Joseph T. Moran
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
600 Grant Street, Suite 5010
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2802
USA
Phone: +1 412 497 1031
Fax: +1 412 202 3985
Email: JTMoran@duanemorris.com

Joseph T. Moran focuses his practice on commercial and construction litigation, First Amendment/media law and technology/Internet litigation, counseling, planning and policy work.

Mr. Moran has been a regular speaker at local and national conferences and CLE seminars sponsored by the Allegheny County Bar Association, Federal Court Section, PBI, PLI, local universities and graduate schools and corporate entities on commercial litigation, ethics and First Amendment issues, and privacy, electronic discovery, media and ethical issues relating to Internet usage in workplace and media settings and technology/e-commerce issues. He also has written for and served on the faculty of the International Bar Association Conference on Cyberspace Media. Mr. Moran is listed as AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Pennsylvania’s Top Rated Lawyers, Pittsburgh’s Best Lawyers and Pittsburgh’s Top Rated Lawyers for Commercial Litigation.

Mr. Moran is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Bar Associations, where he served as a member of the ACBA Civil Litigation Section Board of Governors. He is a President and Officer of the University of Pittsburgh Law Alumni Association and current Co-Chair of the University of Pittsburgh Law Fellows.

Mr. Moran is a 1986 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was business editor of the Journal of Law and Commerce; a 2000 Masters graduate of Carnegie Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Relations and School of Computer Science (M.S., Electronic Commerce); and a graduate of the University of Scranton (B.S., Business Management, 1979).

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• First Amendment/Media Law and Litigation
• Technology/e-commerce Law

Representative Matters

Litigation

• Represent a leading global provider of engineering and construction services in a series of claims arising from the engineering, procurement and construction of a 790 MW super-critical coal-fired electric generating facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
• Member of trial team responsible for oversight of the e-discovery/discovery process as part of a team that represented a European industrial construction company in a series of disputes arising from the rehabilitation of a blast furnace in the U.S.
• Won liability verdict as co-counsel for power company plaintiff in complex contract action involving implosion and destruction of electric turbine. Case settled prior to damage phase. Orion Power Holdings, Inc. v. Mechanical Dynamics & Analysis, et al. (C.C.P. Allegheny Co.)
• Won $500,000+ plaintiff's jury verdict in piercing the corporate veil case against corporate officer and successfully defended verdict on appeal. Savannah River Wharf Company v. Germain Timber Co. & W Preston Germain, (C.C.P. Allegheny)(Pa. Superior Ct.)
• Won appellate reversal of jurisdictional dismissal (handled by prior counsel) and negotiated settlement of client's claims related to the interstate sale of a defective corporate airplane C. J. Betters Corp. v. Mid-South Aviation Services Inc. (Pa. Superior Ct.)
• Initiated suit and negotiated favorable settlement for franchisee plaintiff in dispute with franchisor regarding protected territorial rights Ray Joll Development Co. v. Quaker Steak & Lube (C.C.P. Mercer Co.)
• Won jurisdictional dismissal in federal contract action involving interstate shipments of woodchips - Germain Timber Co. v. Peeples, et al. (W.D.Pa.)
• Co-counsel on coal supply contract force majeure dispute, which was resolved to mutual benefit of parties. EME Homer City Generation v. Unionvale Coal Company (C.C.P. Indiana)
• Negotiated favorable settlement for impleaded major video distribution company in royalty dispute injunction case. In re Anne of Green Gables (W.D. Pa)
• Successfully negotiated settlement involving new Horseman's Association Agreement regarding Pennsylvania Gaming Act royalty rights. Meadows Standardbred Owners Assoc. v. Centaur Pennsylvania LLC, et al. (C.C.P. Washington Co.)
• Co-counsel in multimillion-dollar environmental insurance claims matter involving favorable settlements from multiple major insurance companies on environmental liability claims. NVF, Inc. v. American Casualty, et al. (C.C.P N.J.)
• Drafted license agreement for new invention and successfully negotiated settlement of contract dispute lawsuit brought to enforce guaranteed royalty rights. Gray Doyle Ideas, Inc. v. L&N Sales & Marketing, Inc.
• Defended damage claims against major oil company in bench trial relating to environmental damage to property resulting from tanker spill. The case resulted in a settlement our client found favorable.
• Member of trial team in successful injunction case brought by major entertainment company, Broadcast Networks and NFL in international piracy injunction case involving theft and rebroadcast of television signals. Obtained effective relief and/or settlement as necessary. Disney, et al. v. icraveTV (W.D. Pa.)
• Acted as trial counsel for many companies involved in commercial or transactional disputes in a wide variety of industries.

First Amendment/Constitutional Matters

• Successfully defended First Amendment, Access, and Shield Law interests of reporters and defended defamation and libel actions for local and major newspapers, publishers and entertainment companies including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Gannett, U.S. News & World Report, CBS, WPXI (NBC),
• Eric Boron, et al., v. Pulaski Township Board of Supervisors, et al.; Successfully argued to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court for reversal of trial court and local township board of supervisors rulings upholding suspension of local business license based on unconstitutionally vague local ordinance.
• Won defense jury verdict in libel trial brought by a senior bank executive against local newspaper and successfully defended verdict on appeal. Wallace v. Johnstown Tribune Publishing Company (C.C.P. Cambria)(Pa. Superior Ct.)
• Won admission of press via King's Bench Petition Orders from Pennsylvania Supreme Court (on behalf of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) to formerly closed jury selection proceedings in racially charged police brutality case involving death of minority suspect. In re Commonwealth v. White Hall Borough Police, et al. (Gammage) (Pa. Supreme Ct.)

Internet and E-commerce

• Counseled clients extensively and drafted various Internet Usage and Privacy policies and Agreements regarding their internal policies on use of the Internet, e-mail, electronic record retention, Do Not Call legislation and various web-based e-commerce issues.
• Drafted web agreements and Internet usage policies for leading companies across several industries, including internet service providers, the nation's oldest real estate organization, one of the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America, a leading asset management and securities services company, an online metal forgings auction site, a supplier of products and services to the global rail industry, and the world's largest supplier of OEM and aftermarket automotive replacement parts to transmission professionals.
• Presented Privacy, Legal Ethics, Internet Usage and Electronic Discovery issues to, among others, the International Bar Association, NACHA Conference; National Business Institute; American Corporate Counsel Association, American Marketing Association; Employment Law Institute, Allegheny County Bar Association (state and Federal Sections) and to private and public industry, including Mellon Bank, PPG, Alperin Rosenthal, Educational forums sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, LaRoche College and Robert Morris University and for Pennsylvania accredited CLE providers PLI, PBI, Lorman and others.

Professional Activities

• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Allegheny County Bar Association
  - Civil Litigation Section; Former Member of Board of Governors
• American Bar Association

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Education

• University of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D., 1986
  - Business Editor, University of Pittsburgh Journal of Law & Commerce, 1985-86
• Carnegie Mellon University, M.S., Electronic Commerce, 2000
• University of Scranton, B.S., Business Management

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2003-present
• Pepper Hamilton, LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  - Partner, 2003
• Reed Smith, LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  - Partner, 1995-2003
  - Associate, 1986-1995

Civic and Charitable Activities

• University of Pittsburgh Law Alumni Association
  - Former President and Officer, 1987-1996
  - Former Board of Governors Member, 1994-1996
• University of Pittsburgh Law Fellows
  - Co-Chair, 2012-2014
• Co-Chair, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Summer Safari Event, 2007-present
• Committee member, Spring Clothes Out Event to benefit Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, 2003-present

Honors and Awards

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation, 2011-2013
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Listed in Pittsburgh's Top Rated Lawyers (2012 Ed.) for Commercial Litigation (LexisNexis/Martindale-Hubbell)