Joel M. Nagel is founder and managing partner of the international law firm of Nagel & Associates, LLC. The firm is Pittsburgh’s first law boutique focusing exclusively on international commercial transactions and immigration.
With offices in Pittsburgh, Nagel & Associates has grown 30-fold in business activity since its inception in 1992. Joel serves on the boards of 15 client companies and is involved with strategic planning initiatives directed toward growth and “best practices” management. With an investor’s perspective, Joel also has helped fund technology ventures. He serves on the advisory board of the Western Pennsylvania Adventure Capital Fund, which invests in early-stage, mostly technology companies in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Much of Joel’s focus is on helping clients select the right jurisdiction for a transaction and the best vehicle to reduce taxation and protect assets, such as joint ventures and other international legal structures. In Belize, he has pioneered the licensing of international structures for foreign banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, and insurance companies. He created the firm’s Personal Asset Protection Program and has developed sophisticated international estate plans encompassing trusts, corporations, partnerships, and insurance products.
Earlier in his career, Joel was an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll, one of the United States’ largest law firms. Previously, he served in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He also completed a clerkship at the Commission of the European Communities in Brussels, Directorate-General’s Office for Competition. Joel is a former Fullbright Scholar and studied law in Europe. He speaks fluent German.
