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Industries

Practices

Languages

  • English
  • Russian (not fluent)

Biography

Joe counsels a wide range of companies on international matters, serving as outside general counsel to many small to large multinational businesses. For more than forty years, Joe has guided business owners in their formation and growth, through investment in the U.S. and abroad, joint ventures, agent and distributor systems, and other techniques. He has served as an advocate, litigator, and arbitrator for cross-border disputes. A traveler to eighty countries, he has lectured on five continents and published broadly on global matters. Joe has also represented firms and individuals in about two hundred securities arbitrations and court cases and is a nationally recognized expert in structured settlements.

Joe founded and led the firm’s International Services Group for thirty years, serving now as counsel to this diverse, multi-lingual team. He founded PrivacyRules, a global alliance of technology and law firms dedicated to data privacy compliance, of which Frost Brown Todd is a U.S. member. As the Data Privacy Detective, Joe has posted about a hundred podcasts on this popular series, carried by major podcast platforms. His civic and charitable endeavors include major arts and faith organizations, a solar project in Colombia to lift the incomes of poor farmers, and summer reading camps for struggling youth from under-resourced neighborhoods. His first novel, The Seventh Trumpet, was released in June 2022.

Other Info About Joe

Experience

Legal Work Highlights

Global merger and acquisition work examples:

  • Represented management team in $200 million second round of private equity purchase of legal support company.
  • Purchase and sale of America’s largest spirits distillery by Trinidad company.
  • Sale of U.S./U.K./Irish robotic monitoring business.
  • Formation of first Ukraine/U.S. offshore reinsurance company.

International counseling and commercial advice for  multinational software businesses, automotive parts suppliers, global candy maker, laser inventor, angel and development stage entrepreneurs.

Reorganization of multiple European entities of U.S. company for tax and operational efficiency.

Management of domestic and global distribution/agency/licensing agreements for medical products, software, machinery, food products and other goods and services.

Formation of U.S. entities for businesses from over 30 countries.

Joint venture and strategic alliance structuring in more than 30 countries.

Global personnel counseling, including tax aspects for U.S. and non-U.S. persons and entities.

Resolution of FCPA, USAID, Customs and OFAC claims against U.S. companies and company policies, procedures and training to prevent corruption.

Limited liability company formation and operating agreement negotiation.

Defense of hostile takeover battle (including litigation over constitutionality of Ohio corporate statutes).

Recovery of multiple $ millions in Ponzi scheme, boiler room and other securities class and group actions.

Trial and settlement of over 200 securities disputes, including more than 100 FINRA arbitrations.

35-year representations in structured settlement industry; including service as expert witness for U.S. Government in successful structured settlement criminal prosecution.

Founding chairman of PrivacyRules, an international alliance of tech and law firms focused on data privacy and cybersecurity.

Several Advisory Boards.

Education

Law School

Harvard Law School, J.D., 1973, with honors

Undergraduate School

Princeton University, A.B., 1970, with honors

Bar Memberships

Joe is licensed to practice in the following state(s):

Ohio, 1973

Florida, 1986

Courts

Joe is admitted to practice before the following court(s):

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

U.S. Court of International Trade

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Life Member of Judicial Conference)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Recognition

Local & National Recognition

Selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers® 2005-2022

The Best Lawyers in America®: International Arbitration – Commercial, 2011-2024; International Trade and Finance Law, 2005-2024, “Lawyer of the Year,” 2018

AV Preeminent® Rated, Martindale-Hubbell®

Outstanding Mentor Contribution Award Recipient, Alloy Growth Lab, 2023

Professional Affiliations

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

American Bar Association (International Law Section), 1975-present

Ohio State Bar Association

The Florida Bar

Japan American Society of Greater Cincinnati, Board Member, President 2019-present

Union Internationale des Avocats

PrivacyRules Ltd., Founding Chairman

Adjunct Lecturer (International Business Transactions) University of Cincinnati Law School, 1993-96

Multilaw (multinational association of 75+ independent law firms) – Executive Council member (2005-2012), Chairman of Business Development (2006-2011)

ABA Task Force on Litigation and the World Wide Web, 2000, Co-Chair

ABA International Litigation Committee, Vice-Chair, 2002-04

Founding Chairman, Ohio State Bar Association International Law Committee; Member

Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, Member, 1996-2005

Southern Ohio District Export Council, Chairman (2001-2010), Member

Founding President, Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister Cities Project

Founding Chairman, Foreign Policy Leadership Council of Greater Cincinnati

Co-organizer of Ohio-Ukraine Rule of Law Program

Chairman, India-US Business Network, 2010-2014

Founding Chairman, European-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati (2007-08), Board member

French-American Business Association of Greater Cincinnati, President (2006-07)

Chairman, Advisory Committee on Model Ohio Jury Instructions for Securities Law (2010)

Chancellor, Diocese of Southern Ohio (Episcopal) 1998-present

Cincinnati/Hamilton County Public Library Foundation Director, Past President, 2009-2019

Cincinnati Ballet, Trustee, 2014-2020; Cincinnati Ballet Foundation, 2020-present

Music Hall Revitalization Company, Trustee, VP Finance Committee

Co-Founder, Summer Camp Reading (www.summercampreading.org)

Princeton University, Trustee,1970-74

Ohio Historical Society, Trustee, 1974-78

Cincinnati Planning Commission, 1982-83

Charter Committee of Cincinnati, Chairman, 1982-86

The Literary Club, President, 2019-2020

The Writers’ Circle, Member

DeToqueville Society/United Way, Member, through 2020

OMID USA – Board Member

Soler Solutions, Ltd. – Chairman

Past Civic Charitable Boards – Cincinnati Preservation Association, Miami Purchase Preservation Fund, Queen City Housing Corporation, Greater Cincinnati Tennis Association, Princeton Club of Southern Ohio, Queen City Foundation, Episcopal Community Services Foundation, Xavier University Williams College of Business, Center for International Business Advisory Board

Firm Committees

Joe serves or has served in the following leadership role(s) at Frost Brown Todd:

International Services Practice Group, former Group Leader

Ohio PAC Chair

Major Publications

Joe is an author or contributor to the following publications:

“Protecting People from the Dark Side of ‘Smart’ Devices,” co-authored with Michael Nitardy. Published by Bringing Together the World’s Lawyers (August, 2019).

Presenter to NKITA on USMCA, March 2019

Impermanent partnerships: evaluating JVs, Financier Worldwide, November 2018 – quote included in article

Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments, ALM Media (First published in 1986 and updated every 6 months since)

Equity-Based Crowdfunding Outside the USA, 83 University of Cincinnati Law Review No. 2 (2014)

United States chapter of Joint Ventures, a Global Guide from Practical Law, Thomson Reuters (2015-17)

United States chapter of India Unleashed, Legally India, Global Legal Media Ltd. (2017)

United States chapter of International Disputes, Legally India, Global Legal Media Ltd. (2018)

Equity Crowdfunding and Crowdlending in the United States, Current Trends in Start-Ups and Crowdfunding, UIA LexisNexis Publications

Joint Ventures in United States, Practical Law/Thomson Reuters (2015-2017 and 2021 edition)

“UIA Project: Training for the Kurdistan Bar Association CLE Programme.” Fachteil Andere Rechtsgebiete 45 (May 2013)

“UIA LexisNexis Publications: Compliance – Challenges and Opportunities for the Legal Profession” US Trade Sanctions: How the Complicated Regime of US OFAC Sanctions and The SDN Lists Work Together. pp 141-143

“Roundsourcing,” a chapter of International Law for CEO’s, 2013, published by ExecSense.

Lecturer on international business topics (once a month average)

Over 50 posts at www.fbtchina.com

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