Joseph Pace
Yale Law School, JD Editor, Yale Law Journal Potter Stewart Prize (best brief and argument in Moot Court) Israel H. Peres Prize (best publication in the Yale Law Journal)
Harvard University, AB magna cum laude
Admissions
New York
Southern District of New York
Eastern District of New York
1st Circuit Court of Appeals
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
8th Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit Court of Appeals
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court
Joseph Pace is a seasoned appellate attorney who has briefed and argued cases in federal and state courts around the country. He has represented both individual and corporate clients in a wide variety of trial and appellate matters involving class actions, commercial disputes, trademark infringement, arbitration, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, police brutality, Federal Credit Reporting Act claims, defamation, and FOIA. He also has extensive experience litigating First Amendment issues.
Before founding J. Pace Law, Mr. Pace was senior legal counsel for Reprieve US, where he directed litigation efforts challenging the use of indefinite detention and drone strikes in the War on Terror and devised a First Amendment challenge to state secrecy laws enacted to conceal the source of lethal injection drugs. Prior to that, Mr. Pace was the John J. Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest & Constitutional Law at Gibbons P.C., where he specialized in civil rights impact litigation. Before his fellowship, Mr. Pace was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Ms. Pace graduated from Yale Law School where he was an Editor on the Yale Law Journal, recipient of the Israel H. Peres Prize for best student publication in the Yale Law Journal, and awarded the Potter Stewart Prize for best written brief and oral argument in the Moot Court competition.
Representative matters that Mr. Pace has handled in appellate courts include:
Represented a group of U.S. Senators as amici before the U.S. Supreme Court in action challenging President’s removal powers.
Represented the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as amicus before the U.S. Supreme Court in case challenging the use of uncharged and dismissed conduct to enhance criminal sentences.
Secured reversal of order denaturalizing a U.S. citizen for failing to disclose a prior drug offense (11th Circuit)
Secured reversal of order dismissing civil rights claims against US Probation Office (9th Circuit)
Appealed a summary judgment order dismissing students’ Fair Credit Reporting Act claims against Experian and federal loan providers (8th Circuit)
Represented the ACLU of NJ as amicus in a Fourth Amendment challenge to the expansion of the private search doctrine (New Jersey Supreme Court)
Representative matters that Mr. Pace has handled in trial courts include:
Secured a $1.8 million settlement against the City of New York for violating the First Amendment rights of a payphone company.
Successfully defended against a summary judgment motion seeking dismissal of a whistleblower complaint filed by a federal employee
Secured class certification in case alleging wage-and-hour violations
Compelled the Federal Bureau of Prisons and NYPD to comply with Freedom of Information requests
Successfully defended against several rounds of summary judgment motions filed by New York City to dismiss First Amendment retaliation and unconstitutional conditions claims
Publications
The Anti-Terrorism Act Is Being Weaponized to Harass Israel’s Critics, Lawfare (May 6, 2025)
The Roberts Court Has Turned the First Amendment Into a Wrecking Ball, Slate (July 2, 2023)
Can Private Employees Be Fired for Out-of-Office Political Speech?, NYSBA Journal (May 2023)
Suspending the Writ at Guantanamo: Take III?, 119 Yale L. J. 885 (2010)
Award and Memberships
Super Lawyers 2023-2026
New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Amicus Committee
American Association of Justice, Amicus Committee
