Joseph GoldbergPartner, Chair of the Civil Rights and Municipal Liability Group, Chair of the Professional Liability Group AssistantSusan Dalzell 215.972.7900 ext.7820 sdalzell@wglaw.com Joe Goldberg defends private employers, municipalities, religious institutions, transportation companies and professionals along with public and private institutions of higher education. Joe represents clients in matters of catastrophic loss (on behalf of trucking and motorcoach clients), civil rights, employment law, municipal liability, product liability, psychiatric/medical malpractice and sexual abuse and assault (defense).
Joe also has experience defending healthcare product liability cases in the pharmaceutical industry, including medicines, devices and weight loss supplements; and in defending employers, supervisors, managers and business owners in employment matters. He also represents insurance companies, healthcare practitioners, long-term healthcare facilities, and hospitals, among others.
He has had an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell for over 30 years. Joe has been recognized in the Pennsylvania edition of Super Lawyers magazine since 2005, and has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for products liability litigation since 2012, and for personal injury litigation since 2014. In 2020, Joe was recognized as a Best Lawyer In Pennsylvania by The Wall Street Journal.
Joseph GoldbergPartner, Chair of the Civil Rights and Municipal Liability Group, Chair of the Professional Liability Group Joe Goldberg defends private employers, municipalities, religious institutions, transportation companies and professionals along with public and private institutions of higher education. Joe represents clients in matters of catastrophic loss (on behalf of trucking and motorcoach clients), civil rights, employment law, municipal liability, product liability, psychiatric/medical malpractice and sexual abuse and assault (defense).
Joe also has experience defending healthcare product liability cases in the pharmaceutical industry, including medicines, devices and weight loss supplements; and in defending employers, supervisors, managers and business owners in employment matters. He also represents insurance companies, healthcare practitioners, long-term healthcare facilities, and hospitals, among others.
He has had an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell for over 30 years. Joe has been recognized in the Pennsylvania edition of Super Lawyers magazine since 2005, and has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for products liability litigation since 2012, and for personal injury litigation since 2014. In 2020, Joe was recognized as a Best Lawyer In Pennsylvania by The Wall Street Journal.
ExperienceObtained dismissal of a Section 1983 state-created danger claim for a psychiatrist in a federal court case.
Recently secured a Motion for Summary Judgment victory for a municipal defendant in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County. In this tragic case, the decedent, a 21-year-old college student, was at a bonfire with friends on the evening of September 4 and into the morning of September 5, 2014 at the recreational area owned by the municipal defendant. As the decedent stepped away from the bonfire to make a call to her boyfriend on her cell phone, she was tragically killed by a long-dead tree when it fell and struck her in the head. Plaintiffs, the decedent’s parents and the Administrators of her Estate, brought a survival and wrongful death suit against the municipality and other defendants, claiming they were negligent in failing to identify and remove the tree.
In ruling the municipality was entitled to summary judgment in its favor, Judge Jeffrey S. Saltz agreed that it was immune from liability under the Act of February 2, 1996, P.L. No. 586, more commonly known as the Recreational Use of Land and Water Act, 68 P.S. §§ 477-1 to -8. Under the Act and applicable case law, Judge Saltz noted that to qualify for immunity, the land must be largely unimproved; the more developed a property is, the less likely it will receive immunity protection under the Act. In his January 7, 2019 opinion, Judge Saltz reasoned the municipality was immune from liability under the Act because the area where the decedent was killed was, among other things, not developed enough to fall outside the blanket of immunity provided by the Act. Specifically, the Judge found that a staked-out trash barrel, a circle of bonfire stones, and a parking lot near the area where Plaintiff was killed were not significant improvements on the property such that they would disqualify the municipality from immunity under the Act.
Successfully defended a police chief/volunteer fire captain in a Civil Rights Section 1983 lawsuit involving alleged sexual molestation and assault/battery of a minor. Defense verdict rendered after seven-day jury trial in February 2017.
Speaking Engagements- 10.25.16Presenter, “Involuntary Medication: Clinicians' Defense Against Civil Rights Lawsuits,” Annual National Conference on Correctional Health Care
- 10.20.15Presenter, "Legal Challenges in Handling Imminently Dangerous Patients," National Conference on Correctional Health Care, Dallas, TX
- 07.25.14Presenter, "Treatment of Seriously Ill Prisoners Can Be Hazardous to Your Health," 2014 Correctional Healthcare Conference, Denver, CO
Selected Cases
- Bartos vs. MHM Correctional Services, 3rd Cir. 2011 (Employment – Gender Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment)
- Sullivan v. Warminster Township, 3rd Cir., 2012 (Civil Rights – Excessive Force)
- Bartos v. Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, 3rd Cir., 2013 (Employment – Whistleblower Law)
- Kaplan v. Don’s Charter, 2002, 788 A.2d 356 (Commercial Transportation – Personal Injury)
- Emerich v. Philadelphia Center for Human Development, 1998, 720 A.2 1032 (Psychiatric Malpractice)
- Doby v. Decrescenzo, 1999, 171 F.3d 858 (Mental Heal – Civil Commitment – Employment Privacy)
Professional & Community InvolvementDRI (Defense Research Institute)
TIDA (Trucking Industry Defense Association)
Pennsylvania Defense Institute
Philadelphia Bar Association
Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel
Joe has received the following Awards
- Inducted by nomination and peer review to The Best Lawyers in America – Personal Injury Litigation - defendants and product liability litigation - defendants, 2018 - Current
AssistantSusan Dalzell 215.972.7900 ext.7820 sdalzell@wglaw.com |
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