Joe’s practice focuses on complex business litigation.

Joe’s trial experience includes:

• a jury trial in the Eastern District of Virginia “Rocket Docket” between competitors in the student loan industry;
• a patent infringement jury trial in New Jersey concerning memory chips, which was named to the National Law Journal’s 2007 Defense Hot List;
• a customs fraud jury trial in the Court of International Trade concerning rebates for imported surgical instruments;
• an antitrust suit in Iowa involving high fructose corn syrup; and
• a corporate tax case in the US Tax Court regarding depreciation of equipment in the steel industry.

Joe’s experience also includes an employment discrimination jury trial in the Southern District of New York; a partnership fraud and accounting trial in Roanoke, Virginia; and a breach of fiduciary duty/legal malpractice trial in Fairfax, Virginia.

He is a member of the American Law Institute. Joe has served as an Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University School of Law.

Prior to entering private practice, Joe clerked first for the Hon. Phil M. McNagny, Jr., of the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, and then for the Hon. Paul C. Weick, of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He practiced on Wall Street before moving to Washington.

Joe has been recognized by Chambers USA for Litigation (Band 3): General Commercial (District of Columbia), 2010 through 2018. According to Chambers USA 2018, Joe has “great judgment” and “always brings great experience to bear.”  Chambers USA has described him as “meticulous in meeting client expectations” (2010), and “very responsive, innovative, and tactical in his strategy” (2011). Chambers USA 2012 noted that Joe “consistently provides practical and workable advice where there is a risk of litigation and resolves disputes quickly and efficiently when it is possible to do so.” According to Chambers USA 2013, Joe is “hard-working, insightful, organized and very good at executing a strategy.” “Lauded by clients for being ‘extremely attentive, approachable and thorough,’” (Chambers USA 2014), Joe has also been “praised by clients for his ability to ‘take the time to understand our business and our interests’”  Further, clients note “that he is a ‘winner and is very personable.’”(Chambers USA 2015). He has been described as a “very thorough and effective litigator.” (Chambers USA 2017). Joe has also been named to Super Lawyers Washington, DC for 2014-2018.

Joe has spoken extensively, including before:  the Association of Corporate Counsel, National Capital Region (including “When Litigation Darkens The Door to the C-Suite” and “Avoiding False Claims Act Litigation (and What to Do If You Can’t)); the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Resources; the Corporate Counsel Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation;  the ABA TIPS Spring Meeting; the New York branch of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (on tuition clawbacks); and the American Conference Institute's National Conference on Consumer Finance Class Actions and Litigation.

Joe has served on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and has lectured on civil trials for the Institute for US Law. And he serves on the volunteer mediator panels for both the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. He organized and moderated programs on mediation advocacy for both the ABA Dispute Resolution Section and the DC Bar.

Joe coordinates Hunton’s Litigation Skills Training Program. He co-chaired the Washington office Pro Bono Committee for several years.

Joe is admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, the US Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh, DC and Federal Circuits; the US District Courts for the District of Columbia, District of Maryland, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the Southern District of Texas; and the US Tax Court. 

Relevant Experience

• Defended a borrower class action in the Central District of California involving loan interest methodology and late fees.
• Represented a multi-state company in a state corporate income tax refund action in the North Carolina Business Court.
• Prepared amicus briefs to the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court in a case involving collection costs for student loans.
• Defended a newspaper in a lender liability action brought as an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court in Virginia.
• Litigated a securities and derivative action in Texas involving a health care company.
• Represented a scientific organization in the Eastern District of New York and the Second Circuit in a suit attacking a report the organization published.
• Handled litigation in the Southern District of New York arising under the successor obligor provisions of an indenture agreement.
• Represented a major retailer in a subsidence case in West Virginia.
• Defended a temporary restraining order in a Lanham Act case in Maryland involving country of origin issues, and argued the appeal on an issue of first impression in the 4th Circuit.
• Litigated a registration rights agreement in state court in Delaware.
• Represented a financial institution in a False Claims Act case.
• Handled a breach of warranty case in New York state court involving the purchase of a business.
• Defended the national secondary market for student loans in class actions filed in Texas and Georgia, including two appeals to the 11th Circuit.
• Represented a real estate investment trust in an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court in Maryland concerning whether a loan was secured or unsecured.
• Asserted the California Anti-SLAPP statute to defend a scientific publication.
• Defended a Fair Credit Reporting Act suit.
• Handled a baseball memorabilia partnership dispute on behalf of a Hall of Fame baseball player in Florida.
• Litigated a public accommodations discrimination action involving the car rental industry in Washington, DC, and an Americans With Disabilities Act public accommodations claim involving financial services in the Eastern District of New York.
• Defended, pro bono, two college journalists in a defamation action in the Eastern District of Virginia.
• Developed the damages defense in an arbitration involving real estate investments and carried interests.
• Litigated internet defamation cases, toxic tort cases, and employment discrimination class actions. 

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, New York University School of Law, Member, Annual Survey of American Law; Author, "First Amendment Rights," Annual Survey of American Law, 1978BA, State University of New York at Buffalo, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, City Editor of The Spectrum, 1975