Jonathan B. Koch
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Biography

Jonathan Koch works in Smith Haughey’s litigation practice group. He focuses his practice on civil appeals, professional liability defense, and high-stakes commercial litigation.

In addition to extensive experience briefing complex issues in Michigan’s trial courts, he has litigated dozens of appeals in the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Before joining Smith Haughey, Jonathan was a member of a nationally recognized appellate practice group at a leading Detroit-area litigation firm; and, before that, he served as a judicial law clerk for Michigan Supreme Court Justice David F. Viviano.

Jonathan graduated from Andrews University with a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and English Literature. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School. While in law school, Jonathan interned with the Solicitor General of Michigan and Judge Stephen J. Murphy, III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He also worked to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals as a student attorney with the Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Admitted

State Bar of Michigan, 2016

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2016

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 2016

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2016

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2021

Education

University of Michigan Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2015)

Andrews University (B.A., magna cum laude, Political Science and English Literature)

Accolades

Included in the 2022-2024 editions of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Appellate Practice

Included in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Legal Malpractice Law

Selected to the 2022-2023 Michigan Rising Stars lists for Appellate

Named to the 2021-2023 Grand Rapids Magazine Top Lawyers lists for Appellate Law

Named to the 2021-2023 Grand Rapids Magazine Top Lawyers lists for Legal Malpractice Law

Selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2022 Class of Up & Coming Lawyers

Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan Appellate Practice Section, Council Member

State Bar of Michigan Standing Committee on Civil Procedure and Courts, Member

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies

Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, Member

Republican National Lawyers Association

Washtenaw County Bar Association, Former Federal Practice Section Co-Chair