Joe Edmonds is an associate in the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he is a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on complex litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, with a special emphasis on mass torts, environmental litigation, and transnational litigation.
Joe has been recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Litigation (2023-2025), and Appellate Practice (2024-2025).
Representative matters include:
- Woolsey Fire Litigation. Defend the Boeing Company against wildfire claims alleging damages stemming from the November 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California. Obtained dismissal of claims and entry of judgment in Boeing’s favor following demurrer.
- Behar v. Northrop Grumman. Represent Northrop Grumman in putative class action alleging groundwater and vapor intrusion claims related to trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE).
- Codoni, et al. v. Port of Seattle, et al. Represent airline in putative class action alleging pollution-related tort claims in the Western District of Washington.
- Dole Food Company, Inc., Environmental DBCP Litigation. Trial and appellate counsel for Dole Food Company in environmental litigation brought by hundreds of foreign plaintiffs alleging exposure to DBCP. Obtained summary judgment for Dole on all tort claims filed in Hawaii state court.
- United States & New Mexico Environment Department v. Matador Production Company. Defended upstream oil and gas company in an enforcement action by the United States and the State of New Mexico relating to emissions from the company’s production facilities. The resulting consent decree resolving the case contained one of the first Supplemental Environmental Projects approved by US DOJ and EPA since the policy was reintroduced under the Biden Administration.
- York v. Northrop Grumman. Represented Northrop Grumman in putative class action alleging groundwater contamination from trichloroethylene (TCE) in Missouri. Obtained dismissal of many of the asserted claims based on federal preemption arising from a federal consent decree (York v. Northrop Grumman Corp. Guidance & Elecs. Co., Inc., 2022 WL 19240760 (W.D. Mo. May 18, 2022)) and reached a favorable settlement as to the remaining claims.
- Acosta v. Dole Food Company, Inc. Defended claims by approximately 1,500 plaintiffs alleging property damages and personal injuries from alleged vapor intrusion of petroleum hydrocarbons in a community in Carson, California. Reached favorable settlement after court excluded plaintiffs’ standard of care experts.
- Chevron Corp. v. Donziger. Won a two-month civil RICO trial and obtained an injunction barring enforcement of $9 billion Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron relating to alleged environmental contamination, which the court found was procured by fraud.
- Perez v. Dole Food Company, Inc. Represented Dole Food Company in a wrongful death case brought by dozens of Colombian plaintiffs who alleged Dole had provided support for a Colombian paramilitary organization. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims with prejudice after Gibson Dunn uncovered evidence of improper interactions between plaintiffs’ counsel and jailed paramilitary witnesses.
- ET Plus Litigation. Counsel for Trinity Industries, Inc. and Trinity Highway Products, LLC, in nationwide product defect litigation alleging personal injuries from Trinity’s ET Plus guardrail end terminal system.
- Winkler v. City of Phoenix. Represented single grandmother in pro bono § 1983 excessive force case. Presented oral argument in the Ninth Circuit and obtained unanimous reversal of adverse jury verdict based on a jury instruction error. Winkler v. City of Phoenix, 849 F. App'x 664, 665 (9th Cir. 2021).
Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as a law clerk to Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
He earned his law degree magna cum laude in 2011 from Brigham Young University, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. During law school, he served as lead note and comment editor on the BYU Law Review editorial board and competed on the moot court team. In 2008, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a major in business finance.
Joe is a member of the California bar and Washington bar (inactive), and is admitted to practice before the Fifth and Ninth Circuits.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Brigham Young University - 2011 Juris Doctor
- Brigham Young University - 2008 Bachelor of Science
Admissions:
- California Bar
Clerkships:
- US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Hon. Andrew J. Kleinfeld, 2012 - 2013