Joseph Tripoli is a Partner in Freeman, Mathis & Gary’s Chicago office. He is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on insurance coverage, extra-contractual liability, and general liability defense litigation. As part of his insurance coverage and extra-contractual liability practice, Joseph advises and represents insurers in a variety of third-party and first-party coverage matters, including those arising under commercial general liability, personal auto, business auto, and umbrella policies.
As part of his general liability practice, Joseph has experience defending catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims in matters involving general negligence, auto liability, premises liability, animal liability, intentional torts, and defamation. Joseph’s litigation clients have included retailers, restaurants, churches, security companies, landlords, condominium associations, property management groups, general contractors, subcontractors, truck drivers, and trucking companies, as well as individually-named defendants. As a seasoned litigator, Joseph has participated in all aspects of civil litigation, from initial discovery up through trial. He has represented clients at dozens of arbitrations and has successfully tried cases to verdict in both jury and bench trials.
Joseph enjoys writing and speaking on topics involving civil litigation and the insurance industry. His writing has been featured in publications from the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and the Illinois State Bar Association. He also serves as an arbitrator within the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Mandatory Arbitration Program.
Prior to joining Freeman, Mathis & Gary, Joseph worked for a regional civil defense litigation firm and focused his practice on insurance coverage and general liability defense litigation. A mainstay in that practice was the investigation and defense of first-party and third-party claims involving insurance fraud, including medical provider fraud, organized activity, and staged/caused losses. He also counseled Fortune 500 insurers on pursuing civil recoveries from fraud perpetrators for myriad claims involving organized medical provider fraud.
Joseph has been designated as an Emerging Lawyer by Leading Lawyers Magazine since 2019 in the practice areas of insurance, insurance coverage, reinsurance law, and personal injury defense. He has also been selected for inclusion in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch.