Mr. Messa also serves the legal community by presenting lectures on medical malpractice, products liability, transportation accidents, construction and worksite injuries, drugs and medical devices.

More Notable Victories

– $18.5 Million settlement for negligence in a hospital emergency department. Plaintiff’s physicians failed to diagnose and timely treat a infection, resulting in amputations.

– $18.25 Million recovery in Central Pennsylvania for loss of a young woman and infant in a horrific trucking crash.

– $12.9 Million award for failure to diagnose and treat the H1N1 flu virus (swine flu) resulting in permanent brain damage.

– $12.26 Million verdict in a spinal infection case.

– $11 Million recovery against a leading smoke detector manufacturer and major mobile home company where a family of seven perished in a fire.

– $11 Million award for a pediatric medical malpractice case that caused permanent brain damage in a young girl.

– $10 Million verdict in a spine surgery malpractice case.

– $9 Million products liability recovery for the family of a young girl who was killed in a fire caused by defective products

– $8.5 Million verdict for the negligent treatment of a postpartum hemorrhage resulting in death.

– $8.265 Million award for a husband and father of two who suffered permanent paralysis (paraplegia) as the result of a two-story fall on a construction site.

– $8 Million recovery for a spinal surgery that resulted in permanent injury

– $6.5 Million recovery for a 46-year-old woman after her doctor negligently performed an unnecessary procedure which resulted in a subarachnoid hemorrhage and brain damage.

– $6.1 Million settlement for negligence at a daycare, resulting in the loss of a child’s eye.

– $5.75 Million settlement for negligence at a daycare that led to the death of a two-year-old child.

About Mr. Messa

Mr. Messa was born and raised in the Germantown section of the city and got an early lesson on the virtues of hard work by working with his father on weekends with different construction projects. He grew up in a union household, where his father at different times was a member of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), Railroad Trains Workers Union, and AFSCME, while employed for 30 years by Penn Dot. He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and worked his way through college and law school with the house painting business he founded. He began his legal education as an honors graduate of Tulane University in 1984 and went on to graduate cum laude from Temple University School of Law in 1988, where he was honored with the Horace Stern Award for Excellence in Products Liability and the American Jurisprudence Award for Products Liability.

Professional Achievements

Mr. Messa is a Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and is board certified by the organization as a medical malpractice attorney.  He is an elected Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, an exclusive group of less than 700 elite attorneys around the globe.

Mr. Messa has served in leadership of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association in many aspects, including Board of Directors (2006 – present) Assistant Secretary (2009-2011), Secretary (2011-2012), Treasurer (2012-2013), Vice President (2013-2014), President Elect (2014-2015), and President (2015-2016). He is the recipient of the 2024 Justice Michael A. Musmanno Award, the highest award given to trial attorneys. He is also a two-time recipient of the President’s Award; only one other attorney has received this honor in combination with the Musmanno Award.

Mr. Messa is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an invited member of the Verdict Club, Premier Trial Lawyers, and named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers. In 2017, Mr. Messa was invited for membership in America’s Top 100 Attorneys, an invitation that is extended to only one-half of one percent of attorneys in the nation. He has been selected to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list every year since 2009 – an honor awarded to only the top five percent of attorneys in the state. He was also selected to the Top 100 Pennsylvania and Top 100 Philadelphia lists from 2012-2026. Additionally, he has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, a widely recognized, peer-review publication and online directory that highlights top legal talent, in personal injury and products liability litigation every year since 2017.

He has been selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers list every year since 2017 and by New Jersey’s Top-Rated Lawyers as a Top Lawyer in the areas of personal injury and medical malpractice from 2012-2026. In 2018, Joe Messa was designated a Legal Eagle by Philly Style magazine.

Mr. Messa is an active member of the American Association for Justice; American Bar Association; a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Pennsylvania Association for Justice – Board of Governors; Philadelphia Bar Association; New Jersey Association for Justice; Camden and Burlington County, NJ Bar Associations; and the Justinian Society.