about our firm
practice area
civil litigation
criminal defense
employment law
civil rights disputes
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PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Joel Thvedt is the most recent partner to join Bensinger, Ritt, Tai & Thvedt. Joel was attracted to the firm by its high caliber of legal representation, its vigorous and ethical service to its clients, and its broad and interesting range of civil practice and criminal defense work.

EXPERIENCE
Joel graduated with honors from the University of Chicago in 1984, and attended law school at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1987.At UCLA, Joel was a member of Law Review from 1985 to 1987, and was an officer of El Centro Legal, an organization dedicated to providing legal services to the poor.

For several years after graduating from law school, Joel practiced civil litigation in the Los Angeles office of the New York law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. There he handled matters ranging from employment and civil rights cases, bankruptcy litigation and lease disputes to large securities and financial fraud cases.

From 1994 to 2000, Joel was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, in Los Angeles. At the U.S. Attorney's Office, Joel handled numerous cases from investigation through indictment, trial, and appeal. For the last several years in the Office, Joel was a prosecutor in the Major Fraud unit, prosecuting a wide variety of frauds, including bank, securities, financial institution, insurance, and bankruptcy fraud. Joel was the Financial Institution Fraud coordinator for the District, coordinating the Office's work with agents from the FBI, the FDIC, the RTC, the Secret Service, and other federal law enforcement agencies. In addition to prosecuting fraud cases, Joel prosecuted numerous other federal crimes, including gun, narcotics, and immigration offenses, and bank robbery. Joel also successfully argued numerous cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Since returning to private practice, Joel has worked in state and federal courts on both civil and criminal matters. Joel has represented civil litigants in cases ranging from contract disputes, fraud allegations, partnership disputes, trade secret cases, employment cases, copyright cases, SEC securities fraud investigations, personal injury, toxic tort defense, and a wide variety of business disputes. In addition to cases filed in the courts, Joel has successfully litigated and resolved matters in arbitration.

In his criminal defense practice, Joel has defended individuals in both federal and state courts. This work included defending persons being investigated for, or charged with, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, theft of trade secrets, and narcotics offenses. Joel has also handled internal investigations on matters including theft of trade secrets, embezzlement, forgery, bankruptcy, and securities fraud.

Joel has twice been an instructor on internal corporate investigations at Practicing Law Institute seminars.

Joel is married to a law school classmate and has three boys. He is actively involved in his children's schools, Boy Scouts, and his sons' sports teams. On those rare occasions when Joel has spare time, he enjoys cycling.

EDUCATION

  • UCLA School of Law (J.D., 1987). Member, Law Review, 1985-1987. Member and Director, El Centro Legal, 1984-1986.
  • University of Chicago (B.A., with honors, 1984).

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • California State Bar
  • United States District Court for the Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of Callifornia
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.