Joe Khan
Lecturer in Law
Joe Khan, a partner at Curtin & Heefner, is a renowned trial and appellate attorney with substantial experience prosecuting and defending civil and criminal cases in both state and federal courts. He is a trained mediator who leverages his experience and relationships in public, private and nonprofit sectors to resolve complex disputes with “win-win” outcomes.
Mr. Khan joined Curtin & Heefner after serving more than three years as the Solicitor for Bucks County, where he was credited with “redefining the role of County Solicitor.” Mr. Khan’s leadership of the County’s first fulltime Law Department substantially improved outcomes and services while saving the County millions of dollars and modeling best practices on diversity and inclusion. In addition to overseeing all litigation for the County, Mr. Khan built partnerships with other public entities to protect voting rights, consumers, and the environment through innovative litigation, including the first lawsuit of its kind against social media companies for fueling a youth mental health crisis. He and his team also successfully drafted innovative legislation, including Pennsylvania’s only used car Lemon Law, and policy reforms on issues such as Fair Chance and Equal Pay hiring – all of which were enacted on a bipartisan basis. Mr. Khan also provided administrative oversight for the Department of Consumer Protection and Weights and Measures as well as the independent Office of the Public Defender. During his tenure with Bucks County, the Pennsylvania Bar Association recognized him as 2022’s Government Lawyer of the Year and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania honored him with the Outstanding Solicitor Award.
Mr. Khan previously served for a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he resolved high-stakes matters across southeastern Pennsylvania and led the historic City Hall corruption probes in Allentown and Reading. Since beginning his career prosecuting sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, his work and commentary have been featured often in national and local media.
Mr. Khan is a public school graduate who earned degrees from Swarthmore College and the University of Chicago Law School. He has led several nonprofit boards, has served on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission for Asian Pacific American Affairs, and is now a parent volunteer in the Central Bucks School District.