Josh is a trial lawyer who loves to win. So he built a law firm based on winning. Winning is based on who has the strongest team. So he got 10 of the best lawyers he knows and trusts to join him. They all decided to commit to a culture of winning. This wasn’t new – they had worked together for years – but this time they are razor focused on winning for only a few select clients, something that sets them apart.
EDUCATION
- Tulane University Law School
- – JD, magna cum laude
- – Order of the Coif, Moot Court Board, 2000
- Davidson College
- – BA, 1997
- ROTC Scholarship; Reserve Officer’s Award for Leadership
WHERE JOSH PRACTICES
Josh is licensed in three states – Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma – but he handles matters wherever his clients need him and wherever their problems exist.
SPECIAL ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY (SAUSA) AND TRIAL DEFENSE COUNSEL
Served as lead trial attorney in the first Iraqi detainee abuse trial in the United States, which was termed the “Iraqi Bridge Case” — the case was featured as the cover story for The New York Times in October 2005 and was published in the book Warrior King by LTC (Ret.) Nathan Sassaman
Tried more than 40 cases in federal district court and courts-martial, and, at the age of 29, successfully argued appeal of S. v. Wooten, 377 F.3d 1134 (10th Cir. 2004) before the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, Colorado
EXPERIENCE MATTERS
After graduating from Tulane Law, Josh almost immediately began trying cases as a young prosecutor in the Army JAG Corps. He was later appointed as a special assistant US attorney prosecuting offenses in federal court. Following his trial experience as a prosecutor, he switched sides to defend many innocent service members as a trial defense attorney. During his four-year active duty service, Josh tried more than 30 cases, the last of which was known as the Iraqi Bridge case and gained substantial media attention as one of the first Iraqi detainee abuse trials. This experience makes Josh different in the courtroom by giving him the ability to see the forest through the trees and prepare cases with trial as the goal.
Since entering private practice, Josh has continued to try cases. Josh has tried jury trials in state court for large scale commercial disputes and personal injury and death cases. He has tried arbitrations involving hundreds of millions of dollars. He has tried cases in front of federal and state court judges in various jurisdictions. In sum, wherever his clients have their biggest problems, they turn to Josh and his teams for results.
RESULTS MATTER
As you can tell from this list, Josh has handled a lot of different types of lawsuits and on both sides. When Josh’s clients can’t find the trial experience in their other lawyers, they often turn to Josh, sometimes late in the game to helicopter into matters that need to get tried.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore oil and gas operator in 3-week arbitration involving marketing and pipeline partnership disputes seeking over $350 million from my client. Trial verdict was $0.
- Trial lawyer for an on-shore oil and gas operator in a joint venture arbitration seeking more than $100 million related to drilling and completion operations in the Eagle Ford and Niobrara shale plays. Trial verdict was $0.
- Trial lawyer for an offshore oil and gas operator seeking more than $40 million from a drilling contractor for breaches of a deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling contract in federal court in Houston. Settled in my client’s favor shortly before trial.
- Trial lawyer for off-shore drilling company in the re-trial of a Jones Act case. The jury returned a verdict of over $10 million the first time without The Norris Team. With The Norris Team, the jury returned a verdict in the $100s of thousands.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore operator defending against millions in claims for alleged breach of operating agreements. Trial verdict was $0 plus we were awarded our attorneys’ fees.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore operator in arbitration involving title defects stemming from a divestiture of Haynesville Shale assets. Zero verdict.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore operator in dispute over another operator’s claims of title defects in Oklahoma state court. Other party quit and withdrew their claims days before trial.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore operator seeking millions of dollars for breaches of completion services contract. Case settled favorably for my client after 2 days of trial in bankruptcy court.
- Successfully represented oil and gas operator in arbitration related to environmental defects in Barnett Shale transactions.
- Trial lawyer for construction and engineering firm seeking millions for disaster relief efforts on the Texas Gulf Coast after Hurricane Ike. Jury verdict awarding full damages to my client plus attorneys’ fees.
- Trial lawyer for offshore drilling contractor sued for alleged racial discrimination in federal court. All claims dismissed shortly before trial on summary judgment.
- Trial lawyer for on-shore operator suing insurance companies for millions of dollars the company had paid to others to settle a large environment contamination case. Recovered virtually all of the client’s damages.
- Trial lawyer for oil and gas transport and storage company to recover millions for defective pipeline construction. Settled favorably for my client shortly before trial.
- Trial lawyer in numerous pipeline condemnation actions in federal court in support of a major pipeline company’s construction of more than 350 miles of interstate pipeline
- Represented several major gas operators in the Haynesville Shale natural gas field; the matters resulted in dozens of precedent-setting lease cancellation lawsuits and class action lawsuits
- Represented a major oil company in prosecuting contractual indemnity claims in Texas against other oil and gas operators based on potential liability exposures in Louisiana
- Prosecuted a case in Houston seeking more than $70 million based on defective steel pipes that were used in the construction of an oil pipeline of more than 450 miles
- Assumed primary responsibility for numerous cases involving the prosecution or defense of contractual rights related to the distributorship agreements, gas contracts, and employment-related matters, including a successful arbitration for a major pipeline company in Texas
- Represented a major utility and gas transportation and storage company in major, precedent-setting tax litigation in front of the Louisiana Tax Commission