About John T. Bender

John Bender focuses his practice on winning high stakes legal disputes and providing strategic advice for businesses and their boards and executives. John's thriving practice, while based in Seattle where he lives with his wife and daughters, is in high demand and increasingly global, with cases and clientele stretching from New York to California, to East- and Southeast Asia.

Clients hire John because he understands how both sides think and he knows how to win. In 2025, John was honored with the prestigious Outstanding Plaintiff’s 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 both 2024 and 2025. He has been consistently ranked by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America every year since 2021 and Super Lawyers: Rising Stars since 2017. 

John represents public and private companies in cases involving exposure in the tens- and hundreds of millions of dollars. He has deep experience prosecuting and defending high-profile, bet-the-company matters involving a range of issues, including breach of contract, securities, partnership and shareholder disputes, corporate governance, ownership of intellectual property, class actions, claims of fraud and embezzlement, unfair or deceptive practices, franchising, real estate development, supply chain disputes, and intellectual property including trade secrets. John’s cases are routinely covered in major news publications, such as TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Puget Sound Business Journal, and The Seattle Times.

John also regularly defends companies and executives in enforcement matters involving local, state, and federal regulatory agencies including WA DFI, SEC, and state attorneys general. He also handles matters involving internal misconduct investigations, reputational harm, and crisis management.

John’s practice spans a wide range of industries from technology, private equity, venture capital, to financial services, energy, media, manufacturing, and entertainment.  In addition, he has substantial experience using complex litigation, or the credible threat of litigation, to promote his clients’ business objectives in venture capital, private equity, sale, merger and other deal-related contexts. Among other victories, John served as court-appointed “special counsel” and lead trial lawyer in two of the largest cases of investment fraud of record in Pacific Northwest history, in which creditors asserted nearly US$1 billion in combined losses. In both cases, John prevailed in establishing the founders operated historic nine-figure Ponzi schemes.

John has a substantial record of thought leadership and pro bono service in the broader community. John sits on the nonprofit board of Washington Technology Industry Association. He is an advisory board member for Northwest Quantum Nexus. He is a member of WTIA’s Cascadia Blockchain Council and served on the Washington blockchain workgroup sponsored by the Washington State Department of Commerce. He is a past volunteer and speaker for the City of Seattle's New Citizen Campaign. He is a past board member and chair of the WSBA’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board. He also sits on King County’s judicial conferencing and judicial officers survey committees.

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.