Kopfler, Joseph G. "Joe"

Mr. Koch's practice includes complex commercial litigation, litigation management, insurance coverage and extra-contractual defense litigation, the construction process, construction litigation and arbitration, contract interpretation, U.S. pension entitlements, successions and estates, fidelity, surety and financial institution bonds, lawyer's malpractice, errors and omissions, and sports and entertainment law.

Mr. Koch participated in negotiations in Egypt after the Yom Kippur War leading to removal of ships sunk in the Suez Canal; represented a consortium of companies involved in reconstructing Kuwait and its oil fields after Operation Desert Storm; represented a major international insurance company in developing indemnity agreements, construction bonds, and guarantees for use with contractors in twelve countries in Europe and the Mid-East.  Mr. Koch represented the lead insurer in the adjustment of the business interruption claims of the Titan IV rockets manufacturer when the solid rocket fuel manufacturing plant in Henderson, Nevada supplying that missile program was destroyed in an explosion. Mr. Koch has represented parties in complex litigation involving nuclear power and fossil fuel plants; the shipping industry; the former Louisiana Sunday Closing laws; Louisiana Contractor Licensing laws; and the resurfacing of both runways of the New Orleans International Airport (MSY). Mr. Koch currently represents the international construction management firm managing all construction at the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) and serving as a joint venturer in the construction of the new Mississippi River bridge at St. Francisville, Louisiana. Mr. Koch is also Louisiana counsel for the General Contractor for the new VA Hospital in New Orleans.

As an appellate practitioner, Mr. Koch has briefed the United States Supreme Court on the Insurance Industry's position on coverage issues regarding the Security Dealer's Blanket Bond, and the New Zealand Supreme Court on the interpretation by United States Courts on coverage issues related to the Financial Institution Bond. He has also argued the Sunday Closing Law case to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in the Louisiana State University (LSU) Law School Law Student Auditorium.

Mr. Koch is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers (Founder and Former Chair of its Insurance Industry Committee and a former member of its Board of Governors), and is a consultative member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Koch has chaired the American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Co-Chaired the ABA's first three National Institutes of the Forum on the Construction Industry, chaired six ABA National Law Institutes, founded and served as first Chair of the Louisiana Bar Association's Section on Construction, Fidelity and Surety Law, served as a Vice Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, currently serves on both the Surety Claims Institute Board of Governors and the Advisory Council of the Chief Judge of the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. Mr. Koch is a founding member of The Board of Trustees and an original Trustee of the Federalist Society, is a member of the National Bond Claims Association, is one of the four Advisors Emeritus of the Fidelity Law Association and is a Life Fellow of both the American and Louisiana Bar Foundations. Mr. Koch is a member of the Society of Construction Law of Great Britain and the Center of Construction Law of Great Britain.

Mr. Koch is listed in Best Lawers in America (legal malpractice law, construction litigation, insurance law, commercial litigation, mass tort litigation and product liability litigation); International Who's Who of Construction Lawyers as being among the world's pre-eminent construction lawyers for 2010; Who's Who Among International Best and Brightest Executive Professionals Throughout the World; Louisiana Life Magazine's Super Lawyers Section as Top Attorney; New Orleans Magazine's Top Lawyers; Litigation Magazine's Top Commercial Litigation Lawyers; and the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Pre-eminent Lawyers.