EDUCATION:
1998, West Virginia University, Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude
2001, Stetson University College of Law, Juris Doctor, Magna Cum Laude
Class Rank: 2

BAR MEMBERSHIPS:
American Bar Association
Hillsborough County Bar Association
Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association

COURT ADMISSIONS:

All Courts for the State of Florida
Federal District Court, Northern District of Florida
Federal District Court, Middle District of Florida
Federal District Court, Southern District of Florida
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION AND ASSOCIATIONS:
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
Pi Sigma Alpha

FAVORITE MUSICIANS:
Ben Harper, J.J. Grey & MoFro, Led Zeppelin, The Beauvilles

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAMS:
West Virginia University Mountaineers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Rays

OTHER HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:
Running, Lifting weights, Local music, Traveling, Politics, Concerts

BIOGRAPHY:

Joel is a Shareholder at Forizs & Dogali, P.A.  Joel has handled a wide range of legal matters for both plaintiffs and defendants since he began practicing law in 2001.

Joel enjoys the variety associated with his general civil litigation practice; however, he focuses his law practice in three main areas: securities and investment litigation, trademark litigation and commercial litigation.

In securities and investment litigation, Joel has represented many investors, agents, brokers and broker-dealers in both customer and industry disputes, in matters involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and negligent supervision, among several other areas. Joel has previously served as litigation and corporate counsel for a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority broker-dealer, where his duties included representing the corporation and its subsidiaries in arbitration and litigation proceedings. He gained valuable insight into the securities industry while serving as litigation and corporate counsel.

In his intellectual property practice, Joel has counseled many clients concerning trademark selection, registration and protection. He has experience litigating inter partes trademark proceedings before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and has prosecuted and defended trademark infringement claims in state and federal court. Joel has also assisted clients with domain name disputes.

In the area of commercial litigation, Joel has litigated a myriad of cases in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate level. Exemplary cases include Class Actions, as well as Civil Rights, Breach of Contract, Real Estate, Lender, and Personal Injury Claims, to name just a few.

In recent years, Joel's thoughts and opinions on various legal matters have been sought by various media outlets, including the Ocala Star Banner, the Tampa Tribune, the Saint Petersburg Times,  the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Courthouse News and Bankrate.com.  More recently, examples of Joel's cases to be featured in the press include a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of crime victims whose personal, identifying information was published on a publically-accessible Sheriff's Office website, a lawsuit brought on behalf of a woman wrongfully arrested and jailed for months for a crime she did not commit, a lawsuit brought on behalf of several inmates alleged to have been subjected to excessive force within a regional jail, a lawsuit brought on behalf of a senior citizen duped out of her life savings by a Tampa investment company, and a bankruptcy proceeding involving a Sarasota investment club’s perpetration of an extensive ponzi scheme.  Joel has also been an invited guest on local radio, and frequently holds educational seminars, concerning investment and securities matters.

Outside of work, Joel enjoys exercising and rooting on the only team that matters: the West Virginia University Mountaineers. “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Joel may be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , via phone at (813) 289-0700, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ewusiak.