Joseph D. Steinfield
Partner
Joseph D. Steinfield is a trial lawyer who has represented clients in a wide variety of cases, including complex business disputes, First Amendment litigation, construction cases, fraud cases, intellectual property disputes, wrongful death cases, section 1983 civil rights claims and commercial disputes of all types. Many of his appellate cases have established important precedents under both state and federal law.
Notable trials include the successful defense of a wrongful death case against a major telecommunications company, a lengthy arbitration representing a large shipping company, a multimillion-dollar fraud and civil RICO judgment against a distributor, and several business fraud cases. In late 2007, he won a verdict of nearly $5 million in the Puerto Rico federal court. Joe has argued many appeals in both state and federal courts, including the First and Second Circuits, the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
From 1998-2000, Joe represented the governor of Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico in two high-profile cases, and he continues to appear in Puerto Rico federal court on a regular basis. In 2000, the New Hampshire State Legislature retained him as special counsel in its investigation of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Following impeachment of the chief justice, he served as special prosecutor and tried the case before the New Hampshire State Senate.
He is a member of the commercial arbitrators panel of the American Arbitration Association, and regularly serves as an arbitrator in complex cases. He has been appointed as a neutral on several arbitration panels, including arbitrations under the federal FIFRA statute.
Joe has represented the media in libel, copyright, access and privacy cases. He represented a well-known magazine in a landmark case in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a claim of First Amendment protection for parody. He represented a major Boston newspaper in a leading First Circuit case granting access rights. On behalf of a New Hampshire newspaper he persuaded the New Hampshire Supreme Court to adopt novel procedures under the state’s “Right-to-Know” law. In 2007, he represented a television network in a high-profile defamation case.
Throughout his career, Joe has been active in legal and community organizations. He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1984 and founded its Massachusetts Superior Court Mediation Program. He chaired the College's Emil Gumpert Committee, was a member of its National Trial Competition Committee and currently serves on its Judiciary Committee.
Joe is a currently a member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, served as chair of the Massachusetts Clients’ Security Board, and was the founding chair of the Law Clerks’ Society of the Supreme Judicial Court. For many years, he was a trustee of Roxbury Community College. He is a member of the Judiciary-Media Committee of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a member of the American Law Institute and an adjunct professor at Boston College Law School, where he teaches a First Amendment litigation seminar. In November 2008 he taught as a visiting lecturer at Adygheya State University in Russia.
Since 1993, Joe has been a featured speaker at the Practising Law Institute’s annual Communications Law program in New York. He is co-editor of Damages in Massachusetts Litigation (MCLE), has published numerous articles and book reviews, and he lectures regularly at litigation and media law programs. Joe is also a monthly columnist for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, published in Peterborough, NH.
For more than 20 years, Joe has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America under both business litigation and First Amendment litigation. Most recently, in March 2009, Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition selected Joe as a top attorney in the area of business litigation. He was also named in Chambers USA 2007 and 2008 as one of the country’s leading First Amendment lawyers.
Bar Admissions- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New York
- United States Supreme Court
- District Court of Massachusetts
- U.S. Courts of Appeals, First, Second, Fifth and Federal Circuits
Education- Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1964
- Brown University, A.B., magna cum laude, 1961
Noteworthy- AV® Peer Review Rated
- 2009: Selected as a top attorney in the area of business litigation in Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition
- 2007 – 2008: Named in Chambers USA as one of the country’s leading First Amendment lawyers
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America under both commercial litigation and First Amendment litigation for more than 20 years
- 2004-2008: Recognized as a Massachusetts "Super Lawyer" as featured in Boston magazine
Memberships- American Bar Association
- American College of Trial Lawyers
- American Law Institute
- Boston Bar Association
- Boston Bar Foundation
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers
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