About
Joe received his undergraduate degree from Stanford in 1960 and his law degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1964. He served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas J. MacBride, Judge, United States District Court of the Eastern District of California. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1961-1967.
Some of Joe’s noteworthy accomplishments include:
- California State Bar Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, 2001
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, since 1986
- Northern California Super Lawyers since inception
- Best Lawyers in America since inception, recently:
- Lawyer of the Year for Commercial Litigation, Sacramento 2010
- Lawyer of the Year, Real Estate Litigation – Sacramento 2014
- Bet the Company Litigation – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Commercial Litigation – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Litigation-Banking and Finance – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Litigation-Real Estate – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Joe has lectured for the business Litigation Section of the State Bar of California as well as for a variety of Continuing Education of the Bar courses related to litigation. Joe served for many years as a panelist with local federal judges conducting courses on recent developments in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and local rules for practitioners in the Eastern District. Joe conducts seminars on Commercial Lending Litigation and lectures to groups such as the Sacramento Young Lawyers’ Association, the Business Litigation and Business Counseling Sections of the Sacramento County Bar Association, as well as the Sonoma and San Mateo County Bars.
A Sacramento native, Joe has strong ties to the area and places great significance on local civic activities through his involvement in area non-profit groups. He was formerly on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Valley Vision, a non-profit dedicated to promoting regional thinking, is a Fellow of the American Leadership Forum and was Chairman of the Board of its Mountain Valley Chapter. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Special Olympics of Northern California and Friends of Light Rail.
Joe served as President and as a member of the Board of Directors of Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO), and President of the Community Alcoholism Rehabilitation Effort (CARE). Joe also served on the Board of Directors of KVIE Channel 6 (public television), the Sacramento Symphony, the League to Save Lake Tahoe and was a co-chair of the Sacramento Regional Economic Forum. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of Gateway Foundation, a home for alcoholic women. Additionally, Joe has twice served as a Trustee of Christian Brothers High School. Joe is presently a member of the Sacramento Host Committee as well as a member of the Board of Sierra Forever Families. Joe is also a member of Friends of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; a Board Member of Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Federal Judicial Library and Learning Center Foundation.
He also finished 5,411 in the 83rd annual running of the Boston AA Marathon.