Joseph J. Rinaldi

Joseph J. Rinaldi, Jr. is a partner at Brill & Rinaldi, The Law Firm, where he represents individuals and families in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, maritime and other complex civil cases.

Joe has represented plaintiffs throughout his entire legal career. He has never represented an insurance company, worked for an insurance defense firm or had any interest in doing so. Since his earliest years in law school, his focus has remained the same: representing people whose lives have been changed by serious injury, corporate negligence or the loss of a family member.

Joe began working with David Brill while attending the University of Miami School of Law, when he clerked at Downs Brill Whitehead. After graduating in 2002, Joe accepted a position with the firm and continued working with David. Eight years later, Joe and David left together to establish the firm that would become Brill & Rinaldi.

That professional relationship continues to shape the way the firm represents its clients today.

A core belief at Brill & Rinaldi is that every client should have two partners who know the case. Joe and David work together on every matter handled by the firm. Both remain familiar with the facts, legal issues, strategy and status of each case.  If one partner is in court, traveling or otherwise unavailable, the other can speak with the client and answer questions because both are actively involved in the representation. The firm is not structured as a high volume practice in which cases are passed from one employee to another. Joe and David remain personally involved and communicate directly with their clients throughout the case.

Joe’s practice focuses primarily on catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death on land and on water. He also represents clients in maritime and cruise passenger injury claims, serious motor vehicle and trucking cases, negligent security matters, medical malpractice, product liability, construction accidents and claims arising under the Defense Base Act.

Many of these cases involve complicated questions of responsibility, significant injuries and defendants with substantial financial and legal resources. Joe works with medical professionals, engineers, economists, accident reconstruction experts and other specialists when necessary to understand what happened and explain the full effect of an injury or death.

During more than two decades of practice, Joe has participated as counsel in numerous jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations. He has also been involved in countless appellate matters, including the research, strategy and preparation of appellate briefs.

Joe prepares each case with the possibility of trial in mind. That means identifying the responsible parties, preserving evidence, understanding the applicable law and learning how the injury has affected every part of the client’s life.

For Joe, representing plaintiffs is not simply a practice area. It is the reason he became a lawyer. He believes individuals and families deserve capable advocates when they are forced to confront insurance companies, corporations and institutions with far greater resources. People first.

Joe earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 1998 and his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 2002. He is admitted to practice in Florida and before the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. He is also admitted before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

His professional affiliations have included the American Association for Justice, the Florida Justice Association, the American Bar Association, the Broward County Bar Association and the Florida Admiralty Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar.

Joe received Martindale-Hubbell’s Client Distinction Award beginning in 2011 and has continued to receive recognition under Martindale-Hubbell’s Client Champion program. He was recognized by Lawyers of Distinction from 2024 through 2026 and has been named a Top Lawyer in Florida by The Legal Network.

Outside of the practice of law, Joe has lived in Coconut Grove for more than 27 years. He is married and has two children, whose school and extra-curricular activities keep him active in the Miami community.

Although his professional accomplishments are important to him, Joe considers one of his proudest achievements outside the courtroom to be his three-peat of championships as a head coach in the youth flag football program at the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center.

Joe represents clients throughout Florida and remains committed to the principle that has guided his entire career and continues to define the firm:

For People. For Justice.