Josh Archer | Commercial & Class Action Litigation

Education

Mercer University School of Law

J.D., 1994, cum laude
Duke University

B.A., 1990

Bar Admissions

Georgia, 1994

As regulatory and judicial oversight of business interests intensifies, I look forward to helping my business clients navigate through those challenges.

What types of clients do you represent?

I represent business clients across a variety of sectors, including energy, insurance, and industrial. My practice emphasizes resolving business tort and contract claims, defending product liability and personal injury allegations, and settling administrative law controversies for small privately owned companies and large corporations alike.
What do you see on the horizon of your area of practice?

My area of practice is litigation and trial work. Law purports to be globalized, but trials remain local. Balch provides expertise in the courts and venues of our community, which is critical to our clients. Clients who don’t understand the value of community-based lawyers will pay with big jury verdicts.
What do you find most exciting about your work?

A lawyer is similar to a scientist. There is always something new to discover. The law is unsettled. There are bends and turns and crevices. The law is constant exploration.
What legal challenges are you looking forward to tackling in the future?

In the future, my clients are going to be under greater regulatory administrative and legal pressure from an increasingly invasive and overlooking government. As regulatory and judicial oversight of business interests intensifies, I look forward to helping my business clients navigate through those challenges.

Select Matters

Pole Attachments/Joint Use: Represented multiple electric utilities in contract disputes, negotiations, regulatory proceedings and litigation, involving pole attachment and joint use agreements.
Patronage capital class actions: Lead team and arguments resulting in trial court’s dismissal of two class actions, patronage capital lawsuits filed against three named distribution EMCs. In both cases, plaintiffs challenged the EMCs’ patronage capital distribution practices using many legal theories. In general, plaintiffs sought to increase electricity rates and remake how EMCs operate in Georgia. The trial court dismissed the statutory claims because nothing in the EMC enabling act requires EMCs to distribute patronage capital to current or former members. The act simply provides EMCs should address the allocation and disposition of revenues in their bylaws, which all the EMCs did.
Electrical fire claims: Lead investigations of a series of fire claims for electric utility alleging new technology ignited fires. Following investigation, including both scene inspection and laboratory exams, causation was determined not to be new technology, and no suits were filed against the electric utility.

News

Credentials

Education

Mercer University School of Law, J.D., 1994, cum laude
Duke University, B.A., 1990

Courts

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia
State Courts of Georgia
Supreme Court of Georgia
Georgia Superior Court
Georgia Court of Appeals
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin

Bar Admissions

Georgia, 1994

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association
State Bar of Georgia
Atlanta Bar Association

Awards & Accolades

Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial
The Best Lawyers in America^®, Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

Clerkships

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama, Honorable Alex T. Howard Jr., 1994 - 1996

T. Joshua R. Archer

Select Matters

News

Credentials