Jonathan Dever, Esq brings a breadth of knowledge to the table for his clients. As a respected litigator, entrepreneur, and an accomplished legislator, he brings more than 20 years of combined experience and perspective handling a vast array of matters, from complex debt restructuring cases, family law and family business matters, to representing various interests in negotiation and advocacy before various bodies. As a strong advocate of individual rights in the legislature, he is able to draw upon his deep understanding of the issues while maintaining a big picture perspective on the desired outcome.
Jonathan is the founding and Managing Member of The Dever Law Firm located in West Chester, Ohio. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati, his Master's Degree in Industrial Labor Relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, studied International Comparative Labor Relations at Adam Mischevich University, attended Oxford University St. Anne’s College, and received his Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law where he received a Certificate of Concentration in Employment and Labor law and was a Member of the Law Review Staff.
While serving in his first term in the Ohio House of Representatives, he was appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Financial Institutions Housing and Urban Development Committee. As Chair, he is charged with overseeing the reform of all Ohio’s financial institutions’ laws, laying out an aggressive agenda of reorganizing and rewriting its foreclosure, lending, real estate, and banking statutes. He continues to serve in this capacity.
In the 131st General Assembly, Mr. Dever wrote and passed comprehensive foreclosure reform, helping families stay in their homes while improving the legal processes of expediting cases of vacancy and abandonment. He also authored a first-of-its-kind lender modification program known as the “D.O.L.L.A.R. Deed” wherein a homeowner who does not qualify for a loan modification may stay in their home as a renter. He has been an outspoken advocate for reforms in lending and housing issues, always finding balance between creditor and debtor rights. Indeed, his foreclosure reform omnibus legislation, HB 463, contained balanced, yet comprehensive solutions for debtors, creditors, and local governments. It is now serving as a model for other states.
Mr. Dever has been a strong voice of the disabled, authoring and shepherding the Ohio Able Act, establishing the first active program in the country to effectively give individuals with disabilities the power to save and invest for their future. He continues to advocate for changes in federal and state law as it relates to housing for the disabled in an ABLE world. In his law practice, Mr. Dever has been recognized as a Super Lawyer Rising Star by Law and Politics. He has also been recognized by Strathmore's Who's Who. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio, before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Southern District Court of Ohio. Mr. Dever’s areas of practice include general litigation, foreclosure law, housing litigation, consumer protection, loan workouts, debt restructuring, real estate litigation, debtor-creditor rights, and asset protection.
Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District Board Member
Cincinnati Bar Association
Mechanicsburg #113, York Rite Rader Urbana, Past Member
Phi Delta Theta - Ohio Theta
Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities Legislator of the Year 2016
Strathmore’s Who’s Who
Ohio Super-Lawyer 2005, 2006 and 2007 Ohio Rising Sta