Joseph M. Brunner
Practice Areas
Education
- University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 2007, magna cum laude,
University of Cincinnati Law Review, Managing Editor, 2006-2007 - University of Michigan, B.A., 2003
Bar & Court Admissions
Judicial Clerkships
- The Honorable John D. Holschuh, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, 2007-2009
Joe is a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati office and a member of the litigation group. He has successfully represented large corporations, small businesses, and individuals in a wide variety of cases in both federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels. His practice consists primarily of complex civil litigation, including specific experience with cases involving the False Claims Act, the AntiKickback Statute and Stark Law, insurance disputes, products liability issues, consumer class actions, corporate and government investigations, trade secret and intellectual property disputes, noncompete provisions, and general breach of contract, fraud, and business torts. In addition, Joe has experience with white collar criminal defense work.
Notable experience includes:
- Successfully representing and obtaining dismissals and summary judgments in favor of numerous health care entities and government contractors in False Claims Act litigation and investigations
- Obtaining a declaratory judgment worth more than $60 million in insurance coverage
- Successfully defending large life insurers in a putative class action alleging misrepresentations and breaches of contract
- Representing a large biotechnology company against claims stemming from development of medical devices
- Resolving complex arbitration proceedings involving breach of contract allegations in favor of large engine manufacturer
Joe is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association
Joe received his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law where he was managing editor of the University of Cincinnati Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A. with highest honors from the University of Michigan.
Joe served as a law clerk to the Honorable John D. Holschuh, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Professional and Community Activities
- Cincinnati and Federal Bar Associations
- Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL) – Class XX
- Leadership Council for Nonprofits – BOLD Board Development Class I and Steering Committee Member
- Potter Stewart Inn of Court – Barrister
News
- 1/1/2018Vorys is pleased to announce that Kelly Bissinger, Joseph Brunner, Laura Geyer, David Hine, Jacinto Núñez, Daniel Shuey and Keith Zabela became partners on January 1, 2018.
Events
- 3/18/2021Vorys attorneys returned to host the Vorys On Call: Coronavirus webinar on Thursday, March 18, 2021.
- 4/30/2020In this edition of our weekly COVID-19 webinar, Vorys attorneys again focused their remarks solely on the legal and business issues related to the eventual return to the workplace.
Insights
- 3/11/2021On Wednesday, March 10th, the House passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the third major federal COVID-19 relief act following the CARES Act and the December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act. President Biden is expected to sign it into law Friday.
- 12/31/2020As part of the “CARES Act 2” economic relief bill signed into law on December 27, 2020, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act renews and extends the Paycheck Protection Program created by the original CARES Act.
- 12/27/2020Late on December 27, the President signed a $900 billion relief package that will provide aid to individuals and businesses still struggling with the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both the House and the Senate passed the proposal last week.
- 4/23/2020Following weeks of negotiations, today Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act providing a relief from the widespread economic injury caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
- 4/8/2020Although geared primarily to non-federal governmental entities, the FEMA Public Assistance program also provides funding to eligible private non-profit organizations for "emergency protective measures" to respond to the COVID-19 emergency.
- 4/1/2020In addition to the CARES Act, a number of states have enacted legislation, implemented relief programs, or made available state resources to further assist businesses in combating mounting economic hardships. This alert summarizes the state-specific relief efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
- 3/30/2020In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 197 into law on March 27, 2020, a bill that had passed unanimously in the Ohio General Assembly.
- 3/26/2020The first, in what will undoubtedly be many coverage cases, was filed on March 16th in New Orleans, Louisiana civil district court.
- 3/26/2020Following days of often tense negotiations, the United States Senate has passed the third phase of federal coronavirus relief legislation, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), which will provide $2 trillion in economic aid to individuals and businesses impacted by the coronavirus public health emergency.
- 3/20/2020Since the first known case of COVID-19 in the United States was discovered in late January, the federal government has taken several steps to both fight the spread of the disease and blunt its economic impact on the American economy.
- 11/11/2019The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently endorsed a significant expansion to the Government’s ability to dismiss a qui tam relator’s False Claims Act (FCA) case.
- 5/14/2019As expected, the Supreme Court has just resolved a circuit split over the statute of limitations for non-intervened False Claims Act cases by maximizing the time a relator has to file a complaint. The decision in Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt, No. 18-315 (May 13, 2019) will greatly expand a defendant’s time frame for potential FCA liability and lead to more cases involving faded recollections, costly document recovery, and potential damages for decades-old alleged fraud.
- 4/18/2019Last month, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois confronted a bank’s potential liability for false information obtained (and even allegedly encouraged) by bank employees in the processing of consumer loans.
- 4/8/2019In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can still dismiss a qui tam filed under the False Claims Act even after it has declined to intervene in the case.
- 4/2019Vorys Partner Joe Brunner authored an article titled, “Data Breach Litigation: Defenses Against the Rising Tide” for the April 2019 edition of AHLA Connections.
- 9/19/2016Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit established a standard for application of Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) that significantly strengthens the bar imposed by the heightened pleading requirements of that rule.
- 2006
- 2006