Jon is a founding partner of Rudolph Friedmann LLP and the head of our litigation practice. In that role, he has litigated countless matters before all levels of the Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States Federal District Court, the United States Court of Claims, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and courts throughout New England.

When not in the courtroom, Jon works with our executive clients to translate his litigation experience into sound business planning and transaction structuring, alleviating the need for litigation when possible and putting our clients in the best position possible if that litigation becomes necessary.

Jon also puts his thirty years of experience to use in his new role as a Hearing Officer with the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. The BBO, working with the Office of the Bar Counsel, is an independent administrative body responsible for regulating the legal profession and investigating and evaluating complaints against lawyers. His first appointment, this position with the BBO supplements his other volunteer work in the Greater Boston community through organizations such as the Top Banana Education Foundation, Milton Friends of Town Farm, and both the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations.

Over the course of his practice he has successfully:

  • Obtained a $6.5 million settlement on behalf of 450 current and former employees in Swiderski, et al v. Allied Waste Services of Massachusetts, LLC (Middlesex Sup. Ct. Civil Action No. 2011-04279); the case was the largest employment settlement in Massachusetts in 2015.
  • Won a $17.5 million judgment in Rental Associates, Inc. v. Arizona Reinsurance Group, at the time the largest judgment ever awarded in the Springfield Division of U.S. District Court;
  • Obtained a $4 million judgment in a wrongful death action involving the death of an infant due to injuries allegedly inflicted by her nanny in Sameer Sabir v. Aisling Brady McCarthy;
  • Won a $265,000 judgment in Farbman v. Welcome, a first of its kind award of damages for exacerbation and acceleration of cancer as a result of the stress caused by an automobile accident;
  • Settled a wrongful death suit on behalf of the parents of a quadriplegic child for more than $800,000, which money will be used to create a charitable foundation benefiting the disabled;
  • Settled a case arising out of a child’s school-day injuries made worse by a slow emergency response time for $185,000;
  • Represented Ingaldsby Farm in Boxford against an angry neighbor, allowing the family-run farm and farm stand to remain open and in business;
  • Resolved a dispute on behalf of homeowners whose home and property were damaged when their heating system was improperly repaired, by negotiating a payment of $350,000 to the homeowners and $140,000 in environmental remediation;
  • Won at trial and had upheld on appeal a $600,000 judgment on behalf of a successor trustee in Middlesex Probate and Family Court against a former trustee that had absconded with trust funds;
  • Represented a defendant bus company in a first-of-its-kind suit brought by the Department of Justice under the Clean Air Act in US District Court, resulting in a settlement for far less than the $37 million in fines the DoJ was seeking;
  • Won a $300,000 settlement on behalf of a commercial tenant sued by their landlord. When the landlord sued the tenant for vacating the property prior to termination of the lease, Jon counterclaimed based on the illegality of that lease, leading to a quick and favorable settlement. 
  • Defended a Client in an arbitration proceeding, wherein the Client corporation was accused of improperly terminating an employee, failing to pay commissions owed, failing to make a grant of 5% equity in the corporation, and committing Wage and Hour law violations. The arbitrator ruled in the Client’s favor on all claims and awarded the Client money on its counterclaim for overpayment. The arbitrator’s award was successfully defended in the Superior Court when the former employee, still seeking the claimed 5% equity, sought to have it set aside after the Client corporation was sold for $500 million.
  • Defended the purchaser of a “man camp” in an arbitration of claims brought by the seller. The arbitrator’s award granted the Client purchaser $1.1 million in its claims arising out of defects in construction, an amount far in excess of the original claims brought by the seller.

Areas of Practice:

  • Civil and Commercial Litigation
  • Employment Law
  • Creditor’s Rights

Bar Admissions:

  • Massachusetts, 1982
  • U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts, 1983
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit, 1983
  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1984
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1986

Education:

  • Suffolk University Law School
    Boston, Massachusetts
    Juris Doctorate, 1982
    Honors: Cum Laude
  • Lafayette College
    Easton, Pennsylvania
    Bachelor of Arts, 1979

Associations and Memberships:

  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • Boston Bar Association
  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts Junior Chamber of Commerce
    Former Legal Counsel
  • City of Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce
    Former Legal Counsel
  • National Register of Who’s Who
    Life Member
  • Inns of Courts of Massachusetts, 2002 – 2006
    Delegate
  • The Trial Law Institute,
    Member, 2009 – Present
  • Litigation Counsel of America
    Member, 2007 – Present
  • Trained Mediator in Accordance with Mass General Laws Chapter 233 Section 23C
  • Diversity Law Institute
    Member, 2009 – Present

Representative Cases and Decisions:

  • Sameer Sabir v. Aisling Brady McCarthy (2016)
  • MacKinnon, et al. v. Berluti, et al. (2016)
  • Swiderski, et al v. Allied Waste Services of Massachusetts, LLC (2015)
  • Crush v. Mulligan (2015)
  • Soule, et al. v. Mulligan, et al. (2015)
  • Mulligan v. Araugo, et al. (2015)
  • Getz v. Target Logistics (2013)
  • Thompson v. National Seating and Mobility (2012)
  • Unbroken LLC v. Target Logistics (2013)
  • Goldstein v. Page, 78 Mass.App.Ct. 1113, 938 N.E.2d 906 (2010)
  • Massachusetts Property Ins. Underwriting Ass’n v. Georgaklis, 77 Mass.App.Ct. 358 (2010)
  • Coviello v. Richardson, 76 Mass.App.Ct. 603 (2010)
  • United States of America v. Paul Revere Transportation, LLC (2009)
  • Technology in Medicine, Inc. v. Gorman (2003)
  • Singh v. 207 Main Street, LLC (2001)
  • Lefell v. Longwood Texaco (2000)
  • Treglia v. MacDonald, 430 Mass. 237 (1999)
  • Jackson v. Renaissance Software (1999)
  • Ann & Hope, Inc. v. Muratore, 42 Mass.App.Ct. 223 (1997)
  • Papadopoulos v. New Englander Body, Inc., 1990 Mass.App.Ct. 72 (1990)
  • L. Rudolph Electrical Co., Inc. v. Gibbs Oil Company, 16 Mass.App.Ct. 995 (1983)
  • Coastal Airlines, Inc. v. C.A.B., 709 F.2d 119 (1983)

Recent Publications/Seminars:

Honors and Awards:

  • Massachusetts Super Lawyer, Boston Magazine, 2004 – 2017
  • AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • 10 Largest Defense Verdicts of 2003 –  Mass. Lawyers Weekly (Technology in Medicine, Inc. v. Gorman)
  • 10 Largest Defense Verdicts of 2001 – Mass. Lawyers Weekly (Singh v. 207 Main Street, LLC)
  • Most Important Opinions of 2000 – Mass. Lawyers Weekly (Lefell v. Longwood Texaco)