Senior Leadership Team

Jonathan Fombonne is the Deputy County Attorney & 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, and manages issues related to elections and major public law questions. 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 three children.

Roxanne Werner serves as the Director of Communications and Outreach. She leads the team responsible for disseminating key information to the public and holding relationships with communities and media. Previously, Roxanne worked for the Harris County Clerk’s Office where she expanded community relations efforts and led election-related campaigns including the launch of Countywide Polling and a coordinated public information campaign during the 2020 Presidential Election. Roxanne is also a board member of the League of Women Voters Houston and was named a Rising Star by the group in 2014. She has volunteered with other local groups including The Montrose Center and YWCA Houston.

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Tiffany Bingham serves as Managing Counsel with the Affirmative & Special Litigation, Environmental & Compliance Division. She manages affirmative litigation lawsuits filed by the County, national affirmative litigation matters, and Environmental and Compliance Division Directors. From 2016 to 2021, she was a Senior Assistant City Attorney, Deputy Chief of Commercial Litigation for the City of Houston. From 2009 to 2016, she was a partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, where she represented major companies in liability, general civil litigation matters, and more. Previously, Tiffany also served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Eric T. Washington, Chief Judge in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

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Tiffany Reedy serves as Managing Counsel with the Child Protective Services and Disability & Elder Law Divisions. In this role, Tiffany advises Harris County Resources for Children and Adults and oversees global decision-making and strategic planning for each division. She is a contributing member of the Texas Children’s Commission’s Task Force on Court-Appointed Legal Representation. Before becoming a Managing Counsel, Tiffany served as an Assistant County Attorney with the Harris County Attorney’s Office. Tiffany has also worked in the public sector as a Regional Attorney for the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services. Tiffany has been a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc since 1996.

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Seth Hopkins serves as Special Assistant County Attorney. Previously, Seth was the County’s primary appellate counsel, where he handled approximately 50 state and federal appeals in four years. He has argued before the Texas Supreme Court, the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Seth has also worked in private practice, where he represented the longest-serving wrongfully convicted man in Texas history and helped him secure roughly $5 million after 31 years in prison. Additionally, Seth prevailed in the nation’s largest single-client Title II Americans with Disabilities Act case.

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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 serves as Chief of Staff for administrative matters throughout the Harris County Attorney's Office. 

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.

Fabian Arista serves as Chief Investigator. He leads a talented team of 10 Senior Investigators who collaborate across all practice groups to prepare attorneys and paralegals for court hearings and trials. Before becoming Chief Investigator, Fabian served as a Senior Investigator with our office in the Litigation practice group. Fabian has more than 35 years of law enforcement experience with a specialty in long-term national and international investigations. He is certified as a Master Peace Officer by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Previously, Fabian worked as an Internal Affairs Sergeant with the Harris County Constable’s Office and as a Narcotic Investigator with the Houston Police Department.

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Neal Sarkar serves as Special Assistant County Attorney. His portfolio encompasses redistricting of county commissioner precincts, economic justice, elections, and high-profile litigation including high-impact public-interest lawsuits. Previously, Neal worked as a trial lawyer representing plaintiffs and defendants nationwide in civil suits, including disputes related to breach of contract, employment, antitrust, and other business concerns. Neal is the President of the South Asian Bar Association and works with several other community and professional organizations. The Houston Young Lawyers Association and the Texas Young Lawyers Association selected Neal as “Outstanding Young Lawyer” for 2019. Early in his career, Neal volunteered in India to help villagers petition the Supreme Court of India for rights to food, water, and other basic necessities.

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