Joel’s first work out of law school was at the Los Angeles District Attorneys office. His early claim to fame was initial involvement in the O.J. Simpson case before it was moved to downtown Los Angeles by then District Attorney Gil Garcetti. While looking for a better post at the District Attorney’s office, Joel was presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring one of the most well known French Fashion brands to the United States and he jumped on the opportunity, putting his legal career on hold.

Morgan de toi is a woman’s French fashion house with over 650 shops worldwide Joel brought the brand to the United States and developed it into a 10 million dollar company with 15 full concept retail shops and wholesale and manufacturing with close to 250 employees.

Morgan de toi USA had offices in Paris, Geneva, New York, Texas, Hawaii and its headquarters in Los Angeles. The brand was sold to a large international luxury conglomerate and Morgan de toi USA was wrapped up in that buyout.

Joel then shifted gears and joined Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills as a broker and worked with top real estate professionals representing buyers and sellers of high end residential real estate. He became licensed as a General Contractor and developed and sold several large properties in the Los Angeles area. He then drew on his legal background to help him purchase and develop 32 complex foreclosure properties in California.

Joel next created Maison Bertet with his designer wife Sophie, who specializes in manufacturing and importing construction finish materials for large scale real estate developers and hotel operators. Maison Bertet has offices in Guangzhou China and is headquartered in Los Angeles. Sophie continues to operate Maison Bertet.

Throughout the last 30 years of business, Joel continued to actively help very select clients with their legal matters as a litigator and advisor. Most of this legal experience has been as legal business advisor with an emphasis in the international arena to businesses looking to break into the US market or import from China.

He is a fierce track cycling sprinter winning the USA National Track Championships in 2012 and 2023. He is 6 time California State Track Champion and ranked 6th at the World Championships.