Joe concentrates his practice in general business and corporate law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions. Joe is chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Cannabis Industry Team and is a former hiring partner for the firm.
Joe's corporate practice involves a diverse array of industries, and he has represented clients in transactions occurring at every phase of a business’ life cycle. His extensive acquisition experience includes helping clients structure and negotiate business combinations and divestitures, including mergers, asset and stock sales and acquisitions, and joint ventures and strategic alliances in the United States and abroad. He also has significant experience in debt and equity financings and venture capital and other minority investments as well as corporate formations, restructurings, and liquidations. Additionally, Joe provides ongoing legal advice to a number of clients in the areas of licensing, commercial contracts, corporate governance and counseling, stockholder and voting agreements, and employment and non-competition agreements.
As chair of the firm’s Cannabis Industry Team, Joe has spearheaded the development of a multidisciplinary cannabis practice into a full-service industry team comprised of attorneys from virtually every practice group within Cozen O’Connor and with an industry team representative resident in 13 of the jurisdictions across the country in which cannabis is legal at the state level. He applies his corporate knowledge and counseling background to help clients navigate this rapidly developing regulated industry, most notably in utilizing his mergers and acquisitions experience to structure and document acquisitions of cannabis license holders. Further, Joe provides regulatory advice with respect to cannabis matters to clients in over 15 states. Through this work, Joe and the cannabis team have developed a comprehensive understanding of each such state’s cannabis regulations.
Joe received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994.