Attorney Profiles

Ms. DeJong worked for three years as an associate for Ingerman Smith, a Northport law firm that specializes in labor law and education law. Thereafter, she became a solo practitioner and practiced law for three years mainly in the labor law and domestic relations areas.

In 1988, Ms. DeJong joined the Suffolk County Attorney's Office and spent 14 of her 16 years with the office defending federal civil rights cases and employment discrimination cases. Initially, while in the Torts Bureau, she averaged thirteen trials per year and appeared before judges in the Eastern District of New York on a routine basis. She also argued many appeals in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has successfully defended two police shooting death cases against the Suffolk County Police Department (Merzon v. Suffolk County, 767 F. Supp. 432 (E.D.N.Y. 1991) (ADS), Deegan v. Suffolk County (FB)) and countless other excessive force cases. She obtained defendants' verdicts on two failure to protect cases brought by women who claimed the county had a policy and practice of selective enforcement of assault claims which caused them to be injured by their spouses (Eagleston v. Guido, 790 F.Supp. 416 (E.D.N.Y. 1992)(LDW), aff'd 41 F.3d 865 (2d Cir. 1994), Brown v. Suffolk County (Sup. Ct. Suffolk Co.)). She also defended the Suffolk County Police Department and Sheriff's Department in several search and seizure, false arrest, and malicious prosecution cases.

After spending four years in the Torts Bureau, Ms. DeJong transferred to the General Litigation Bureau and continued to represent county agencies in federal court defending employment discrimination cases. She has successfully defended actions brought against the county alleging race, gender and disability violations, i.e. (Joyce v. Suffolk County, 911 F.Supp. 92 (E.D.N.Y. 1996)(ADS), Bostick v. Suffolk County, 191 F.Supp.2d 665 (E.D.N.Y. 2002)(TCP)). She had the opportunity to successfully argue a landmark copyright case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (Suffolk County v. First American Real Estate Solutions, 261 F.3d 179 (2d Cir. 2001)). In 2001, she was promoted to Bureau Chief of the General Litigation Bureau and while supervising nine attorneys, continued to maintain her own caseload and try employment discrimination cases.

Ms. DeJong has taught use of force, powers of arrest, and general liability at the sheriff's academy and police academy. She has also trained county affirmative action officers in such areas as sexual harassment/discrimination investigations and complaint processing. She has to lectured at the New York State Bar Association about litigating and defending actions against municipalities.