Joseph Anthony Turzi focuses his practice on providing counseling to employers facing activist strategic campaigns, also referred to as leverage, coordinated, or corporate campaigns. He also assists companies in responding to “lawfare” or “impact litigation, i.e., the strategic and often illegitimate use of litigation to achieve objectives outside of the litigation.
Joseph has worked extensively on both global and national campaigns, leveraging DLA Piper’s global resources to execute a coordinated response to strategic campaigns on a national or global basis. He not only develops effective, innovative litigation approaches, but also develops comprehensive plans for stakeholder engagement around campaign issues, including advising companies when investor targeting by campaigns leads to proxy battles.
A significant part of Joseph’s global practice includes advising companies on the intersection of strategic campaigns and international conventions, particularly the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. He has represented companies before various international tribunals, arbitration panels, and agencies, such as National Contact Points under the OECD Guidelines.
Joseph has over thirty years of experience representing companies in campaign-related litigation and the media attacks which are a core component of such campaigns. He began working on campaigns with the Eastern Airlines campaign of the 1980’s, which was launched shortly after the AFL-CIO committed its financial, personnel, and planning resources to converting the often ad hoc pressure tactics employed by activists employing the writings of Saul Alinsky into an executable strategy of sustained long-term pressure coordinated with allied political and civil society organizations.
Joseph’s foundation in and extensive experience with labor law also has allowed him to assist clients facing difficult labor relations issues, such as those that arise when companies undergo rapid change or technological challenges. His clients include leading global companies in a range of industries, among them security, construction, transportation, retail, entertainment, hotel and healthcare.
Joseph leverages his experience as a senior executive in both public and private companies. He was formerly Vice President of Human Resources at RailTex during a significant company reorganization and the subsequent sale of RailTex to RailAmerica and helped to lead the post-acquisition consolidation of the two companies. In addition, Joseph was Senior Vice President of Administration and Human Resources at Production Resource Group (PRG), one of the world’s leading entertainment technology companies, where he was tasked to consolidate and rationalize operations after a four-year period of explosive growth through acquisition.
