Joanne is committed to helping small business owners achieve their goals. From inception to business maturity, Joanne serves as an experienced and insightful counselor to business owners as they face the financial, legal and operational challenges that are an inevitable part of the life cycle of a business.
Joanne helps to guide entrepreneurs and closely-held businesses through the new entity formation process and to structure, negotiate and implement business transactions such as asset and stock acquisitions, mergers, financing transactions, real estate purchases and leases, and business separations. She also assists her business and nonprofit clients with negotiating a wide range of contracts, such as software licenses, consulting agreements, employment agreements and non-disclosure agreements. She works with business owners to develop, document and implement their business succession plans, including preparing buy-sell, partnership and LLC agreements. She frequently functions as outside general counsel for companies and nonprofit entities by handling corporate record-keeping and providing advice on corporate governance and other matters as needed.
Joanne also works with area financial institutions to document commercial mortgage and asset-based loan transactions and provides advice on documentation and collateral issues. She collaborates with members of AMM’s litigation practice group on collection, bankruptcy and other bank-related litigation.
Joanne contributes regularly to the Firm’s business blog, lectures on various business law topics, and has published articles on topics such as business law, business succession planning, software licensing and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Joanne presents educational programs to banking clients, covering topics such as lender liability, corporate law, and commercial law developments.
Joanne is actively involved in the Bucks County community. She is a past President of the Bucks County Bar Association and currently serves as Chair of its Bylaws Committee. She is President of NAMI Bucks County, PA, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which provides advocacy, support, and education to those living with mental health conditions and the families and loved ones who support them. Joanne serves as Co-President of the Philadelphia chapter of The Exit Planning Exchange, which is a community of trusted advisors who collaborate to help their private company clients build business value, transfer ownership, and create a legacy of success in their lives and their communities. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Bucks County Children’s Museum. Her past nonprofit board experience includes the Bucks County Symphony, the Bucks County Symphony Foundation, the Bucks County Bar Foundation, the Bucks County Children’s Museum, and the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition.
Professional Memberships:
American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Philadelphia Bar Association, Past President Bucks County Bar Association (Chair of Bylaws Committee, Past Chair of Membership and Member Services Committee, Co-founder and Past Chair of its Business Law Section, Member and Past Chair of its Women Lawyers Division)
Civic Associations:
President of the Board, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Bucks County
Advisory Board, Bucks County Children’s Museum
Board of Directors, Doylestown Health Foundation
Governance Committee, Village Improvement Association
Board of Directors, Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce
Awards, Honors:
“AV” Peer Review Rating, Martindale Hubbell
Harriet M. Mims Award, (Bucks County Bar Association), 2022
Named a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer,” (2022 – 2024)
Named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
President’s Award, (Bucks County Bar Association)
Bucks County Herald/Bucks County Bar Association Lawyers Among Us Award Winner, 2018