Related Information
Education
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University of Louisville School of Law
J.D. 1977
Vice President of the Student Bar Association; Member of the Honor Council; Member of the Student-Faculty Liaison Committee; Dean's List
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Williams College
B.A. 1973
American Civilization
Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
Kentucky
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Service Areas
- Business Litigation
- Class Action, Mass Action & Multi-District Litigation
- Complex / Large Litigation
- Multi-State, Multi-District and Serial Litigation
Industry Experience
- Banking / Financial Services
- Insurance Carriers / Brokers / Agents
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Louisville Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- International Association of Defense Counsel
". . . always a pleasure to work with Joe Hamilton. He is proactive, thorough, knowledgeable, and bright—a professional of the highest caliber."
- The Best Lawyers in America® 2010
"A great class action defense lawyer."
- ChambersUSA 2009
". . . has a certain style that goes down well with colleagues and judges . . . "
- ChambersUSA 2008
Joe Hamilton is a Member of the firm and has been based in the Louisville office since 1986. He is a member and past chair of the Business Litigation Service Group, which is home to approximately 60 attorneys and paralegals. He is also the co-chair of the firm's 20 member Class Action Defense Practice Group. His practice emphasis is in class action defense and complex business and business insurance litigation.
With regard to his class action defense practice, Mr. Hamilton has been involved in the defense of nearly 100 class actions in the last 12 years. Those class actions have been concentrated primarily in life insurance, health insurance, ERISA and other insurance and financial product issues. He has defended clients in putative statewide and nationwide class actions on a regional and national basis, representing them in the state or federal courts of more than 25 states across the country.
Recent Assignments
- Recent major representative clients include: ING Group, Inc. and subsidiaries and affiliates; American Modern Insurance Group and subsidiaries; Farmers Insurance Group and subsidiaries; Assurant, Inc. and subsidiaries; Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company; Wellpoint, Inc. and subsidiaries and affiliates; State Auto Insurance Companies, Windstream, Inc., and The Independent Order of Foresters.
More Than Stites & Harbison
Joe is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® (2007-2012) for Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation, and Chambers USA (2008-2010). He has also been named a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark: Litigation Magazine, 2008 and 2009. In 2010, Joe was elected to the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC).