Managing Partner

Jon Spaeth

Jon is the Managing Partner of the firm and brings over 30 years experience in law and management to the role.  Additionally, Jon has a unique combination of law firm and in-house experience, and has a record of obtaining favorable results for his clients in a wide variety of matters.  For 20 years – 13 as a partner – he worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Over time, hee has represented Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, AT&T, Albertson’s, and Continental Airlines, as well as other large corporate clients, in high stakes litigation.

Jon has significant hands-on experience in all facets of the litigation process. This includes trial (first chair), discovery, motions practice, alternative dispute resolution, settlement, and appeals.  After leaving Akin Gump for in-house practice, he held several general counsel and other senior roles with both defense and commercial companies. Additionally, he directed the legal function and served as an integral member of sophisticated business management teams.

The knowledge and experience he gained as in-house lawyer has enabled him to offer clients outsourced general counsel services at a fraction of the market cost. He offers assistance with risk management, commercial transactions, intellectual property, government contracts, human resources/employment law, and internal investigations.

Jon also believes in making a substantive commitment to the community. He currently sits on the Make-a-Wish Foundation Mid Atlantic Region Board and is pro bono counsel to several veteran’s support organizations.

Jon, and the firm’s co-founder Rebecca Walser, oversee a team of a dozen lawyers who have achieved successful RESULTS for our clients in the following areas:

Complex Commercial Litigation

• Lead counsel for IBM in $100 million suit alleging violation of the False Claims Act, and obtained summary judgment on fraud claims and favorably settled wrongful discharge claim prior to trial.
• Lead counsel for Albertson’s, Inc. in proposed nationwide class action race discrimination suit, reaching an advantageous settlement before class notification requirements were triggered.
• Defended AT&T against $450 million suit for misappropriation of trade secrets. Additionally, he settled the case post-trial for a fraction of plaintiff’s requested damages.
• Lead counsel for Osco Drugs in a privacy and consumer fraud class action arising out of the alleged sale of plaintiff’s prescription/medical information. He negotiated a nuisance value settlement before class notification requirements were triggered.
• Lead counsel for Canadian/U.S. mining concern in action seeking $400 million in damages from foreign government in connection with expropriation of client’s gold mining rights. Also, he leveraged the possibility of default judgment to obtain favorable settlement.
• Lead counsel for tenants of federally subsidized housing complex in highly publicized pro bono class action against absentee landlords. Jon successfully obtained more than $2 million in judgments, injunctions requiring landlords to improve clients’ living conditions, and contempt sanctions against principal defendant.
• Lead counsel for political organization in $5 million suit brought by political activist alleging he was assaulted by representatives of the Trump Campaign at a client-sponsored rally in violation of numerous state and federal laws. Jon obtained the dismissal of all claims.
• Lead counsel for billion-dollar REIT in lease enforcement action against nationally known restaurant brand.  He obtained a $250,000 trial verdict and order for possession.

Commercial Transactions

Our legal team has drafted, negotiated, and closed more than 750 commercial transactions in both the United States and abroad, including complex agreements involving the sale and licensing of proprietary technology.  Some examples:

• Negotiated the company’s sale/license of player tracking technology to the National Football League. The transaction, valued at $50 million, received extensive press coverage, including Forbes, Bloomberg, The Today Show, ABC, and USA Today.  Efforts led to the company achieving “Proud Partner of the NFL” status, and the company’s stock rose significantly post-closing.  Negotiated follow on agreements with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, and New Orleans Saints, and a personal services contract with Saints’ head coach Sean Payton.
• Negotiated a $75 million agreement with the Royal Mail Group, the UK’s postal service, for installation of technology designed to combat timecard abuse at the customer’s more than 1400 locations.
• Negotiated master sales and services agreements with the Boeing Corporation supporting millions of dollars of equipment and tool tracking business at the customer’s aircraft manufacturing plants.
• Negotiated a master license and sales agreement with GE Aviation supporting millions of dollars of equipment and tool tracking business at the customer’s aircraft engine manufacturing plants.

Intellectual Property

An imperative of every agreement we work on is to ensure maximum protection of our client’s intellectual property. Our team make it our mission to safeguard any information that belongs to our clients.

Our global team of IP legal experts identifies, protects, manages and supports the exploitation of intangible assets to further our clients’ business goals. Through our sector-based strategy, we invest in understanding business imperatives and help craft an IP strategy that advances them. We identify and mitigate IP and regulatory risk for new markets, expansion of product or service offerings and new technology platforms. Our team provides strategic, commercial IP advice on collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, restructurings and insolvency proceedings and competition enquiries. Trust Law’s disputes team has experience across multiple industry sectors and assists our clients in achieving results drawing on decision risk analysis.

Government Contracting

We have in-depth knowledge of the FAR/DFARs, the conflict of interest and revolving door laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, ITAR, the Export Administration Regulations, and other laws and regulations pertaining to federal procurement.

• Negotiated a settlement with the U.S. Government to preserve Archer Daniels Midland’s status as a government contractor following its plea to criminal antitrust violations.
• Advised Fortune 100 public defense company’s business leaders of domestic and international antitrust implications, including potential U.S. and EU enforcement actions, relating to deal registration agreement with international supplier.
• Managed all legal issues relating a global publicly listed aerospace company’s deployment of personnel to the Middle East in support of the U.S. Army.
• Successfully managed whistleblower investigation for a $800M government contractor in the cyber market, ensuring no litigation or government inquiry and resulting in a clean external audit.
• Ensured a Fortune 500 public aerospace defense company’s compliance with the Export Administration Regulations and International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
• Persuaded the Defense Contract Audit Agency not to impose a penalty relating to an incurred cost submission, saving a small business government contractor approximately $250,000.
• Designed program and conducted compliance training for a Fortune 500 public company on the FCPA and other federal laws and regulations across 5 divisions worldwide.
• Identified potential violations of the WARN Act and created a tracking system to monitor actual and forecasted layoffs, avoiding enforcement and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenses for a mid-size government contractor.

Employment Law & Internal Investigations

Our legal professionals have handled a wide variety of HR related issues and, among other things, have substantial experience with terminations, confidentiality/IP agreements, separation agreements, whistleblowers, non-compete agreements, and FLSA claims. We also have set up mentor programs in several of our clients’ companies  to include DEI programs focused on promoting the most qualified people.

Our firm has successfully conducted  numerous internal investigations both in the United States and abroad for clients ranging from public utilities to fortune 100 public companies to include the Tennessee Valley Authority, General Dynamics, and Raytheon, among over 40 others.