Joseph Colwell

Bar / Professional Activity

• State Bar of Georgia, Member
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Member
• American Inns of Court, Columbus, GA Chapter, 2021
• Columbus Trial Lawyers Association, 2021
• American Association for Justice, Member
• Columbus Bar Association, Member, 2021
• American Bar Association, Member, 2021

Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)

• $108,000,000 settlement against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., arising out of claims under the Federal False Claims Act involving government-guaranteed veterans' mortgage loans, 2017
• $7,500,000 settlement against General Motors, arising out of the wrongful death of our client, who was burned and killed as a result of a defectively designed "side-saddle" gas tank in a 1973-87 model GM "CK" pickup truck, 2015
• $3,000,000 wrongful death settlement against a construction company where our client's husband was killed in a wreck caused by a dump truck crossing the center line and striking the decedent's vehicle. The dump truck was hauling loads for the construction company at the time of the wreck. The case settled prior to trial., 2020
• $2,000,000 settlement against a company operating heavy tree-trimming equipment along I-95 near Savannah, Georgia. The tree-trimming company's employee negligently drove a piece of heavy equipment down I-95, during the night and without any exterior lights activated. Our clients, traveling lawfully down I-95, collided with the piece of heavy equipment, unable to see it in the dark. Both of our clients, a husband and wife, suffered serious, life-altering injuries and required extensive medical treatment. The company's insurer paid its policy limits pre-suit., 2019
• $1,250,000 settlement arising out of a single-vehicle wreck in which our client was a passenger. Our client was severely injured when he was thrown from the vehicle as it left the roadway and collided with the steep shoulder of a highway. The driver's insurer paid out the limits of its insured's policy after we sent a policy limits demand on the passenger's behalf., 2018
• $1,010,000 settlement against a logging company, its insurer, and our client's underinsured motorist carrier, arising out of an incident in which a log truck pulled out in front of our client as he was driving down a rural Georgia highway. Our client was seriously injured in the collision, spending a substantial amount of time in an intensive care unit. Each insurer with exposure paid its policy limits before suit was filed, 2019
• $1,000,000 wrongful death settlement with the insurer for a tractor-trailer whose driver negligently turned left into the path of our client, who was unfortunately killed as a result of the collision. The settlement was in favor of her minor son who survived his mother., 2020
• $1,000,000 settlement arising out of collision between a dump truck and a motorcycle in which our client, riding his motorcycle, was severely injured when he collided with a drive shaft that had fallen off of the dump truck., 2018
• $600,000 settlement arising out of a car wreck in which our client was seriously injured. The defendant driver was driving his vehicle down the wrong side of the road, under the influence of drugs, when he collided with our client's log truck. The impact caused serious injuries to our client. The case was settled shortly after we filed suit on our client's behalf, 2018
• $510,000 settlement against a bar and its owners, arising out of an incident where a deck at the bar collapsed onto our client. The deck collapsed caused serious orthopedic and other injuries to our client as well as several other patrons, 2018
• $500,000 settlement against an inattentive driver who ran over our client in a Lowe's parking lot, causing severe injuries to our client. The case was settled prior to trial, 2019
• $300,000 settlement against a transportation company and its insurer, arising out of an incident where a tractor-trailer crossed the center line on I-185 while attempting to pass our client, colliding with our client's vehicle. The impact caused serious injuries to our client's hip, resulting in a total hip replacement, 2019
• $90,000 settlement against a hotel in New York City, where our client was seriously injured when a sliding glass shower door shattered without warning, causing serious lacerations and bleeding to our client., 2018
• $80,000 settlement in favor of our client, a mother and her two minor sons, with the insurer for a commercial dump truck whose driver ran a red light and rolled his dump truck onto our clients' vehicle. Our clients were trapped and had to be rescued from the vehicle by first responders and Good Samaritans. Each of our clients suffered serious injuries, 2020
• $50,000 policy limit settlement with Allstate in favor of a car passenger against the driver, whose erratic and reckless driving caused a serious single-vehicle crash and caused our client to suffer a broken neck and collapsed lung, 2020
• $50,000 settlement against a negligent driver who collided head-on with our client as she was making a lawful turn onto the highway, after which the striking driver fled the scene of the wreck. Both insurance companies with exposure paid their policy limits pre-suit., 2014
• $35,000 settlement against a driver who negligently pulled out in front of our clients' vehicle as they were driving lawfully down the road. Both of our clients were seriously injured in the impact and required extensive medical treatment., 2014
• $25,000 settlement against a negligent driver who struck our client's vehicle while traveling westbound on I-20 outside of Atlanta., 2020

Educational Background

• Mercer University, Undergraduate degree, 2010

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

• Trial Practice & Procedure, Co-Author, 67 Mercer L. Rev. 257, 2015
• Trial Practice and Procedure, Annual Survey of Georgia Law, 66 Mercer L. Rev. 211, Fall 2014
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA) Auto Torts Workshop, Speaker, 2019

Honors

• Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law, Editor-in-Chief of the Mercer Law Review
• Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law, Finalist in the Hugh Lawson III Memorial First Year Moot Court Competition
• Phi Kappa Phi, Member
• Brainerd Currie Honor Society, Member

“Joseph gets results for clients in some of the most complex cases. I'd trust him with my case.”

“Joseph is an incredibly bright lawyer with excellent judgment.”