Joy is an accomplished litigator with expertise in managing all facets of multi-jurisdictional litigation brought by cities, counties, state attorneys general, grassroots organizations, and individuals. She has successfully defended a wide range of environmental and personal injury claims for Fortune 500 companies, including public nuisance, private nuisance, environmental contamination, and climate change. She has served as national counsel in all facets of litigation from setting strategy, managing fact and expert discovery, through trial.
Joy has more than 20 years of experience litigating complex, high profile cases. In her role as national counsel, she has managed litigation to successful resolution in California, Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Missouri, Alabama, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. She has extensive experience defending public and private nuisance, environmental contamination, and climate change litigation, almost all of which were brought by nationally recognized Plaintiffs’ firms on behalf of cities, counties, attorneys general, and individuals.
Joy has held several management roles at McGuireWoods, including serving on the Board of Partners, the Associates Committee, and chairing the Women’s Lawyers Network.
Before McGuireWoods, Joy served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert F. Chapman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Before law school, Joy was an All-American tennis player at Princeton and played on the professional tour.
Experience
- Obtained defense verdict for Fortune 100 chemical company for public nuisance claims brought by 10 cities and counties in California.
- Won summary judgment for Fortune 500 oil and gas company against public nuisance allegations brought by the Sierra Club in Oklahoma.
- Obtained summary judgement for Fortune 500 oil and gas company for public and private nuisance claims brought by property owners in multiple Oklahoma counties.
- Successful defense of Fortune 100 paper and packaging producer of class action and private nuisance claims brought by property owners in Virginia.
- Obtained dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company for public nuisance claims brought by Pennsylvania counties.
- Obtained dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company of public nuisance claims brought by 30 cities and townships in New Jersey.
- Obtained dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company of public nuisance claims brought by 30 cities in Ohio.
- Obtained dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company of public nuisance claims brought by the City of St. Louis, Missouri.
- Obtained dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company of property damage claims brought by school districts in Texas and Mississippi.
- Obtained defense verdict for Fortune 100 chemical company for personal injury claims brought in Milwaukee under Wisconsin’s risk contribution doctrine.
- Won dismissal for Fortune 100 chemical company of personal injury claims brought by more than 180 plaintiffs in Milwaukee under Wisconsin’s risk contribution doctrine.
- Princeton UniversityBA
-
William & Mary Law SchoolJD
Order of the Coif
Member, Virginia Bar Association
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Bar Association of the City of Richmond
Member, Defense Research Institute
Member, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys
Member, National Association of Women Lawyers
- Author, "Connecticut v. AEP: The New Normal?," Natural Resources & Environment, Spring 2010
- Author, "EPA Proposes Additional Limitations on OP Pesticides to Protect Salmon and Steelhead in the Pacific Northwest," American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Pesticides, Chemical Regulation, and Right-to-Know Committee Newsletter, December 2009
- Author, "Applicability of EPA’s and Washington State’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rules for Agriculture, Livestock and Food Processing Operations," American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Agricultural Management Committee Newsletter, December 2009
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
AV Rating, Martindale Hubbell
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, Woodward/White, Inc., 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Selected for inclusion in “Legal 500 United States,” Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Actions – Automotive/Transport – Defense; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action – Consumer Products – Defense; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Actions – Toxic Tort – Defense, 2022
Named to “Legal Elite,” Environmental Law, Virginia Business, 2016
Recipient, Virginia S. Mueller Outstanding Member Award, National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), 2015
Recipient, DuPont Women Lawyers Network (DWLN) Outstanding Member Award, 2012
- Hon. Robert F. Chapman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1992-1993