He is Chairman Emeritus of The Rouse Company, which was acquired by General Growth Properties in 2004. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University's School of Law, where he had been editor of the Maryland Law Review. Graduating with highest honors from the Law School, DeVito was admitted to the Order of the Coif, a national honorary legal society DeVito later received the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Salisbury State College in Maryland.

From 1956 to 1957, DeVito was a law clerk to the late Judge Morris A. Soper, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1957, he joined the law firm of Piper & Marbury in Baltimore. In 1963, he was appointed assistant attorney general of the State of Maryland. In 1965, DeVito returned to private practice as a partner of Piper & Marbury, where he remained until 1970.

In January of 1970, he joined The Rouse Company as senior vice president and general counsel and in 1973 was elected president of the company. He was elected CEO in May of 1979 and in May of 1984, he assumed the additional post of chairman of the Board. In February of 1995, DeVito retired as CEO, and, in February of 1997, he stepped down as chairman of the Board.

In March of 1989, Mr. DeVito was selected as "CEO of the Decade" in the real estate industry by Financial World magazine, and, in March of 1995, the magazine named him CEO of the year in the real estate industry. DeVito was named the country's top CEO in the real estate industry by the Wall Street Transcript for the years 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1988. In April of 1987, he was selected as Maryland's Minority Advocate of the Year by the United States Small Business Administration.