Joe Lyon is the founding partner of the The Lyon Firm, which he formed in 2006. Over the past 18 years, Joe has developed a national class action and product liability practice working with firms throughout the country on notable medical device, pharmaceutical, data security and privacy class action cases.
Early Inspiration
Joe had early beginnings in the law, initially inspired by his father who was a local trial attorney, he started working in a small personal injury law firm in the summer prior to attending college. Over the course of that summer and each summer before attending law school, Joe returned to this small firm to help with court filings and case investigation. Searching for his path, he admired the client relationships, the attorneys’ motivation to use the system to help families overcome medical and financial hardships, and the opportunity make a change to prevent others from suffering the same types of harm. The admiration for these core values carried him to law school in Chicago with the intent of returning to his hometown to build a small consumer advocacy firm. The Lyon Firm holds these same values today.
Advancing the Core Values
Courts around the country have recognized Joe’s experience and leadership, and have appointed him as Lead Class Counsel and to Plaintiffs Executive/ Plaintiffs Steering Committee positions in data privacy, TCPA, and Consumer Protection class actions. Currently, he is involved in over 30 data breach class actions, as well as TCPA, tuition reimbursement, and antitrust class action matters.
Throughout his career, he has represented thousands of individual clients from all fifty states in 47 Multi-District Litigations(“MDL”) in Federal and State Court consolidated actions. He has served on several MDL Discovery Committees to develop the general liability cases in MDL 1748: In re Testosterone Replacement Therapy; MDL 2327: In Re Ethicon Pelvic Repair Systems; and MDL 1598: In Re: Ephedra Products Liability Litigation. Joe also had the honor to work alongside one of his professional heroes, Mike Miller, in a bellwether trial that resulted in a favorable Plaintiff’s verdict and assisted in a global resolution of the nationwide litigation. (Wisniewski v Taketa Pharmaceuticals America Inc. Case No: 120702272 (Philadelphia County, PA; In Re Actos State Bellwether Trial)
Recent co-lead class counsel roles include, among others, Hawkins v. Navy Federal Credit Union, Case No: 1:19-cv-01186 (E.D. of VA)(Final Approval of $9.25 million nationwide non-reversionary common fund settlement for TCPA violations); Devine v. Health Aid of Ohio, Case No: CV-21-948117(Cuyahoga County)(Preliminary Approval granted in data breach class action for claims made settlement valued at $12.5 million); In Re Southern Ohio Health System Data Breach, Case No:A210886 (Hamilton County, OH)(Awaiting preliminary approval of nationwide non-reversionary common fund settlement of $1.95 million); Remoundos v. Lend US, LLC, No. 4:22-cv-00749 (U.S. District Court, N.D. of CA)(Awaiting preliminary approval in data breach class action for nationwide claims made settlement valued at $3.3 million).
In addition to the MDL and Class Action work, Joe has spent a significant part of his career representing individuals in catastrophic injury cases. He has obtained numerous seven figure results for individual plaintiffs in cases involving automotive product defects, medical malpractice, workplace injuries, and asbestos exposure. This rewarding work has provided families with answers to difficult questions of liability and has resulted in numerous life changing settlements that have assisted with long term medical needs and compensation for significant financial and personal loss. The single event litigation has required the Firm to consistently learn new subject matters, develop new case themes, and create new relationships. He is also one of the rare attorneys to have taken on the firearm industry and prevail on two separate cases.
In his free time, Joe enjoys travelling with his wife Moira, walking with his two dogs (Oli and Tucker), reading, scuba diving, golfing, and trying to play a little guitar.
Mr. Lyon is a member of the National Trial Lawyers, American Association for Justice, and Attorneys Information Exchange Group, and has presented and published on complex litigation topics at both local and national conventions.
Joe is rated a 10/10 by AVVO and has been selected as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Ohio by The National Trial Lawyer Association since 2009. Furthermore, his peers have selected him as a “Super Lawyer” in 2018 and 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and a “Rising Star” from 2012 to 2016. Joe has published and lectured locally and nationally on a variety of personal injury and mass tort issues. Joe is the past co-chair for the American Association for Justice (AAJ) TRT Litigation Group and past chair for the Ohio Association for Justice Product Liability Section.
Chicago-Kent College of Law , Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, J.D. January 2003. Loyola University Maryland, B.A. Political Science (1999) Honors:
International Study:
In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation. Wisniewski v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals et al. (Case No. 120702272) Co-Counsel for bellwether trial in Philadelphia County. Jury awarded $2,340,000.00 in compensatory damages. (2014) Global settlement followed shortly after the verdict was announced.
MDL 2545 In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation; Leadership appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Discovery Committee and assisting in document review and depositions preparation of key marketing witnesses.
MDL 2327 In Re: Ethicon, Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation: Leadership appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Discovery Committee and assisted the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in document review and coding for deposition and trial preparation.
MDL 1598 In Re: Ephedra Products Liability Litigation: Performed document review; assisted in 30(b)(6) depositions of Defendant GNC; assisted in preparing bellwether case for trial.
Lyon Firm filed the first class action lawsuit arising from the Parker Hannifin data breach. The fling and subsequent filings were covered by Top Class Action, Bloomberg, Cleveland.com, and law.com.
The Lyon Firm filed the first lawsuits against Memorial Health System for a data breach by the well known criminal syndicate Hive. The filing was covered by classaction.org, hippajournal.com, lawstreetmedia.com, and jdspura.com
The Lyon Firm filed one of the first class action lawsuits against John Deere on “right to repair” theories and antitrust violations. The lawsuit has gained national attention on the agricultural community and has been covered by multiple news sources including farmequipment.com, Progressive Farmer, WI State Farmer, VICE, Courthouse News, Bloomberg, and even Reddit.
The Lyon Firm filed the second class action lawsuit against Lakeview Loan for a large data breach impacting over 2.5 million customers. The lawsuits have been covered by Bloomberg, Housing Wire, JD Supra, and Top Class Action.
The Lyon Firm filed the first class action lawsuit arising from R& L Carriers diesel spill that contaminated neighboring tributary and properties. The story and lawsuit have been covered by local news including an interview with Joe Lyon and a Lyon Firm client impacted by the spill. See, Local 12 Video. See also, 6 Park news and follow up coverage by Fox News, and Local 5 of the lawsuit.
The Lyon Firm filed a class action against Xavier requesting reimbursement for nursing students who paid for an educational experience that included and centered on hospital clinical instruction, but were not provided this instruction due to Covid 19. Local 9 , Local 5, and Local 12 have all covered the story.
Lyon Firm filed one of the first claims in the country arising from an explosion caused by a venting Pam cooking spray aerosol can. Local Cincinnati News covered the story. The local Business Courier covered the lawsuit filing.
Since then, The Lyon Firm has filed numerous similar cases in Cook County Chicago. The Chicago Tribune covered the filings, in addition to NBC Other news coverage included NBC.Chicago, USA Today, People, ABC, Fox19, Insider, CNN, NBC. New.York, Mens Health, Fast Company, and CBS ran a Nightly News Special on one of Lyon Firm’s clients injured in an explosion.
The Lyon Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of two children who suffered lead poisoning from secondary industrial exposure. The notable case received front page Sunday News in the local Enquire.
The Lyon Firm represented many women impacted by these products, many of which have been removed from the market following the litigation. The Firm also served on the discovery committee helping with the general liability document review. The litigation and settlements were covered by many news outlets including Bloomberg, Reuters, NY Times, and Wall Street Journal.
Joe Lyon was a part of bellwether trial for his client Frances Wisniewski in Philadelphia County. The verdict of $2,050,000 received national news coverage including Bloomberg, Law360, and Lexus.
The Lyon Firm filed the first series of lawsuits related to the overpromotion and inadequate warnings on Testosterone Replacement Therapy. The litigation received national news coverage including Reuters, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal, Lawyers and settlements interviewed Joe early in the litigation.
Lyon Firm files occupational injury lawsuit against GE Aviation on behalf of three GE employees who suffered from glioblastoma brain tumors and worked together at the GE Peebles testing facility. Radiation exposure is alleged to the cause of the common injuries.
NBC / Associated Press: Interview with Mr. Lyon Featured in Investigative Report on Stolen Body Part Scandal.
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