Joseph Spoonster

Joseph R. Spoonster is an associate of Fortney & Klingshirn. Joe brings a unique experience to the firm’s practice.

Joe received his law degree from the University of Akron in 1999. During law school, he represented the university at the American Bar Association appellate moot court competitions in Philadelphia and New York City and also worked as an extern for Justice Deborah Cook of the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Joe’s practice is focused on business, construction, commercial, real estate, insurance, and bankruptcy litigation. His success is rooted in his ability to understand complicated legal and factual issues and present them effectively.

Joe’s experience in construction disputes includes representing contractors in all aspects of construction law. He has experience prosecuting and defending delay and schedule impact claims, differing or changed conditions claims, change order claims, mechanic’s lien claims, payment bond claims, construction-related collection actions, and insurance coverage issues in the construction field.

He represents businesses and shareholders in state and federal court in business disputes involving contract litigation, dissolutions, shareholder fiduciary rights, and enforcement of restrictive employment covenants. Joe has counseled minority and majority owners on their fiduciary obligations and rights and favorably prosecuted actions where those obligations have been broken.

Joe has successfully represented home sellers and buyers in claims of fraudulent misrepresentations, in claims against their insurers to obtain coverage for property damage, and represented home owners in administrative zoning disputes. He has consistently obtained dismissals for sellers prior to trial and has won verdicts for both buyers and sellers at trial.

He represents businesses and homeowners in all types of insurance litigation disputes from coverage claims to bad faith and advises and guides clients concerning policy and coverage of all types of insurance. Joe has successfully represented clients in insurance disputes involving: denial of claims, reservation of rights, bad faith claims, breach of contract, appraisal, and defense and indemnification claims.

Joe's bankruptcy experience includes business liquidation actions to adversary proceedings involving the defense and prosecution of creditor and debtor claims. Joe was one of the first lawyers to try a jury trial in the United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Ohio, successfully obtaining a jury verdict against a large regional bank for negligent misrepresentation against a commercial debtor.

Joe and his family reside in Bath. When not hard at work, you can find Joe playing soccer, looking for a Corvair to restore, or working on remodeling his home.