Joseph A. D'Avanzo
Partner
Joseph A. D’Avanzo is Chair, Complex Litigation and Senior Member, Excess Trial Team at the firm’s New York White Plains office. His broad-based practice includes complex commercial and civil liability litigation in both state and federal courts. His clients include members of the aerospace, biotech and life sciences, construction, entertainment, fashion, sports, product manufacturing, real estate, and technology industries.
Overview
Joe regularly represents companies that are the subject of mass tort and class action litigation and has a proven track record as a trial attorney in “bet the company” cases. He is a former law secretary to a New York State Supreme Court Justice in Manhattan and is known by his clients and fellow members of the bar as an innovator, problem solver and trusted advisor. He is among a dwindling breed of attorneys with actual trial verdicts in high-exposure cases and with the sought after judgment that comes with that experience. Joe has become a “go to” attorney in the fashion industry as a result of the knowledge gained from being lead counsel for the defense in an antitrust class action against the leading fashion model agencies in New York (and other class actions that followed). He regularly represents fashion model agencies and fashion models in contract disputes, breach of restrictive covenants, representation agreement negotiations, branding, personal appearance and endorsement deals.
In addition, Joe has acted as lead trial and national coordinating counsel for Fortune 500 corporations and lead and liaison counsel in mass tort litigation. Whether it is antitrust, asbestos, breach of contract civil rights, defamation, insurance coverage, personal injury, products liability, securities, toxic tort, or wrongful death claims, Joe has met his clients’ needs through cost-effective resolution strategies derived from vast experience. Joe also serves as a mediator for the New York State Court system. In addition to training mediators for the New York State’s ADR program, Joe serves on the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge’s ADR Advisory Committee.
Admissions
- New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
Education
- B.S., LeMoyne College, cum laude, 1979 J.D.,
- New York Law School, cum laude, Law Review, 1982
Memberships & Affiliations
- Instructor on the NYS Court System’s Early Neutral Evaluation program
- New York County Advisory Committee on ADR, N.Y.S. Supreme Court
- N.Y.S. Supreme Court, New York County Advisory Committee on Tort Litigation
- New York City Courts, Tort Advisory Committee
- N. Y. S. Bar Assoc. (Trial Lawyers Section)
- New York County Lawyers’ Association
- Law Secretaries and Law Assistants Collegium, Inc.
- Federal Bar Council
- Defense Research Institute
- Assoc. of Law Secretaries of the Supreme & Surrogate’s Courts