About Joel
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 international asset protection, estate planning and immigration / emigration law.
Nagel & Associates has grown 30-fold in business activity since its inception in 1992. In addition to his work as a lawyer, Mr. Nagel is known as a visionary and dealmaker providing international business leverage for leading corporations, entrepreneurs and individuals. In 2005, the Pittsburgh Business Times named him as a “Fast Tracker” for his accomplishments as a lawyer, investor and humanitarian.
From 2015 through 2017 Mr. Nagel also served in a public sector capacity for the Government of Belize as the Belizean Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. In this capacity he was responsible for Belize interaction and representation before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), The United Nations Industrial Development Agency (UNIDO) and a myriad of other United National agencies as well as nearly 100 other international organizations based in Vienna. His position gave him unique access to all Government Ministries and agencies in Belize, as well as those in Vienna, Austria.
Much of Mr. Nagel’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. 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℠, Physician Asset Protection Program℠, and has developed sophisticated international estate plans encompassing trusts, corporations, partnerships and insurance products, all over the world. His Personal Global Citizenship Plan (“PGCP”) has helped countless individuals to obtain a second citizenship and / or residency.
Mr. Nagel has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report on the benefits of retiring abroad, and has been featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times. He has authored articles for Forbes Magazine, International Living Magazine, Live and Invest Overseas, The Simon Letter, The Oxford Club, Island Properties, Escape Artist and Hemispheres and has lectured at conferences and seminars of the Central American International Investment Symposium, International Living and Assetstrategies.com, The Oxford Club, The Sovereign Society, The Global Escape Hatch, The Hermitage Forum, The Global Access & Continuity Conference and The Money Expo.
In 2001-2002, Mr. Nagel was President of the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, and during his tenure, the club launched the widely publicized, first annual “Ducky Derby” to raise funds for charity. He also helped solicit donations and land for three Roberto Clemente Health Clinics in rural Nicaragua, to serve thousands of underprivileged citizens. In 2005-2006, Mr. Nagel served as Governor of Rotary District 7300, comprising 1,500 members in 51 clubs. During his term as Governor his district had the highest per capita giving of any Rotary District in the United States and second highest total around the world.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Nagel was an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll, one of the nation’s 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. Mr. Nagel is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied law in Europe. He speaks fluent German.