Deborah Yoon Jones

• Representing and advising a major petroleum company regarding complex franchise disputes involving the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA), miscellaneous real estate disputes, and general marketing and advertising issues with branded gasoline stations and mini-market convenience stores in states west of the Rockies.
• Represented a department store chain in consumer protection action and defeated injunctive relief sought by the government.
• Represented a major financial institution on more than 35 cases concerning the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act/Rosenthal Act and other unfair debt collection laws.
• Represented a major institutional lender in litigation in California and Texas concerning multimillion-dollar CMBS loan secured by an office building in Dallas.
• Represented one of the largest bank-affiliated equipment leasing and finance companies regarding the enforcement and collection of various equipment, electronics, and other security.
• Assisted a major institutional lender with a defaulted $19 million loan secured by retail property in Claremont, California.
• Represented a major lender in an $85 million loan secured by retail property in Orange County, California, and assisted in its sale by the receiver to a third party.
• Handled out-of-state matters concerning defaulted residential loans and home equity lines of credit. Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a lender in Maryland. Negotiated payment by an escrow agent for the entire loan amount for the agent’s failures pertaining to the deed of trust. Defended a wrongful foreclosure action and negotiated full payment.
• Represented a receiver in a lender/borrower dispute concerning commercial real property in Westwood, California.
• Represented the borrower on a defaulted loan on retail property in California and obtained summary judgment on behalf of the borrower.
• Represented a landlord of commercial property in unlawful detainer proceedings that resulted in the full payment of past due rent and the eviction of the tenant.
• Represented a home builder in actions brought by prospective and actual purchasers of homes based on purchase sale agreement disputes.
• Represented the landlord of an industrial property concerning an unauthorized occupant and defaulting tenant.
• Defended a major petroleum company against a gasoline-station owner in a breach of contract action in San Diego Superior Court after a three-day bench trial.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a major petroleum company on PMPA and price-fixing claims.
• Defeated numerous preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) motions on behalf of a major petroleum company in gasoline franchise terminations. One such success resulted in the closing of six stations run by one franchisee. Successes also include the dissolution of TROs granted by the court.
• Obtained a TRO and preliminary injunction against a gasoline-station owner infringing on the trademarks and service marks of a client.
• Defended a national trucking company in various union grievance arbitrations involving issues of employment termination in Northern California (a typically pro-union jurisdiction). Represented the same client in an NLRB proceeding and a DLSE investigation that resulted in the charges being dropped by the terminated employee.

Deborah (Debbie) Jones is a partner in the Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group and currently serves as the partner-in-charge of the firm’s mentoring program. She is a business litigator whose clients include major financial institutions and servicers, major petroleum companies, a hazardous waste/petroleum hauling trucking company, telecommunications carriers, insureds and insurers, commercial real estate landlords and developers, real estate agents, and other businesses and individual business owners. She has litigated a wide variety of disputes in California state and federal courts, including matters involving general business concerns, commercial and residential foreclosures, unfair debt collection issues (FDCPA, FCRA, Rosenthal Act, etc.), unlawful detainer and commercial leasing disputes, commercial and residential easements, franchise matters involving the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA), and real estate broker/agent commissions. Debbie also has experience representing national companies with their employment issues, which involve allegations of wrongful termination based on racial, gender, and age discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. She has also handled union grievances and advised on labor disputes. She has also litigated cases involving corporate control/partnership disputes, construction defects, legal and accountant malpractice and fraud, trademark infringement and insurance bad faith.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• Georgetown University (J.D., 1995)
• University of California, Irvine (B.A., 1992)

Memberships