He attended college at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he received a dual-degree in business pre-law and marketing in 1981. Joe then received his law degree from the University of Denver in 1985, where he was a member of the Denver law review.

Subsequent to law school, Joe received and accepted a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Ferdinand F. Fernandez on the United States District Court in Los Angeles, California. After completing his clerkship with Judge Fernandez in 1987, Joe joined the New York City based law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, where he was an attorney in their Washington, D.C. office from 1987 until 1992, specializing primarily in large corporate transactions involving the federal securities laws.

Joe entered the business side of professional sports in 1992 when he was named General Counsel and Director of Player Contracts for the Columbia, Maryland based company, Precept Sports & Entertainment. While at Precept Sports, Joe was actively involved in the contract negotiations and day-to-day representation of numerous athletes in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball.

Joe then left Precept Sports in 1997 so that he could devote full attention to his strong passion for baseball. Since that time, he has operated his own sports management practice in affiliation with the Financial Design Group in Toledo, Ohio, and represents Curtis Pride as well as several other players in professional baseball.