Education: 2000: MBA in Public Accounting, St. John's University Peter J. Tobin College of Business; 1999: J.D., St. John's University School of Law; 1996: B.A. in Political Science, Stony Brook University.

Joe is admitted as an attorney in New York, Virginia, and Washington DC, a solicitor in England and Wales, and is a certified public accountant (CPA).

Career in Brief: Joe has over two decades of experience as a lawyer – with about fifteen years at premier New York law firms (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP), and five years of government service as a counter-terrorism prosecutor with DOJ and a military prosecutor. As a US Army reservist, he is a two-time combat veteran of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. He currently serves as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at SAP National Security Services (SAP NS2®) (since May 2020). Joe also is recognized as an expert in white-collar crime and national security, has appeared hundreds of times on cable and TV news programs such as BBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, and is a regular opinion contributor to The Hill. At 45 years old, he considers himself at roughly the halfway point in his career.

SAP is one of the world's leading producers of software for the management of business processes. SAP NS2 is as an independent U.S. subsidiary of SAP and provides secure cloud hosting and support services for SAP data analytics and data fusion software. The company also has its own innovative products through NS2 Labs, where it brings together the best of government and the private sector to collaborate on concepts such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and secure supply chain technologies. SAP NS2's customers include both government and private sector entities spanning multiple industries, including defense, financial services, energy, and other critical infrastructure sectors.

As General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, I am responsible for advising the CEO, the board of directors, and senior management on all legal and compliance matters, including:

I also manage the organization's contracts department, which is responsible for negotiating and drafting all agreements with our military, federal government, and private sector customers.

My predecessor at SAP NS2 was Dale Turza, who had previously been a partner with me at Cadwalader and was a mentor of mine going back a decade. I was very fortunate to have served as outside counsel for NS2 for several years before joining and had witnessed how CEO Mark Testoni and Board Chair Fran Townsend built the organization from a small player to a thriving organization with over 800 employees. Mark identified early on that secure cloud solutions delivery was the way of the future. With more and more government and commercial clients placing increased emphasis on cybersecurity, I have no doubt SAP NS2 will continue to grow. I cannot imagine a better place to practice law than at a cutting-edge technology company dedicated to protecting the security of our nation and its critical infrastructure and networks.

Versatility is one. I know too many attorneys who are quick to say, "that's not the kind of law I practice." I get it – most of us have highly developed skillsets and do not function as general practitioners. However, this can be taken too far, especially in the divide between transactional law and litigation. There is no way I could be successful as a general counsel if my first instinct was to turn away from work that I had not done before or that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I am very proud of the fact that I am equally capable in the board room and the courtroom. Over years of diverse positions, I know I can handle anything from government contract negotiations to corporate M&A to trial work. Granted, nobody can be an expert in everything, and there are times when I need to lean on outside counsel because my team does not have the expertise or bandwidth to take something on. But I tackle every new issue that comes in the door as something I not only can manage but master.

Another is balancing the desire to be liked with the ability to deliver bad news. My natural inclination is to be agreeable and avoid conflict. I place a lot of value on being polite, treating people with respect, and being a go-to guy for anyone from the CEO to the most junior member of the organization. And I know that the fastest way for an in-house lawyer to lose the confidence of others is to be a reflexive naysayer or talk down to people. So when it comes time to push back on an ill-conceived concept or provide unwelcome legal advice, it is never easy for me. I have to always remember that my client is the company and my primary responsibly is to protect the company, the board, and the employees – not to be popular.

My first job as a summer associate was secured through the help of a St. John's professor and alum. Since then, nearly every position or client I have had has derived from some connection that I cultivated through law school or other professional networking. This taught me early on that no matter how good your background is in terms of grades and experience, there is only so far that a resume alone will get you. Nothing substitutes for personal relationships, and they come from years of trust, friendship, and respect. Looking back, while I jam-packed my law school experience with studying, Law Review, and getting a dual JD/MBA, I should have spent even more time cultivating those early bonds with my classmates.

Constant change – which is both a blessing and a challenge. During my 20 years of practice, I saw the technology bubble expand and burst, a financial crisis bring down the real estate and capital markets, and the explosion of cybersecurity and data privacy as practice areas. At the same time, 9/11 shook this country from its post-Cold War posture and shattered the way we viewed national security. I have had to constantly evolve my skills, my professional network, and my long-term career plans. When I started out as a corporate lawyer with dreams of being an investment banker, I never would have imagined serving three overseas tours with the U.S. Army, becoming a federal counterterrorism prosecutor, or working for the F.B.I. 9/11 Review Commission. Now I have somewhat come full circle, leveraging those corporate and litigation skills while mastering government contracts and intellectual property for a defense sector company. It has been a wild ride, and I am not even close to being finished.

While being a law firm associate and partner, serving on active duty with the Army, and working for the Justice Department were all very different jobs, they had one thing in common – they were all difficult. When I was a prosecutor, I may not have had the same volume of work as at the firm, but going to trial and arguing before a federal judge is just about as stressful an experience as I can imagine. Working as a law firm associate was tough until I became a partner, and then I had the added burden and responsibility of generating new business. The legal business is a stressful industry, and I have never had an easy job. Every position I have had meant keeping that stress in check and preventing work from becoming all-consuming.

Public service is a passion of mine. If finances were no issue, I would probably still be a federal prosecutor or on active duty with the military. I joined the Army Reserve while a first-year associate at Skadden and was commissioned just months before the 9/11 attacks. In fact, the first person to reach my cell phone that day was my US Army Reserves team leader, Major Mike Deegan, who was getting accountability (making sure we were safe) for those of us located in Manhattan. I never realized how much military service would become a huge part of my professional and personal life. It is where I met my wife, who also served a tour in Iraq. I loved every minute of my military and then federal service. But raising eight children in Northern Virginia is not inexpensive, and as college approaches, I need to be realistic about what I can earn and save for them. Part of the reason my job at NS2 is so fulfilling is that I still support the national security mission while serving in the private sector. Coupled with my continued service in the Army Reserve, I really could not ask for more.

As a lawyer, you have the analytical, communication, and time management skills needed to succeed in almost any line of work. But the same risk-averse, long-on-debate tendencies we have as attorneys are not always appreciated elsewhere, especially in executive roles. If you want to be less of an advisor and more of an operator, you must be able to make decisions, sometimes with less time and information than you would like. For every lawyer I have seen succeed in a nonlegal business position, I have seen others retreat back to what they know. I continue to believe that a legal background is an outstanding basis for a career, even if you ultimately decide not to practice.

A CNN producer from Brooke Baldwin's show reached out to me during the height of the Mueller/Russia investigation and asked if I would be interested in commenting on developments in the investigation. I jumped at the opportunity. One appearance led to another, which led to other networks, and before I knew it, I was doing between five and ten pieces per week and writing regularly for The Hill. Now it waxes and wanes depending on the news cycle and whether an issue is an appropriate topic for me to comment on considering my current position. It has been an incredible experience to be part of the public discussion on issues like national security, terrorism, and criminal issues – one I definitely hope to keep up in the future.

Every time. While I have gotten more comfortable over the years, any live appearance could go awry. I always appear on-air as a legal analyst, not a political commentator, and I try very hard to be an "explainer" without injecting my own beliefs and biases. In an election year with politics so highly charged, it is almost impossible to say anything without upsetting someone. The path of least resistance is definitely to avoid the media – there's that lawyerly aversion to risk. However, I have been gifted with the opportunity to participate in the public dialog about some of the biggest national news stories in recent years. I certainly think that is something worth taking a chance to pursue.

My grandmother gave me advice long ago to "never volunteer for anything." Bless her heart – I know she was trying to keep me out of the military – but I have operated my career with the exact opposite mindset. I volunteer for everything and, yes, sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not. But do not go into the law automatically expecting an easy path to a six- or seven-figure paycheck. Be prepared to hustle, always look for new adventures, and never assume you have it all figured out.

Being NS2's General Counsel is an incredible job. I get to manage a fantastic team and work alongside some very impressive senior leaders. I look forward to another decade in the Army Reserve, and I would certainly consider another turn in government or politics at some point down the road. Right now, I could not be happier as I learn new things every day at NS2, get more settled as a trusted legal and business advisor, and help support the greatest customers in the world in their mission to defend America's national security.