Joelle Rocha

Publications
Admissions
Joelle Rocha is a partner with a focus on real estate development and land use; she also represents clients in business disputes and general commercial litigation. Previously, she served as Assistant to the Solicitor for the towns of Warren and Lincoln. She is admitted to practice in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Joelle has successfully permitted several of the State’s largest mixed-use developments. She has represented private developers in residential, commercial, mixed use and solar projects and before municipal and state boards and agencies. She has secured tax stabilization agreements for several private development projects.
She has successfully litigated several class actions against municipalities regarding illegal and excessive impact fees and building permit fees, and recovered litigation costs for landowners and developers as a result of unlawful and unsubstantiated government actions. She has argued before the Rhode Island Supreme Court on behalf of several clients in matters involving recovery of attorneys’ fees and challenges to local ordinances.
Joelle has been recognized by Providence Business News with its Forty Under 40 award, by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, and in Rhode Island Monthly both for its Excellence in the Law in the area of Environmental Law/Land Use, and as the recipient of the Outstanding Women in Business award.
Most recently, she was selected as a Fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Association and noted as a 2023 Best Lawyer in the area of Commercial Litigation.
Active in the community, she is a former member of the Rhode Island Builders Association and its Legislative Committee. She is a former board member of the Ocean State Montessori School and Roger Williams University School of Law Alumni Association and the Rhode Island Soccer Association.
In 2022, Joelle was selected as a Fellow of the Rhode Island Bar Association, an honor recognizing members whose professional, public and private careers have demonstrated their outstanding dedication to the welfare of the community and maintenance of the objectives of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation.
Joelle has been recognized by Providence Business News with its Forty Under 40 award, by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, and in Rhode Island Monthly both for its Excellence in the Law in the area of Environmental Law/Land Use, and as the recipient of the Outstanding Women in Business award.
Most recently, she was noted as a 2022 and 2023 Best Lawyer in the area of Commercial Litigation.
- Best Lawyers
- RI Bar Foundation Fellow
- Super Lawyers Rising Star
- Providence Business News Forty Under 40
- RI Monthly Excellence in the Law
- RI Monthly Outstanding Women in Business
- University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth) Distinguished Alumni
Publications

My Blog Posts
- Three D&S Attorneys Noted for Excellence in Law by RI Monthly for 2023
- Three D&S Partners to Speak at RI Bar Association Annual Meeting.
- D&S Attorneys Prevail in Zoning Matter
- Joelle Rocha Selected as Fellow of RI Bar Foundation
- Joelle Rocha/Nicole Martuccci Win Supreme Court Case for Property Purchaser
Admissions
Education
Roger Williams University School of Law (J.D. Honors Program, 2006)
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (B.A. Political Science, summa cum laude, 2003)
Admission
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
US District Court for the District of Massachusetts
US District Court for the District of Rhode Island