The First Assistant County Attorneys

Jonathan Fombonne is a First Assistant County Attorney, where he advises Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee directly and oversees all litigation and enforcement efforts in the Harris County Attorney’s Office, including the Affirmative Litigation, Compliance, Environmental, and Real Estate divisions.  Jon also serves as trial and appellate counsel on a number of the County Attorney’s Office’s most high-profile matters.

Prior to his appointment as First Assistant, Jon was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Houston, where he had a diverse civil litigation and trial practice, focusing on securities, bankruptcy, and complex commercial litigation.  Jon also maintained a significant pro bono practice, including serving as trial counsel for a class of undocumented teenagers in a high-profile lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security challenging certain detention practices.

Jon also practiced law at two other national law firms in Texas and New York.  Jonathan started his career with a clerkship for Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr., Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Swarthmore College.  He lives in Houston with his wife, Lauren Stadler, and their two children.

Jon can be reached at Jonathan.Fombonne@harriscountytx.gov. 

Jay K. Aiyer is a First Assistant County Attorney, where he advises Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee directly and oversees the general counsel, public law, and protective services divisions. In this role, he also serves as board counsel to the Harris County Commissioners Court. 

Jay has an extensive background in the public and private sector. He spent over a decade and a half in academia as an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Texas Southern University. Additionally, he served as an adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Downtown and South Texas College of Law, where he taught law and political science. 

Prior to his career in academia, he was in private practice with Foster Quan, LLP (formerly Tindall & Foster, P.C.) and previously served as an attorney with the firm of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, Williams, White and Martin where he was focused on commercial and public finance. His private sector experience also includes working with Deloitte Consulting, where he served as a Senior Management consultant specializing in operational improvements for the public sector, K-12, and Higher Education.  He is the author of several reports on management solutions in governmental operations. 

Jay’s government experience has included work as a legislative assistant in the Texas State Senate and in the City of Houston, where he served as Chief of Staff to Mayor Lee P. Brown. He is a graduate of South Texas College of Law and the University of Texas at Austin. Jay lives in Southwest Houston with his wife, Nirja Sharma Aiyer.

Jay can be reached at Jay.Aiyer@harriscountytx.gov.