Jon Polenberg

Practice Areas

BUSINESS LITIGATION

• Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Business & Contract Disputes

• Cross-Border Litigation

• Real Estate Disputes

REAL ESTATE

TRUSTS & ESTATES

Career

Jon has a well-established litigation career in state and federal courts, as well as pursuing alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration on behalf of his clients when the situation warrants. Jon is client-focused while maintaining the highest professional standards.

Before becoming an attorney, Mr. Polenberg pursued a business management career, where he gained valuable insight into the business challenges facing today’s companies. He was a member of a prominent New York law firm, and then started his own firm that engaged in litigating cases involving business torts, class actions, construction, contracts, employment, fraud, insurance coverage, lender liability, and securities litigation.

Professional Memberships

• Member of the Board of Directors for Gilda’s Club South Florida

• Co-Chair of the Business Law Task Force, a committee of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar

• Past Chair of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar

• Past Chair of the Business Litigation Committee of the Business Law Section

• Past Chair of the Legislative Committee of the Business Law Section

• Past Chair of the Federal Court Practice Committee

• Past Chair of the Federal Judicial Round Table for the Federal Court Practice Committee

• Member of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure Committee

• Chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

• Past Chair of the Washington Summit Legislative Initiatives for the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

• Member of the Board of Directors for the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

• Member of the Executive Committee for the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

• Past Chair of the Board for the Transplant Foundation

Publications

• “Interpleaders,” Florida Civil Practice Before Trial, Ch. 23 (14th ed. 2022)

• “Commercial Arbitration,” Business Litigation in Florida, Ch. 4 (11th ed. 2022)

• “Direct Versus Derivative in Shareholder Litigation”, Today’s General Counsel, Winter 2019

• “Commercial Arbitration,” Business Litigation in Florida, Ch. 4 (9th ed. 2017)

• Jon Polenberg & Quinn Smith, Can Parties Play Games with Arbitration Awards? How Mattel May Put an End to Prolonged Gamesmanship, Fla. B.J., May 2009, at 36

Experience

• Lead attorney in a False Claims Act litigation brought by a competitor against Applera Corporation in which the plaintiff claimed damages of $6 billion. The team prevailed on its motion to dismiss.

• Representation of American Airlines in working through the legal challenges presented by the North Terminal Development Program at Miami International Airport.

• Representation of Francisco Javier Ospina Baraya, the grandson of former Colombian President Mariano Ospina Perez, in a defamation suit that arose over claims that the book, “The Infiltrator,” and its subsequent movie, falsely portrayed the client as a central figure of the Medellin drug cartel. In a case that went up against the book’s author as well as publishing powerhouses Penguin Random House and Little, Brown and Company, among others, a Florida Appeals Court sided with the client on the grounds that books and movies are not covered by a presuit notice requirement for defamation suits. The significant ruling sets a precedent for defamation law in the state of Florida.

• Representative clients include: Freedom Steel Building Corporation; Redevco; UniFirst Corporation; Alliant Insurance Services.

Education

Awards