Joel Reese

Practice Areas

Joel Reese is the managing partner of Reese Marketos, which he co-founded in 2011 with law partners Pete Marketos and Brad Gordon. He focuses on high-stakes commercial disputes and is the lawyer some of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs – real estate moguls, major retail founders, midstream operators, and private investors – call when they need a fearless advocate to protect their rights. He’s also the lawyer clients and peer firms call when a case needs to be tried on a compressed timeline.

As the firm’s most prolific energy litigator, Joel has secured several wins in the oil patch in the last two years. In 2024, he was retained four months before trial in a four-year pipeline explosion case against Energy Transfer and drove a $52 million bench trial judgment — assembling the trial team, delivering the opening statement, and conducting cross-examinations that the court cited in its opinion. In separate litigation against the same opponent, he secured a $112 million partial summary judgment, won the first jurisdictional ruling in the Texas Business Courts (a precedent since followed by multiple appellate and trial courts), and resolved the case one week before trial in early 2025. He also obtained a complete dismissal of a $200 million fiduciary duty case in the Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024.

Joel's approach is intensely hands-on. He routinely handles depositions, briefing, hearings, and witness examinations himself rather than delegating to associates, bringing a no-nonsense style focused on pace, pressure, and outcomes that make business sense. Clients value that he does what he says and doesn't prolong litigation to serve himself.

Joel has been recognized by Law360 as a 2025 MVP in Energy, by the Legal 500 US City Elite for commercial litigation, by Lawdragon as one of the 100 Managing Partners You Need to Know and 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, and by D Magazine as one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas for commercial litigation.

Education