Jonathan P. Dean

Senior Attorney

Jonathan has represented multiple major manufacturers in the automotive, juvenile products, industrial equipment, and sports equipment industries.

Jonathan P. Dean, Associate, ArentFox Schiff

He has also defended mass tort actions, class actions at the initial pleading stage, and traditional, single-plaintiff products actions. Jonathan’s experience ranges from pre-suit investigations to advocacy in both trial and appellate courts.

Before joining ArentFox Schiff, Jonathan was a product liability associate in a Chicago litigation boutique law firm. After graduating law school, he served as a Legal Fellow at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Client Work

  • Won a Daubert motion to bar plaintiff’s experts from testifying in automotive product liability case, due to their testimonies’ lack of scientific credibility. Motion also requested summary judgment, which was granted and ended the case against Jonathan’s client.
  • Obtained dismissal for major automotive manufacturer from a contribution action brought by a third party plaintiff in multi-party litigation. The court’s granting of the motion to sever leveraged a dismissal with prejudice and without settlement.
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of major automotive client where plaintiff’s theory of product defect was one of first impression.
  • Successful in minimizing automotive client’s exposure to repeated asbestos law suits.
  • Won partial summary judgment on res judicata grounds on behalf of construction contractor after plaintiff collected damages from an arbitration panel.
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of law firm based on language of a general release.

Professional Activities

  • American Bar Association, Member
  • Chicago Bar Association, Member

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Jonathans’s recent publications include:

  • “Five Effective Ways Companies Can Train Employees to Communicate With Customers During COVID-19,” March 27, 2020
  • “Five Effective Ways Companies Can Communicate with Customers During COVID-19,” March 27, 2020
  • “Where Does Your Smartphone End and Your Car Begin?” March 28, 2017

Jonathans’s recognitions include:

  • “ArentFox Schiff Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch for 2023,” August 18, 2022
  • “Schiff Hardin Lawyers Featured on Leading Legal Aid Efforts to Relocate Afghans to the United States,” September 14, 2021
  • “Schiff Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2022,” August 19, 2021
  • “Best Lawyers Recognizes 59 Schiff Attorneys, Six “Lawyers of the Year,” and 21 Ones to Watch,” August 20, 2020

Perspectives