsel for a major oil company and petroleum pipeline owner blamed for gasoline leaks in Hartford, Illinois, working with subject-matter experts to investigate and defend claims for contribution for clean-up costs associated with millions of gallons of refined hydrocarbon products beneath the Village of Hartford, Illinois, and plumes beneath a nearby oil refinery.
He counseled a Fortune 200 company in a case involving personal injury claims of childhood lead exposure from the lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo.
Jonathan defended the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in federal court against claims by more than 100 Idaho farmers alleging the BLM negligently caused more than $100 million in crop damage and reduced future-year yields through its application of an herbicide to nearby federal rangelands. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversed the district court and dismissed the case against the BLM finding no subject-matter jurisdiction.
Business Litigation
He obtained coverage and won a large award of attorneys' fees for clients against an insurance company for its vexatious refusal to pay their claim in a fire case, following a seven-day federal jury trial.
Jonathan successfully prosecuted civil fraud action in a federal jury trial that resulted in an award of punitive damages for his client.
He defended the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in a federal multi-district litigation action brought by more than 30,000 individual plaintiffs collectively seeking billions of dollars in damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to formaldehyde while living in government-issued trailers following Hurricane Katrina. All claims were dismissed against the United States without liability or settlement.
News & Insights
News
Speaking Engagements
Recognitions
Recognitions
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® list, 2024, 2025
Pro Bono Wall of Fame, The Missouri Bar, 2015-2016
U.S. Department of Justice, Special Commendation from the Deputy Attorney General of the Civil Division, 2010-2011
Phi Beta Kappa
Professional & Civic Activities
Professional & Civic Activities
Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, Executive Board of Directors and Finance Committee
American Bar Association, Section of Litigation
Bar Association of Metro St. Louis
The Missouri Bar
Practices & Industries
Admissions
- Missouri
- Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Education
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, J.D., 2006
Saint Louis University, B.A., 2003
