Joe came to San Antonio and embraced the city as his own from the time he settled here to clerk for John H. in 1971. After working for the firm of Sawtelle, Goode, Davidson and Troilo, he became a U. S. Bankruptcy Judge sitting in San Antonio and covering, at one time or another, dockets in San Antonio, Austin, Waco, El Paso and Midland. He was, thankfully, a frequent speaker covering bankruptcy, ethics and procedure, both as a faculty panelist and speaker at numerous seminars and bar events. He was a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, listed in bankruptcy in Best Lawyers in America and the proud holder of the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell, Inc.
In 1975 Joe began his 11 years dedicated (it seemed at times) to terrorizing us all as a Judge on the Bankruptcy Court, where he served with distinction until his departure from the bench in 1986 as Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Western District of Texas. Soon after taking the bench Joe fell heir to what was then the largest corporate bankruptcy filing ever, Corco. His opinion on the venue issue, affirmed by the 5th Circuit, still is good law and a starting point for any analysis of venue issues in a bankruptcy case.
As a practitioner, after his experience on the bench, Joe represented both secured and unsecured creditors and debtors and trustees in cases under chapters 7, 11 and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. He also appeared in numerous cases as an expert witness. About the last five years of his practice he also served successfully as a mediator. One of his last mediations was of a complex case in bankruptcy court that no one, not even the judge in the case, thought had any chance at all of settling. Joe, of course, cajoled, threatened and sweet talked all parties into a settlement.
Joe wasn't with us nearly long enough.
We miss him. | 
