Meet California Attorney Joel A. Goldman

Joel Goldman is a veteran trial lawyer who brings more than fifty years of litigation experience to The Dadvocates P.C. and to the community of fathers and men that the firm proudly serves. He is the Managing Attorney at The Dadvocates P.C. in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, CA and is responsible for the firm's legal practice standards. While The Dadvocates P.C. is primarily a firm that focuses on fathers and men, Mr. Goldman serves as general counsel for his clients, handling their divorces and continuing to represent them in matters that arise throughout their business and professional endeavors well after their family law matter is finalized. 

Known for his toughness and creativity in and out of court as well as resolving disputes quickly, Joel joined The Dadvocates P.C. after working in small and medium sized firms as well as large national firms. He has extensive experience in a wide array of practice areas, specializing in complex civil litigation. Some of the legal areas that he has handled include high profile and highly publicized divorce and custody matters, business litigation, insurance litigation, creditors’ rights and insolvency, mergers and acquisitions, and ethical and professionalism issues. Mr. Goldman represents clients in every facet of their legal life, beginning with their divorce and moving through to their business and professional endeavors. 

Joel has represented individuals, entrepreneurs, small businesses and major institutional clients and is a veteran of over 100 trials and arbitrations. By way of example, Mr. Goldman represented the plaintiffs in one of the largest and most complex cases in the Los Angeles Superior Court and California Court of Appeal. It generated in excess of 200 collateral lawsuits, 30 appeals and 25 other appellate writs, approximately 38 Chapter 11 cases and ended in a victory for the plaintiffs. The defendant was a mobile park developer, owner and operator, as well as a general partner of about 38 limited partnerships in seven states. Mr. Goldman initiated an action for involuntary dissolution of the corporation on behalf of minority shareholders. The plaintiffs prevailed at trial and obtained an order from the Court to wind up and dissolve the corporation for mismanagement. The case was filed at the end of 1996 and went to trial in March 1997 without any formal pretrial discovery and the trial was videotaped. An outside group attempted a hostile takeover of the limited partnerships through the vehicle of a tender offer. The prime solicitation tool was an edited videotape of the trial that was sent to approximately 2,500 limited partners throughout the United States. The plaintiffs persuaded the Court to appoint agents to wind up the corporation which, among other things, resulted in the sale of most of the defendant’s assets for approximately $350,000,000, payment in full of all approved creditors’ claims and a meaningful return for investors. 

Joel has successfully handled cases involving alleged violations of federal and state securities law, RICO and common law fraud. He has prosecuted and defended cases for financial institutions in a wide variety of matters. In addition, he has defended legal malpractice claims, assorted business tort claims and wrongful termination actions. He has also defended developers in construction defect suits brought by a homeowner’s association, including obtaining insurance coverage and contributions from subcontractors and their liability carriers. Furthermore, he has successfully been able to reach the assets of a Cook Islands’ Trust. Mr. Goldman has successfully prosecuted and defended numerous cases involving insurance coverage and bad-faith issues. These insurance cases dealt not only with the relationship of the carrier to its insured, but disputes between carriers, including reinsurance and regulators. In addition, Mr. Goldman has represented fiduciaries that were placed in charge of carriers by the California Department of Insurance.