Joel Mohrman is the senior litigator for intellectual property, commercial, and insurance matters for McGlinchey Stafford. He has litigated extensively for Fortune 500 companies as well as for individuals and smaller entities, and has tried over three dozen cases as first chair.
Joel has been trying cases for 30 years, and has appeared in the courts of a dozen different states in which he has been admitted pro hac vice.
He has been a member of the management, nominating, marketing, points, and policy committees of McGlinchey Stafford, and heads up the E-discovery initiative of McGlinchey Stafford. Joel is one of the team leaders of the firm's commercial litigation section. He is the former managing partner for the Houston office of McGlinchey Stafford, having stepped down to focus on building the intellectual property and commercial litigation practice for McGlinchey Stafford.
Litigation
The majority of Joel's practice is concentrated on intellectual property litigation, specifically patents, trade secrets and covenants not to compete. Joel has also litigated copyright and trademark matters. Over the years, Joel has handled approximately 100 trade secret and covenant not to compete cases. Joel also has handled numerous class actions, complex commercial litigation and litigation involving lenders.
Because of Joel's extensive litigation and trial experience Joel has obtained three board certifications:
· Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law
· Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy a division of the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification (an American Bar Association Affiliate)
· Certified as an Advocate by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy a division of the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification (an American Bar Association Affiliate)
Indicative of his depth of experience handling intellectual property matters and his outstanding reputation in the legal community, Joel is frequently invited to speak to industry groups and other organizations on various intellectual property topics. Most recently, Joel joined the prestigious faculty of the American Conference Institute's expert forum on employment trade secret protection and litigation.
Representative Cases
· Schlumberger and its affiliate WesternGeco - cases ranging up to eight figure amounts. Joel has handled numerous trade secret and covenant not to compete cases successfully for these organizations, both at final trial and in injunction proceedings.
· Sandwich Chef Litigation - This litigation, which involved claims of in excess of $5 billion against most major insurers in the United States, involved approximately 50 different defense firms. Joel was selected as the lawyer among all these defense firms to argue the Motion to Dismiss for the Defendants.
· Trahan Class Action Litigation - This litigation involved claims of between $750 million and 1 billion. Joel was the lead counsel for Washington Mutual Bank, the largest savings and loan institution in the country. Joel was handling all class certification and merits issues for Washington Mutual in this litigation.
· Massive Fire Damage Case - Joel was lead counsel for a defendant accused of negligently starting a fire that consumed 8,500 acres in the hill country with 9 figure demands by a group of plaintiffs.
· Large Gas Explosion Case - Joel has acted as outside counsel for a company defending a multiple death action case involving a natural gas explosion.
· The May Department Stores Company - Joel has handled numerous matters including several very large trade secret intellectual property matters for one of the largest retailers in the United States. Joel has been a part of cases obtaining injunctions to prevent the breach of covenants not to compete and the revelation of trade secrets for The May Department Stores Company.
· Veolia Water N.A. - Joel has handled litigation for the largest water services provider to municipalities in the world in Alabama. This litigation included breach of fiduciary duty, theft of trade secrets and related issues and involved multi-million dollar amounts.
· Brass/Jones Litigation - Joel represented his client against Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, in litigation that involved eight figure amounts which stretched over a period of seven years.
· USI Insurance Services, Inc. - Joel has represented this publicly traded insurance brokerage in numerous matters relating to trade secrets, covenants not to compete, and contract litigation in several different states. These matters have ranged up to multi-million dollar amounts.
Professional Affiliations
· American Bar Association, Former Chair and Current Vice Chair for the Business Litigation Committee for the Tort Insurance Practice Section; Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee; Member of the Annual Program Committee, Litigation, Intellectual Property and Law Practice Management Sections.
· American Intellectual Property Law Association
· Houston Bar Association, Member of the Litigation Committee and has presented numerous seminars for the HBA on various trial tactics and other litigation related matters.
· State Bar of Texas, Member of the Anti-Trust, Litigation and Intellectual Property Committees.
Presentations
· "Trade Secrets and Covenants Not to Compete," American Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2006
· "Trade Secrets and Covenants Not to Compete," Texas State Bar, Business Section
Publications
· "Recent Developments in Intellectual Property Law," 47:1 Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal 333-357, Co-authors: Joel Mohrman and Drew Patty, as well as Perry S. Clegg, C. Todd Kinard, and Jonathan D. Mutch, (2011)
· "Recent Developments in Business Litigation," Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, 2010-2011
· "Injunction Bonds: An Important Yet Overlooked Part of Noncompete Litigation," Business Torts Journal, Summer 2008
· "Handling Business Torts," Thomson West, 2008
· "Intellectual Property May Be Your Most Valuable Asset," Growth, August 2007
· "New Non-Compete Stipulations Let Businesses Breathe Easier," Houston Business Journal, April 20, 2007
· "Trade Secrets and Covenants Not to Compete," The Practical Lawyer, 2006
· "Recent Developments in Intellectual Property Law," 46:2 Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal 461-482, Co-authors: Joel W. Mohrman, R. Andrew Patty II, Randolph Stuart Sergent & Anderson Cao (2011)
Community and Other Activities
· ESCAPE Family Resource Center, Board Member and Former President (twice), Leader of the Real Estate Task Force
· St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Board Member, Council Member, Sunday School Teacher, and Lay Leader
· Mercury Baroque Orchestra, President, Board of Directors, Former Secretary
Professional Recognition
· Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated Lawyer
Awards & Honors
Lexis Nexis Martindale-Hubbell® AV™ Peer Review Rated