Joel represents clients in the manufacturing, commercial construction and insurance sectors, while efficiently managing complex problems and high stakes litigation. His experience includes class actions, mass actions and multidistrict litigation.
In addition to successfully defending clients sued in consumer class actions throughout the United States, Joel has served as national counsel for manufacturers in mass tort litigation and multidistrict litigation. Joel’s product liability experience includes defending leading manufacturers of a variety of products, including building products, pharmaceuticals, household appliances, industrial products, and cellular telephones.
Joel is a trusted adviser and experienced advocate for owner/developers, manufacturers, design professionals, and contractors involved in large public and private construction projects of various types, including hotels, airport retail space, multifamily housing, student housing, office buildings, shopping centers, and government buildings. Clients trust Joel to successfully resolve disputes such as construction defect and project delay, to draft and negotiate contracts, and to provide guidance on insurance and surety bond issues.
Joel regularly represents insureds and insurance brokers (wholesale and retail) in complex insurance coverage disputes involving commercial general liability, professional liability, property and builders risk insurance.
Professional Activities
- Bar Association:
- Product Liability (Georgia)
- Tort and Insurance Practice (Georgia)
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Achieved denial of class certification in multiple consumer class actions against leading building product manufacturer in cases filed in numerous states and consolidated in multidistrict litigation.
- Won judgment in excess of $3.3 million on behalf of owner/developer client in litigation against general contractor arising out of termination of general contractor on multiple construction projects.
- Achieved total victory for general contractor client in arbitration of commercial construction dispute arising out of delay in completion of shopping center project (won judgment for full amount of client’s claims and denial of adverse party’s counterclaim for delay damages).
- Achieved settlement in excess of $2 million for manufacturing company in insurance coverage litigation against property insurer.
- Won summary judgment and denial of class certification in consumer class action against financial services company in Ohio. The victory was affirmed on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
