Of Counsel

Telephone:
     (520) 790-5433 (office)
     (520) 647-4082 (direct dial)
     (520) 790-5736 (fax)

Email:
     jherk@fmazlaw.com

Practice Areas:
      Commercial litigation
      Litigation Management
      Mortgage Banking
      Loan works outs
      Real Estate
      Regulatory Compliance
      Corporate Counsel Services
      Employment Law
      Mediation and Arbitration

Joel Herk has represented clients ranging from individuals and small business owners to large corporations in a wide array of commercial disputes and litigation.  Whether complex commercial litigation or individual residential loan workouts, Mr. Herk provides pragmatic resolution oriented legal and strategic advice to individuals and business of all sizes.

Mr. Herk’s in-house counsel experience brings a real word understanding of business owners’ and executives’ needs and how legal counsel can best meet their objectives and mitigate risk.  From employee disputes to major regulatory actions, Mr. Herk understands how to best protect your interests.

Mr. Herk’s in-house counsel experience also brings a unique perspective when representing individual clients in loan work out options such as short sales and foreclosure.  Having handled such disputes for lenders, Mr. Herk’s experience brings valuable insight to clients struggling following the housing collapse.

Drafting effective business contracts and advising on a wide array of business issues is also part of Mr. Herk’s in-house counsel and private practice expertise.  Whether it be multimillion-dollar warehouse lending agreement, advising on important corporate policies and procedures or providing strategic business advice in the areas where the law and key business decisions overlap, Mr. Herk has the experience necessary to meet your business’ needs.

Alternative dispute resolution has been a key part of Mr. Herk’s success as in-house counsel.  Mr. Herk has negotiated settlements in multimillion-dollar litigation, class actions, as well as high-risk state and federal regulatory disputes and investigations.  Creative settlements options and real world experience allow Mr. Herk to persuade opposing parties to reach a pragmatic solution.

In addition to the legal services above, Mr. Herk provides the following mortgage banking related consulting and expert testimony services:

• Mortgage Fraud Prevention
• Mortgage Fraud and loan Level Loss Recovery
• Litigation Management
• Regulatory Compliance
• Loan Portfolio Workouts

Bar Admissions

• 2000, Arizona
• 2000, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona

Education and Honors

• University of Colorado at Boulder, BSBA, 1993.
  • Honors:  Dean’s List, Captain Nationally Ranked CU Rugby
• Gonzaga University School of Law
  • Honors:  Number 3 in class; Dean’s List, Outstanding Academic Achievement Scholarship; Cali Award/Civil Procedure.
• University of Arizona College of Law, JD, 1999
  • Honors:  Dean’s List, Outstanding Oral Advocate Award, top 25% of class

Other Professional Experience

• Caliber Funding, LLC, VP/Assistant General Counsel
• StoneWater Mortgage Corporation, Director/Counsel, Capital Markets and Litigation
• First Magnus Liquidating Trust, Counsel and Consultant
• First Magnus Financial Corporation, Deputy General Counsel
• Law office of Joel J. Herk, Sole Practitioner
• Rusing & Lopez P.L.L.C., Associate
• Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar L.L.C., Associate