Joe Porcello joined Bousquet Holstein in November 2018 after practicing for over a decade with a top global law firm.  He is a versatile commercial lawyer who helps clients resolve commercial disputes and defend product liability lawsuits, advises clients regarding trademarks/brand protection and marketing and advertising matters, assists policyholders to maximize their insurance coverage, and negotiates commercial agreements.  Joe has substantial international experience, and he is well-equipped to assist clients with cross-border matters.

Commercial and Product Liability Litigation

A substantial focus of Joe’s practice involves assisting clients in favorably resolving commercial disputes, including through litigation, if necessary.  He has broad subject matter experience, representing clients with respect to contract disputes, false advertising / unfair competition matters, trademark and gray market sales issues, and patent litigation.  He has a particular emphasis in marketing and advertising issues, and he represents both plaintiffs and defendants in false advertising actions relating to products as diverse as high-technology industrial products installed in power plants to building products used in residential housing to mass consumer products.  He often presents a Marketing & Advertising Rules of the Road training program to client sales managers and teams.

Joe also has significant experience defending clients facing mass product liability claims, including bodily injury and construction defect claims.

Joe regularly handles challenging e-discovery matters.  He has a strong track record of cost-effectively managing large-scale document collections, reviews, and productions, and he has often helped clients realize substantial cost savings.

Representative matters:

• Advised building products company regarding strategy “reset” for defense of mass product defect claims. Devised parallel strategies to maximize client’s insurance recovery.
• Counseled multiple clients regarding trademark applications/maintenance and enforcement issues, including strategies to combat unauthorized gray market sales.
• Successfully defended energy industry client against unfair competition, false advertising, and antitrust claims in federal court.
• Designed successful strategy for aggressive / rapid response to false advertising campaign of building products client’s chief competitor, including preliminary injunction proceedings.
• Secured early dismissal of significant false advertising claims against pet food client, which was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit on appeal.
• Key member of trial team that obtained an over $1B verdict for a research university client in a patent infringement case relating to hard drive technology, which settled for $750M.

Insurance Recovery Litigation & Counseling

Joe regularly assists policyholder clients seeking insurance coverage in a variety of contexts, including product and construction defect liabilities, property damage, and business interruption losses.  He also provides strategic advice regarding the management of underlying claims to maximize insurance recovery.

Representative matters:

• Negotiated resolution of a significant property damage/business interruption insurance coverage dispute, for full value of claim plus attorney’s fees, reversing denial of coverage.
• Represented power management company in significant toxic tort-related insurance coverage actions pending in Ohio state court and Wisconsin federal court.
• Resolved construction defect insurance coverage dispute relating to alleged failure of client’s product incorporated into building project, resulting in significant coverage.
• Counseled client regarding multi-million dollar commutation agreement between its captive insurance company and reinsurers.
• Managed preparation of power management company’s substantial claim submission against the estate of insolvent insurer relating to toxic tort and environmental liabilities.

Commercial Transactions

Additionally, Joe acts for clients in commercial contracting matters.  He advises clients with respect to the preparation and effective use of standard terms and conditions and the negotiation of various contracts and agreements, including:

• Master services agreements
• Distribution agreements
• Licensing agreements
• Teaming agreements
• Vendor contracts

Joe is a native of Central New York, and he and his family recently relocated back to the area from Pittsburgh.  While in Pittsburgh, Joe was active in the local community as a volunteer coach for youth sports teams and as the Co-President and Vice-President of the board of directors of Chatham Baroque, an internationally-acclaimed classical music ensemble.  He is excited for the opportunity to get involved in the Central New York community.