A lawyer for 32 years, Joseph Bell's primary area of practice is family law.

He was first certified as a specialist by the State Bar of California on March 18, 1995 and has handled hundreds of dissolution of marriage, dissolution of domestic partnership, custody, visitation and support matters, as well as juvenile dependency, guardianship, and adoption matters.

He emphasizes preventative family law including:

He has have served as mediator, arbitrator and pro tem judge in family law and civil matters. He has substantial experience in personal injury/tort actions arising out of personal relations. He has also litigated employment disputes including wrongful termination and harassment claims, as well as land use/environmental law issues.

As a former member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, and as a member and Past President of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS) Mr. Bell has written articles on legal issues for the California Bar Journal and other digital and legal media and spoken on legal topics to community and bar groups.

He is a former State Bar Vice-President and Chair of the Board Committee on Courts and Legislation and liaison to the California Judges Association Family Law Committee and the State Bar Family Law Section Executive Committee.

Mr. Bell was a member of the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee for the Judicial Council of California, a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children and is an active volunteer member of Gold Country and Kiwanis International. He regularly provides pro bono advise, information, and representation to litigants without resources and community non-profit organizations.