Joseph V. Schaeffer

Area of Emphasis

Joseph Schaeffer is a shareholder in the Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the Appellate Practice Group of Babst Calland. He focuses his practice on environmental, energy, and complex commercial litigation and has tried these cases before environmental hearings boards, courts, and juries. Mr. Schaeffer also has an active appellate practice and has served as co-counsel or lead counsel in appellate matters before in Pennsylvania and West Virginia State Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Schaeffer has significant experience working with clients on overcoming obstacles that can hinder their commercial development projects. He has served as lead trial counsel in several land use disputes involving zoning ordinances and was lead appellate counsel in a precedent-setting West Virginia Supreme Court decision that established the constitutional limits of municipal zoning. He has counseled clients on other land use disputes involving annexation, deannexation, and state and federal preemption issues. Mr. Schaeffer developed the legal strategy and served as co-trial counsel for an industrial manufacturer in a successful constitutional challenge to a government agency’s attempted misuse of eminent domain powers to take a facility. And he has represented clients in multiple property tax valuation and exemption appeals, including service as co-counsel or lead counsel in three precedent-setting West Virginia Supreme Court decisions affirming the legal structure used by state economic development authorities to offer property tax incentives.

Mr. Schaeffer regularly represents clients on regulatory matters that can affect their businesses. He has served as lead trial counsel for an industrial manufacturer in the defense of citizen appeals from environmental enforcement orders, construction stormwater permit registrations, and multisector permit registrations before the West Virginia Environmental Quality Board. Mr. Schaeffer has served as co-counsel for industrial manufacturers and oil and gas companies in regulatory disputes before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. He has represented a commercial developer in the negotiation of stream mitigation credits with the EPA under the Clean Water Act and defended clients against toxic tort claims arising from industrial operations. Mr. Schaeffer has been lead counsel for a coal-fired power plant in a petition for review of an EPA rulemaking before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. And he has represented electrical utilities in various matters within the jurisdiction of PennDOT.

Mr. Schaeffer also regularly advises clients on commercial disputes and tort claims. He has worked on several royalty and quiet title disputes for producers and individuals in the natural gas and extractive industries. He served as lead counsel for an industrial manufacturer in an arbitration over a uniform services contract. And Mr. Schaeffer has assisted businesses in a wide variety of complex litigation matters involving products liability, construction errors and omissions, bid protests, and breach-of-contract.

Mr. Schaeffer volunteers with Neighborhood Legal Services’ Protection from Abuse Program in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and has provided pro bono representation to individuals and organizations, including a national voluntary bar association in amicus curiae filings in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Background

Mr. Schaeffer graduated from West Virginia University, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages (German) and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies. While at West Virginia University, Mr. Schaeffer interned for the West Virginia European Office in Munich, Germany, and studied abroad at the Technical University Dortmund in Dortmund, Germany. His capstone, Vergangeinheitsbewältigung and the Danzig Trilogy, an exploration of post-war Germany’s reckoning through the work of Nobel Prize-winner Günter Grass, received the Honors College Award for Exceptional Inquiries into the Humanities and was selected for publication in the Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review.

Mr. Schaeffer graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law cum laude with his Juris Doctorate. While in law school, he was the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation Scholar and a Managing Editor with the Journal of Environmental & Public Health Law. Mr. Schaeffer was also an editor with JURIST, a legal intern with the law school’s Environmental Law Clinic, and the recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Evidence.

In his free time, Mr. Schaeffer is an avid reader and enjoys spending time with his family and dogs, hiking, photography, and skiing.

Memberships and Affiliations

Mr. Schaeffer is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. He is also admitted to practice before numerous federal courts, including the United States Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Third and Fourth Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Schaeffer is a member of the Allegheny County, American and Federal Bar associations. He currently serves as the co-chair of the ABA Litigation Section’s Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee and was a co-author of the West Virginia chapter in the 2021 edition of the American Bar Association’s Property Tax Deskbook.

In 2024, Mr. Schaeffer was invited to become a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has also received a Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch recognition from BL Rankings for Commercial Litigation since 2024.

Selected Cases
  • University Park at Evansdale, LLC v. Musick, 238 W. Va. 106, 792 S.E.2d 605 (2016)
  • Musick v. University Park at Evansdale, LLC, 241 W. Va. 194, 820 S.E.2d 901 (2018)
  • City of Morgantown v. Calvary Baptist Church, 243 W. Va. 578, 849 S.E.2d 150 (2020)
  • Jefferson County Foundation, Inc. v. West Virginia Economic Development Authority, 247 W. Va. 24, 875 S.E.2d 162 (2022)
Publications/Presentations
  • Co-Author, “In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State,” Law360, July 8, 2024.
  • Co-Author, “U.S. Supreme Court Issues Three Decisions Charting New Path for Federal Administrative Law,” Babst Calland Firm Alert, July 1, 2024.
  • Co-Author, “Supreme Court of Appeals Addresses Burden of Proof in Design-Defect Products Liability Cases,” Babst Calland Litigation Alert, June 18, 2024.
  • Moderator, “Upon Further Review: A Look Back at the Last Year in the Third, Fourth, and D.C. Circuits,” Babst Calland Webinar, May 17, 2024.
  • Co-Author, “Appellate Lineup: Looking Back at Recent Pennsylvania Cases of Note and Forward to Those on Deck,” Babst Calland Litigation Legal Perspective, April 4, 2024.
  • Co-Author, “New to Whom? The Fifth Circuit strikes down EPA’s attempt to regulate ongoing uses of PFAS under TSCA’s ‘significant new use’ provision,” Babst Calland Environmental Alert, March 27, 2024.
  • Co-Author, “D.C. Circuit Delivers EPA a Loss on Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction Waivers under the Clean Air Act,” Babst Calland Environmental Alert, March 15, 2024
  • Co-Author, “Hangey v. Husqvarna Professional Products: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Closes Another Off-Ramp for Corporate Defendants Sued in Pennsylvania,” Babst Calland Litigation Alert, December 5, 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Pa. Court’s Venue Ruling Is Likely To Worsen Forum Shopping,” Law360, December 4, 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Diversity Jurisdiction and the Unintended Consequences of Remote Employees,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, November 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Trick or Treat? EPA Tightens Reporting Requirements for PFAS and other Chemicals of Special Concern,” Babst Calland Environmental Alert, November 7, 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Court of Appeals Clarifies Need for Certificate of Authority to Maintain Lawsuits in North Carolina,” Babst Calland Litigation Alert, October 30, 2023.
  • Co-Author, “A Quick Lesson on Responding to (and Avoiding) Inadvertent Document Productions,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, October 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Where Can a Corporation Be Sued For, Well, Anything? (An Evolving Test),” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, August 2023.
  • Co-Author, “Where Can a Corporation Be Sued For, Well, Anything? (An Evolving Test),” Babst Calland Litigation Alert, July 18, 2023.
  • Commentator, “Accidental Misuse of Privileged Metadata Results in Sanctions,” American Bar Association’s Litigation News, June 27, 2023.
  • Commentator, “No Stupid Deposition Questions, But Some Can Be Costly,” ABA’s Litigation News, June 15, 2023.
  • Commentator, “Court Rules Witnesses Can ‘Flop’ on Fifth,” American Bar Association’s Litigation News Quarterly Magazine, Spring 2023, Volume 48, Number 3.
  • Author, “Service by Direct Message: Making a Record to Serve Parties by Alternative Means,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, May 2023.
  • Moderator, “Anatomy of a Major E-Discovery Project,” American Bar Association Section of Litigation Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, April 2023.
  • Author, “More Than a Buzzword: Why ‘Civility’ Can Be Sound Litigation Strategy,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, March 2023.
  • Author, “No Slacking on Objections: Make Your Record or Suffer the Consequences,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, May 2022.
  • Author, “Shared or Seconded Employees: A Privilege Trap for the Unwary,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, December 2021.
  • Author, “Translations 101,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, May 2021.
  • Co-Presenter, “Privacy, The Final Frontier: Exploring Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act,” Spring Sections Seminar, Corporate & Commercial Litigation Section, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, May 2021.
  • Author, “The Rules of Litigation Are Not a Buffet,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, February 2021.
  • Author, “Context Matters: How Relevance Affects a Party’s Duty to Perform a Reasonable Inquiry,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, January 2021.
  • Author, “A Case for Bending the Rules: When Flexibility is Smart Advocacy,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, December 2020.
  • Author, “10 Factors Justifying Cost-Shifting under Rule 26(c),” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, October 2020.
  • Author, “Saving Time and Money by Designating the Form of Production,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, February 2020.
  • Author, “Don’t Forget Your Local Rules!,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, January 2020.
  • Author, “Sanctioning Abuse: Bad Attorney Behavior Risks Client Sanctions,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, December 2019.
  • Author, “More Than a Potted Plant: Five Tips for Nonparty Deponents Counsel,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, November 2019.
  • Author, “Develop the Theory Up  Front: Proposed Amendment Fails to Defeat Summary Judgment,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, August 2019.
  • Author, “Another Court Approaches Discovery on Discovery with Skepticism,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, April 2019.
  • Author, “Proportionality Has Some Bite,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, March 2019.
  • Author, “Claims for Lost Profits Can Lead to Claims for Lost Privilege over Tax Returns,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, February 2019.
  • Author, “When Preparing Your Client’s Case, Trust but Verify Their Representations,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, December 2018.
  • Author, “The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Do Not Recognize an Objection for Discovery Your Client Does Not Like,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, October 2018.
  • Author, “Service of Process in 280 Characters or Less,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, September 2018.
  • Author, “Who’s Paying the Plaintiffs Bills? You Might Not Be Entitled to Discover the Answer,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, June 2018.
  • Author, “When Is an Expert ‘Independent’ for Purposes of a Protective Order?,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, May 2018.
  • Author, “The Apex Deposition: Practice Tips and Standards,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, April 2018.
  • Author, “Spoliation: Dismissal Might Not End Duty to Preserve Evidence,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee’s Practice Points, American Bar Association, March 2018.
  • Author, “Medical Monitoring in West  Virginia and the Surrounding States,” Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia, 2017.
  • Author, “Discovering Off-the-Record Conversations Between a Deponent and His or Her Counsel,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee, American Bar Association, December 2017.
  • Speaker, “2015 Shale Gas Law: Update on the Law,” Update on the Law 2015, October 2015.
  • Speaker, “Update on Shale Gas Law,” Solo & Small Firm  Conference, October 2014.
  • Speaker, “Stormwater Enforcement: Current Issues in Stormwater Regulation in West Virginia,” Lorman Education Services, South Charleston, W.Va., October 2014.
  • Speaker, “2014 Shale Gas Law: Update on the Law,” Shale Gas Law – West Virginia Continuing Legal Education, Morgantown, W.Va., September 2014.
  • Co-Author, “Energy and the Economy: How Local Regulation May Impede Business Development,” WV Executive Magazine, Spring 2014.
  • Panelist, “Drilling Down: Local Government and Natural Gas Development,” Synergy 2013, Bridgeport, W.Va., October 2013.
  • Author, “Lease Contests in the West Virginia Shale Plays,” ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Litigation Committee Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2013.
  • Author, “Municipal ‘Fracking’ Bans and Preemption in Appalachia,” JURIST, July 2011.
  • Author, “Pittsburgh: Politics Impede Marcellus Shale Development,” JURIST, January 2011.
  • Author, “Appalachia: Coal Law & Property Rights,” JURIST, August 2010.