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 Joseph Boyle, Member

Joe Boyle focuses his practice on commercial litigation, with an emphasis on litigating competition, consumer, and intellectual property matters in federal courts around the country.

Mr. Boyle's litigation experience includes obtaining over $35 million for a client in a high-profile consumer electronics suit, and in excess of $16 million in a complicated matter involving commercial paper. On the defense side, Mr. Boyle helped a media seller obtain a $0 defense verdict in a suit by a former vendor over millions of dollars in alleged lost sales when Mr. Boyle was called in to represent the individual corporate officers shortly before trial.

Joe Boyle also has significant experience with domestic and international entertainment law issues, including distribution of International Cricket matches, foreign-language television programming, and disputes over media distribution rights. An emerging area of Mr. Boyle's practice involves sports broadcasting rights, both in the U.S. and abroad, and securing the value of those rights against infringement and piracy.

Mr. Boyle's experience in anti-piracy matters includes executing DISH Network and NagraStar's first civil seizures under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, initiating DISH Network and NagraStar's legal battle against a News Corp. subsidiary that eventually led to entry of a nation-wide permanent injunction, and securing over $15 million in judgments, settlements and fee awards in various piracy cases.

Joe was born in Southampton, New York and grew up in Sag Harbor before moving to Houston, Texas where he lives with his wife Amanda.

Representative Recent Experience

• Represented CEO and stock holder in shareholder oppression and "squeeze out" case involving corporation.
• Represented law firm shareholders in breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression litigation involving inequitable distributions and corporate waste. Successful settlement reached.
• Seized over 100 websites in anti-piracy suits brought under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
• Accompanied U.S. Marshals Service on civil seizures and raid of facility used to illegally stream copyrighted television programming over the internet.
• Successfully argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to uphold dismissal of a class action brought on behalf of independent retailers against a multi-channel video programming distributor.
• Brought Digital Millennium Copyright Act and corporate espionage-based claims against defendants accused of illegally reverse engineering video encryption systems and promoting satellite signal piracy.
• Represented U.S. corporation in contract and fiduciary duty litigation involving parties from Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.
• Defended trademark infringement and breach of contract suit brought by foreign television programmers in Mexico and Brazil.
• Coordinated the successful defense of individual and class action lawsuits alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
• Represented the Basque autonomous communities of northern Spain in connection with the Prestige oil spill disaster off the Galician coast.
• Successfully defended consumer class actions alleging defects in home electronics products.
• Sued Microsoft on behalf of a set-top box manufacturer, successfully compelled the deposition of Bill Gates, and achieved favorable resolution for the client.
• Represented healthcare insurance company in suits brought by providers, patients, and physicians.

Recognition

Texas Super Lawyers, Rising Stars Edition, 2011, 2012
Houston's "Top Lawyers", H Texas magazine, 2011
HNB named a “Go-To” law firm by In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies magazine, 2012

Education

J.D. - University of Houston Law Center
Chief Articles Editor, Associate Editor, Houston Law Review
M.S. Communication - Fort Hays State University
B.S. Public Administration - Harding University

State Bar Admissions

State Bar of Texas

Court Admissions

United States District Court, Southern District of Texas
United States District Court, Northern District of Texas
United States District Court, District of Colorado
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Areas of Experience

Commercial Litigation
Appellate