Jonathan R. Patton

Jon is a partner at Tillotson Law, and has been Jeff’s right hand man since 2014. Jon and Jeff met when Jon moved to Dallas as a young associate and joined the prominent boutique litigation firm Jeff had co-founded in the early 1990s.  Right away, Jon helped Jeff pursue Lance Armstrong in a highly publicized arbitration that resulted in a $10 million award for their client.  A lasting professional dynamic and friendship was born, and in 2016 Jon joined Jeff when he formed his own firm.  Since then, they have carefully assembled a top-notch, specialized trial team focused on trying and winning cases--and having fun doing it. 

Jon has accelerated his career and developed his own clients by amassing an impressive array of experiences in a wide range of complex and high-stakes commercial and business disputes.  He has extensive first chair trial experience, and has earned the trust of clients on their most challenging problems.  For example:

• Since joining Tillotson Law, Jon has first chaired two week-long jury trials to verdict and several high-stakes injunction hearings, as well as numerous dispositive motion and discovery hearings.   
• Jeff and Jon represented SCA Promotions, Inc. in a lawsuit against Yahoo involving the 2014 NCAA Tournament “Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge” that led to a $5.5 million judgment for SCA.  The case received significant media attention and had several high-profile depositions, including Warren Buffett and Yahoo!’s then-CEO Marissa Mayer.
• Jon prepared and drafted a motion to dismiss leading to the dismissal of all claims in a $60 million putative consumer class action against Green Dot and other Fortune 500 company defendants.
• Jeff and Jon defended trade secret and non-compete claims brought against their client by a publicly traded locum tenens company that resulted in a complete walk-away the month before trial. 
• Jon took the lead in representing a minority partner in a fiercely litigated skilled-nursing facility business partnership dispute that included an award of advancement of their client’s attorneys’ fees and affirmed by the Dallas Court of Appeals, eventually resulting in a confidential settlement for the client on the eve of trial. 

Jon graduated from Vanderbilt Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt, summa cum laude with Honors. 

Named Rising Star by Super Lawyers, Texas Monthly (2018, 2019)

Education

Vanderbilt Law School
Doctor of Law (J.D.) (2012)
Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Authorities Editor
Summer Law Clerk, Honorable Aleta Trauger, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

Vanderbilt University
B.A., summa cum laude with Honors, History and Political Science (2009)

The University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Parliamentary Internship Programme (2008)

Practice Areas

• Breach of contract
• Non-compete; non-solicit agreements
• Breach of fiduciary duty and partnership disputes
• Consumer class actions
• Fraud
• Misappropriation of trade secrets
• Employment disputes
• Energy and oil/gas disputes
• Financial services litigation
• Real estate/property disputes
• Family and estate litigation