Joseph Grinstein is a trial lawyer who has handled cases in every corner of the country – from San Francisco to San Juan. He combine a passion for getting on his feet before judges and juries with the work ethic necessary to master the facts and the law before “showtime.”
Grinstein's strong academic background has armed him to handle such a diverse caseload. Grinstein graduated from Rice University in 1994 with three majors, conferred summa cum laude. He then received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal and won the school’s mock trial competition. After law school, Grinstein clerked on the Fifth Circuit for the Hon. Patrick E. Higginbotham.
Lawdragon Honors
Much of Grinstein's practice focuses on high-tech litigation. He has extensive experience handling patent, trade secret, and tech-related antitrust cases, and he has had the privilege of representing clients in some of the nation’s highest profile intellectual-property disputes – from battles over self-driving cars to media processors to broadband satellites. Whether high-tech or not, however, Grinstein has litigated a broad range of high-stake cases:
- There are very few lawyers who have tried a patent case to verdict and also argued an ERISA appeal. Grinstein has done them both – more than once. In 2023 alone, he won more than $200 million in patent jury verdicts – including a $166.3 million result for his client, Finesse Wireless, against AT&T and Nokia, and a $37.5 million verdict for his client, Atlas Global Technologies, against TP-Link..
- He has successfully opposed confirmation of a billion-dollar bankruptcy plan . . . and has scored a verdict of more than $30 million under California trade secrets law.
- Grinstein has spoken at several ABA events about antitrust issues . . and he has persuaded the Eleventh Circuit to uphold the certification of a civil-rights class action.
- In one Native American gaming case Grinstein won a judgment after trial of $9 million for his client, and in another such case he secured a summary judgment win on a $300 million claim against it – and then he successfully defended both those results on appeal.
- He works hard on pro bono cases, especially in the area of criminal justice. He has worked to eliminate cash bail for certain misdemeanor and felony arrestees in Harris County, he has fought for compensation from the State of Texas for an exonerated death-row inmate, and he has represented a class seeking to end Austin’s debtor’s prison for people who cannot afford to pay their traffic tickets.
- And, for fun, he does tax.
When not practicing law, Grinstein has volunteered regularly at Rice University, where he served as Chair of the Rice Annual Fund, co-chair of Rice’s Centennial Gala, the alumni representative on the University Committee on Teaching, and co-chair for his class’s 25th Reunion. He is also an amateur – i.e., unsuccessful – screenwriter. Nevertheless, Grinstein has won recognition in numerous screenplay competitions, including the Atlanta Film Festival, the Austin Comedy Short Film Festival, the Georgia Shorts Film Festival, the Harlem International Film Festival, the Houston Comedy Film Festival, the Marfa International Film Festival, the New York Screenplay Contest, and the WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival.