John T. Bender

John Bender is partner in the firm's Commercial Disputes and White Collar Defense and Investigations practice groups, where he focuses his practice on winning high stakes legal disputes and strategic advice for growing businesses and executives.

In 2025, John was honored with the Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by Washington Defense Trial Lawyers. He was selected by Benchmark Litigation to its "40 & Under List...the guide to the best and brightest litigators under 40 in the US" in back-to-back years. He has been selected by Best Lawyers to its Ones to Watch list every year since 2021. He has also been selected to the Washington Rising Stars list in business litigation every year since 2017.

John represents public and private companies, executives, and investors in cases involving exposure in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in high stakes commercial litigation and investigations. He prosecutes and defends high-profile, bet-the-company matters involving a range of complex issues, including breach of contract, securities, partnership and shareholder disputes, corporate governance, claims of fraud and embezzlement, unfair or deceptive practices, franchising, trade secrets, and emerging technologies such as digital assets, DeFi, and artificial intelligence. John’s cases have been covered in major publications, including TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Puget Sound Business Journal, and The Seattle Times.

John also defends companies and executives in matters involving regulatory agencies such as DFI, SEC, and state attorneys general. He also handles matters involving various forms of internal investigations, reputational harm, and strategic advice.

As a lawyer with experience at the intersection of US law and emerging technologies such as digital assets, and AI, John frequently speaks and provides legal commentary and analysis regarding these areas.

John’s experience also includes handling complex venture capital and private equity disputes, including litigation involving allegations of investment fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty. In particular, John represented major stakeholders in two of the largest cases of investment fraud of record in Pacific Northwest history, in which creditors asserted nearly US$1 billion in total losses combined. John served as court-appointed “Special Counsel” and lead trial lawyer in these matters in which federal courts determined the organizers each operated nine-figure Ponzi schemes.

John has a substantial record of thought leadership and pro bono service. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the Washington Technology Industry Association's Cascadia Blockchain Council. He is an Advisory Board Member of the WTIA’s Advanced Technology Advisory Board. He served as a member of the Washington Blockchain Workgroup sponsored by the Washington State Department of Commerce. He was appointed as an ad hoc member to the Washington State Bar Association’s Legal Technology Task Force. He is a past volunteer and speaker for the City of Seattle's New Citizen Campaign. He is also a past member and chair of the Washington State Bar Association's Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board.

John received a B.A. from Seattle University, a J.D. from University of Washington, and an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley.