Joseph G. Blute

Joe has extensive experience in complex civil litigation and he has tried numerous disputes to jury verdict or judicial decision. Over the course of a career that spans more than three decades, Joe has tried cases on behalf of Johnson & Johnson, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Eagle-Picher Industries, Fisher-Price Toys, Cummins Engines, Hollingsworth and Vose Co., and Exxon Corporation, among others. He has represented Georgia-Pacific Corp., General Electric Co., and Johnson & Johnson, among others. Joe has served in the role of both national and regional counsel for products liability matters and recently obtained a series of important, precedent-setting summary judgment rulings in multi-state litigation involving the multiple sclerosis medication Tysabri® (natalizumab). Joe also conducts products liability risk assessments for pharmaceutical, , life sciences and industrial companies on new and existing products, including reviewing potential risk factors arising out of the use of new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), AI-influenced robotics and software as a medical device.

His trial experience in insurance coverage litigation includes winning each of the three cases that he has tried to verdict in multimillion-dollar comprehensive coverage actions. In addition to his trial experience, Joe has extensive experience representing clients in ADR proceedings, including numerous mediations and arbitrations.

Joe has also argued numerous appeals in both state and federal courts. He has appeared on behalf of clients pro hac vice in many states. He is a member of the bars of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the United States District Court (Massachusetts), and the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, and Third Circuits.

Joe has testified before the Massachusetts Legislature on important pieces of legislation impacting product manufacturers and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

While at the George Washington University School of Law, Joe was an editor of the law review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

• George Washington University (JD)
• Boston College (BA)

• Assist the firm’s transactional lawyers in due diligence involving product liability risk.

• Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Personal Injury - Products: Defense (2004 – 2020)
• Benchmark Litigation: Litigation Star (2020 – 2021)
• Best Lawyers in America: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2012 – 2022)
• International Law Office and Lexology: “Client Choice Award” – Product Regulation & Liability, Massachusetts (2013 – 2015)
• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, AV Preeminent-Judicial Edition
• Order of the Coif
• Phi Beta Kappa

• Chair, Board of Directors, New England Legal Foundation (NELF) (2016-2018)
• Member, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
• Member, Fellows of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation
• Member, American Bar Association (ABA) Products Liability Committee
• Member, ABA Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation Subcommittee
• Member, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
• Member, Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Faculty member, 2010 IADC Trial Academy
• Member, Boston Chapter of the American Inns of Court
• Past Vice chair, Board of Directors, New England Legal Foundation (NELF)
• Past co-chair, Law and Policy Committee of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Industry Council
• Past Board member, George Washington University Law Alumni Association