Joseph D. Edmondson, Jr. is a partner, securities litigation lawyer, commercial litigation lawyer, and professional responsibility lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. Joseph focuses primarily on defending securities litigation and arbitration brought by the private clients and financial industry participants, as well as enforcement investigations and proceedings brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, state regulators, FINRA, and other self-regulatory organizations (SROs). He is a member of the firm’s Securities, Enforcement & Litigation and Securities, Commodities & Exchange Regulation Practices.
Joseph has more than twenty years of experience in securities and commercial litigation, arbitration, and regulatory investigations, involving primarily securities industry clients, but also in a wide array of matters ranging from health care, antitrust, contract disputes, real estate, attorney professional responsibility, and large collections. He has counseled firms and individuals on compliance with federal securities laws and regulations, as well as the rules of FINRA, the NYSE, and SROs, with an emphasis on supervision and supervisory procedures. He has been called upon to assist with internal investigations of broker-dealers and public companies.
Joseph has represented numerous broker-dealers, clearing firms, and individuals in regulatory investigations, litigation and arbitration proceedings involving, among other subjects: failure to supervise, NASDAQ trading practices, AML, FCPA, high-frequency trading and risk management, institutional and retail sales practices with respect to equity and fixed income products, underwritings of public and municipal offerings, "pay-to-play," insider trading, stock manipulation, advertising, research and suitability.
Joseph has handled over 100 customer and industry arbitrations before FINRA and NYSE panels, the subjects of which have included private placement securities, structured products, variable annuities, traded and non-traded REITs, high-risk technology stocks (the so-called “tech wreck” cases), and auction-rate securities, to name a few. A number of cases have involved novel attempts by claimants to hold owners of and investors in broker-dealers, as well as non-broker-dealer affiliates and clearing firms, responsible for investment losses. Several of Joseph’s cases also have resulted in successful injunctions based on lack of arbitration jurisdiction in the FINRA forum, as well as expungement demands on behalf of individuals.
Joseph serves as a professional responsibility partner within Foley and represents lawyers and law firms in matters involving compliance with the applicable rules of professional conduct, legal ethics concerns, and professional malpractice.
Representative Experience
Professional Memberships
Community Engagement
Joseph serves as a member of the board of directors of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of Gifts for the Homeless, Inc. (www.gfth.org), and as its vice president for used clothing, having chaired its annual city-wide law firm used clothing drive for the past ten years and currently. He continues to devote a substantial portion of his time to community and pro bono activities.
Education
Joseph received both his law and undergraduate degrees from the George Washington University (B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1988; J.D., with honors, 1991). He served as an associate editor of the George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics.
Admissions
Joseph is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia, before the United States District Courts for the District of Maryland and the District of Columbia, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.
Selected Publications