Builder, Real Estate Broker, business founder and entrepreneur, Litigator. Three decades of real-world experience fueling his mediation practice.
He doesn't just understand the law. He has lived every side of the disputes he resolves.
Joël brings something rare to the mediation room: he has lived every side of the disputes he mediates. He has built projects as a licensed General Contractor and closed the deals as a Real Estate Broker. He has founded and run businesses as an entrepreneur. He has litigated. Not just another lawyer with no real-world experience turned mediator. A mediator who understands it first-hand.
Licensed as a California General Contractor since 2009 and a Real Estate Broker since 2004, Joël has led the design, construction, and leasing of a national retail rollout across the United States for a French fashion house.
He has developed and sold large residential properties in Los Angeles, and purchased and redeveloped complex foreclosure properties across California.
He understands construction and real estate disputes from the job site, the contract negotiation table, and the courtroom.
He co-founded Maison Bertet with his wife Sophie — who runs the business (and Joël) — designing and importing construction materials for clients across the United States and Europe. He founded Morgan de Toi USA, a fashion house that grew to over 200 employees with a national retail presence.
He has signed paychecks, run payroll, managed teams across international operations, negotiated employment separations, and faced the operational pressures his clients argue about. The boardroom disputes and the human pressure of a demanding business are not abstractions — they are work he has done.
Joël's California employment practice draws on his combined business and legal experience. As a member of CAALA and CELA, he holds standing in the California plaintiff bar. As an entrepreneur and business owner, he understands the employer's challenges of compliance and hiring team members — and the struggles facing hardworking people in small and large businesses. He mediates wage and hour, wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, PAGA, and executive separation matters across California.
Joël mediates construction, real estate, California employment, and complex business disputes nationwide, with emphasis in California and Texas.
He is a member of the Texas Construction Law Foundation and attends the Annual Conference in San Antonio. His practice focuses on complex construction matters, real estate disputes, California employment cases, and high-value business disputes.
A fierce competitor off the clock, Joël is a 2× USA National Track Cycling Champion (2012 & 2023), 10× California State Champion, and ranked 6th at the World Championships.
