Joseph S. Dowdy is a partner in the Raleigh office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, where he practices complex business litigation with an emphasis on commercial and financial services litigation, class action defense, telecommunications law, unfair trade practices cases, trademark litigation, and appellate advocacy. He handles matters in federal and state courts, arbitrations, actions before regulatory/administrative agencies, and special proceedings.

Mr. Dowdy’s representative experience includes the following:

• Representation of lending institutions and loan servicers in a variety of actions, including class action lawsuits and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy, involving alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), and Federal Regulation Z, as well as companion state statutes including the state mortgage lending acts, state usury and interest statutes, the Uniform Retail Installment Sales Act (RISA), the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and state unfair and deceptive trade practices acts.
• Serving as national co-counsel in a class action involving alleged violations of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act (UFTA) made against a debt settlement organization.
• Serving as co-counsel in a $14 million arbitration involving claims against a financial institution for alleged violations of the bank holding company act, the UCC, and state banking laws.
• Representation of a nationwide provider of telecommunications services in a federal trial involving the relocation of substantial utility facilities.
• Representation of an international healthcare lender in receivership and foreclosure actions and in healthcare licensure proceedings before administrative agencies, including the North Carolina Division of Facility Services.
• Serving as regional counsel in consumer finance cases against a national bank pending throughout the Southeast, through local counsel as necessary.
• Representation of a home mortgage lender in an examination by the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks.
• Representation of an international pharmaceutical company in trademark opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
• Representation of one of the nation’s largest providers of building products in lien rights cases, including arbitration proceedings concerning a supply contract dispute.
• Representation of a transnational aviation insurance company in a case involving allegations of failure to defend and indemnify, common law bad faith, and unfair business practices.
• Serving as lead counsel in a case involving alleged violations of a covenant not to compete/nondisclosure agreement and alleged violations of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Statute (UDAP).

Active involvement in the Firm’s motion and appellate litigation practice before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Supreme Court.

Mr. Dowdy has written about the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), the National Bank Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and the Anti-Flipping Regulation issued by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has devoted considerable time to studying CAFA’s mandatory state regulator review provision for class action settlements, a topic upon which he frequently provides advice to other members of the profession. Further, he recently co-authored a law review article concerning the recent financial crisis, “Whither Wachovia? Wells Fargo Wins the Battle for the Storied North Carolina Banking Institution,” 13 N.C. Banking Inst. 167 (2009).

Mr. Dowdy is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina, and the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association.

Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Dowdy completed two clerkships at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He first served as a law clerk for the Honorable Eric L. Levinson, after which he was invited to serve a second clerkship with the Honorable J. Douglas McCullough. Drawing on his clerkship experience, Mr. Dowdy has assisted the Firm with numerous appeals, including the following cases:

• Crook v. KRC Management Corp.,  697 S.E.2d 449 (N.C. Ct. App. 2010) (vacating discovery sanctions orders that imposed more than $85,000 in monetary sanctions, struck defendants’ answer, and entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs on liability).
• Cambridge Homes of North Carolina, LP v. Hyundai Const., Inc., 670 S.E.2d 290 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008) (establishing the standard for personal jurisdiction under the North Carolina long-arm statute over a manufacturer of component parts).
• Holleman v. Aiken, 668 S.E.2d 579 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008) (affirming dismissal of suit involving allegations of  libel, slander, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, tortious interference with business relationships and prospective economic advantage, civil conspiracy, agency, and alter ego against, among others, a public figure).
• Garrett v. Murphy,  2010 WL 5420165 (N.C. Ct. App.,2010) (unpublished) (reversing jury verdict in favor of Plaintiffs on prescriptive easements claim).
• Voller Realty & Const., Ltd. v. D.V. Holdings, Inc., 2009 WL 2751035 (N.C. Ct. App. 2009) (unpublished) (interpreting North Carolina lien statute as it pertains to the rights of first tier subcontractors to enforce their statutory lien rights).

Mr. Dowdy received the 2010 Nelson Mullins Renaissance Associate Award, an award given to one associate firmwide who best demonstrates achievement in client service, training, pro bono, marketing, recruiting, and productivity.

In 2003, Mr. Dowdy earned a Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, Mr. Dowdy was a member of the North Carolina Law Review. He submitted the winning entry in the Law Review’s writing competition for first-year law students, and he published an article addressing an issue of federal constitutional law: “The Supreme Court’s ‘Immediate Purpose’ of Restricting the Doctrine of Special Needs,” 80 N.C.L. Rev. 1050 (2003). In 2000, Mr. Dowdy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate, he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha (the Political Science Honor Society), and Phi Sigma Pi (the National Honor Fraternity).