Joseph W. Eason is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP who practices in Raleigh and focuses on the resolution of commercial and regulatory disputes, with particular emphasis on utility and insurance industry issues. He also assists a variety of clients on matters pertaining to trade regulation, including issues arising under federal and state antitrust and unfair trade laws, and laws protecting intellectual property interests.

In the energy and utilities area, Mr. Eason has been the lead attorney in numerous cases involving electric power, gas and telephone tariffs and contracts, participating in numerous proceedings before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, as well as state and federal courts throughout the state. He also has counseled several clients in connection with wholesale and retail electric and natural gas supply contracts, including the negotiation and drafting of such arrangements, and obtaining approvals of regulatory agencies when required. Other regulatory engagements have included certification and siting proceedings, rulemakings, general and avoided cost rate-making proceedings and tariff disputes.

In the insurance area, Mr. Eason has provided counsel and litigation services to a wide array of industry members and trade associations, and represented various clients in courts, in dealings with the N.C. Department of Insurance, and in connection with legislative initiatives. His experience includes the defense of claims under primary and reinsurance agreements for casualty, disability, mortgage guaranty, and title insurers, as well as the defense of unfair trade and antitrust claims asserted against insurers and other related organizations. As general counsel to the N.C. Insurance Guaranty Association, Mr. Eason also has substantial experience with insurance liquidations and reorganizations, including the representation of receivers, former officers and directors, and other parties in interest. Representations before the N.C. Department of Insurance have included licensure proceedings, compliance disputes, acquisitions, and issues involving financial evaluations and market conduct examinations.

Mr. Eason also has extensive experience in complex commercial litigations and class actions, including cases involving allegations of unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.  He has represented manufacturers, distributors, and financial service providers in market unfair trade litigations brought by private parties and by state officers, including the Attorney General.  Mr. Eason served as primary counsel in several reported decisions in which issues of first impressions pertaining to trade practices have been resolved by federal or state courts in the Southeast region.

 

Mr. Eason is a member of several sections of the American Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association that pertain to utilities, insurers, and trade regulation, and a member of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section Council of the North Carolina Bar Association from 1996-99. He also serves as Chairman on the Fee Arbitration Committee of the Tenth Judicial District Bar (Wake County).

In 1977, Mr. Eason earned a Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law where he was named to the Order of the Coif and served as a member of the North Carolina Law Review. In 1974, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.