Joven, Carol Nemeth

MICHAEL J. JONES was born in the Bronx, New York.  He graduated cum laude and with High Honors from Colgate University in 1980.  He attended Boston College Law School where he received his J.D. in 1983.  Mr. Jones began his legal career as an associate with Whitman & Ransom.  He was a name partner with O’Connor, Morris & Jones from 1987 to 1995, when he joined Ivey, Barnum & O’Mara, as a partner in the litigation department.

Mr. Jones is admitted to the bars of the States of Connecticut and New York.  He is also admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the Southern District of New York, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the United States Supreme Court.  He is also a member of the Connecticut and New York State Bar Associations and the American and Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.  He is a member and past president of the Greenwich Bar Association (2007).  Mr. Jones serves as a Special Master for the Miscellaneous Proceedings Calendar in the Stamford Superior Court.

Mr. Jones’ areas of practice include commercial and corporate litigation, criminal law, personal injury, wrongful death and residential real estate.  He presently chairs Ivey, Barnum & O'Mara's litigation department.

Mr. Jones appears as a legal commentator on various television programs, including NBC News,  NBC's The Today Show , MSNBC Live with Contessa Brewer, News 12 Connecticut and NBC 30 Hartford News.

In addition, Mr. Jones regularly appears on a local radio program, Live in Greenwich. The program provides listeners with up to date information on a wide range of Real Estate topics such as market trends, short sales, foreclosures, refinancing, purchases and sales.  Local real estate professionals join Mr. Jones on the program.

Mr. Jones is active in the local community. He serves on the Board of the Town of Greenwich Parks and Recreation Foundation. He has done volunteer work for the United Way and is a member and past officer of the Colgate University Fairfield County Alumni Club and a member of the Colgate University President’s Club.

Practice Highlights

Mr. Jones has been lead counsel on behalf of the family of the late George Smith, in the renowned case involving the honeymooner’s disappearance from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in 2005.

In June, 2012 Greenwich Magazine featured a cover story entitled “Mystery At Sea” about the Smith case.  The story noted in part that Mr. Jones has for “six years…pursued the Smith case with a cop’s tenacity—a tenacity no doubt bequeathed by his late father, a New York City police detective stationed at Fort Apache, the legendary South Bronx precinct. “I’ve made it my mission to push this case to the point where George’s killer is indicted and convicted,” says Jones.” The Greenwich Magazine article was featured on a billboard in Times Square in May, 2012.

On January 6, 2012, Mr. Jones also appeared on two TV programs concerning the Smith case, NBC’s Dateline, an hour long show about Mr. Smith’s disappearance and NBC’s Today show with Matt Lauer.