About Joseph J.
Joseph J. Rhoades earned his law degree from Widener University Delaware School of Law in 1981 after completing undergraduate studies at the University of Delaware in 1976. He entered the legal profession at a time when Delaware’s courts were growing busier and more complex. The early years of his career were shaped by that environment and by work that required courtroom experience and a steady hand.
He is a founding partner of Rhoades & Morrow. Over decades at that firm he has handled trials and litigation across a range of matters. He is admitted to practice in Delaware, before U.S. federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, which has allowed him to pursue cases at both state and federal levels.
Work inside and outside the courtroom has marked much of his professional life. He has held leadership positions in bar and trial lawyer organizations, including a past presidency of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the American State Bar Association, the American Association for Justice and remains active in the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association.
A substantial portion of his public service centers on workers’ compensation and workplace safety. He has served as chair of the State of Delaware Workers’ Compensation Health Care Advisory Panel and the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council. He has also chaired the Workers’ Compensation Oversight Panel and participates on the State of Delaware Workplace Safety Task Force. Those roles have kept him engaged in policy discussions and administrative work that shape how workers’ claims are handled in the state.
Rhoades maintains offices in Wilmington, Milford and Bear. He has combined private practice duties with advisory roles for state panels and councils. Colleagues note a preference for hands-on involvement in trial preparation and in efforts to improve administrative systems that affect injured workers.
His career spans more than four decades since law school. He continues to practice through Rhoades & Morrow and remains involved in state advisory panels related to workers’ compensation and workplace safety. He represents clients in trial work and workers’ compensation matters and serves on several state-level advisory bodies that address health care and oversight for workers’ compensation.
