Attorney Profiles

Joseph, a native of Detroit, has been a partner of Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Rivers & Golden since 2007.  His practice is devoted to the representation of individual employees in wrongful discharge and workplace discrimination claims.  Bringing 41 years of experience to the table, Mr. Golden is an expert in and out of the courtroom.  In 1992, he represented the late Bo Schembechler in the famous Detroit Tigers contract case and secured a very favorable agreement out of court.  In 2006, as featured in Super Lawyers, Mr. Golden represented a Troy Athens High School teacher in a case of national origin discrimination and won his plaintiff a verdict of $2.4 million in federal court. 

With his years of experience and contagious passion for his work, Mr. Golden has earned recognition as one of the leading experts in his field.  In 1997, he received the honor of being one of seven plaintiff lawyers to be nationally recognized by The National Law Journal as Who's Who of Employment/Labor Lawyers.  He has also been honored in Best Lawyers in America continuously since 1993.

Mr. Golden embodies the best qualities of a lawyer and teacher.  Since 1980, Mr. Golden has lectured nationally on employee rights issues, especially wrongful discharge.  He is a member of the Michigan and American Trial Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association, and he served on the governing Council of the ABA's Section of Labor and Employment Law from 1988 to 1992.  Mr. Golden is a founding member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and served on its Executive Board from 1985 to 1995.  In 1991, he was elected to a two-year term as NELA's President.  In addition, Mr. Golden has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Labor & Education Committee on the proposed Civil Rights Bill of 1991, and in 1996, Mr. Golden was inducted as a Fellow to the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers.  Currently, Mr. Golden is President of the Michigan Employment Lawyers Association (MELA), an organization he founded in 1992. 

Mr. Golden received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit.  He is the proud father of six children and six grandchildren.