Gonzalo Joseph Barrientos, “Joseph” was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983 and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1987. He served as an assistant Travis County Attorney in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1988. In 1998 he became a felony prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office representing victims of serious crime from 1988 to 1992. Joseph concluded his prosecutorial career in 1992 as the chief prosecuting attorney in the 147th Judicial District Court.

In 1992 Joseph became associated with the plaintiff’s personal injury firm of Perry & Haas, L.L.P. in Corpus Christi, Texas where he met and worked with Mikal Watts. He became a member of the firm of Perry & Haas in 1994 and focused his work on negligence, product liability, premises, automotive and heavy truck cases involving catastrophic injury and death against companies such as Ford, Navistar, Paccar, Builder’s Square and Briggs-Weaver.

Over the course of his membership in the Watts Law Firm and Watts Guerra Craft, L.L.P. Joseph has continued his representation of the catastrophically injured and their survivors, resulting in successful settlements with companies such as CRST Trucking, Duke Energy, Zachry Construction Corporation, TXU Energy Services, General Motors, Chrysler, Firestone, Michelin, Sears & Roebuck, and Flotek Industries.

Joseph is licensed to practice in the state courts of Texas, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Joseph has been a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Attorney Information Exchange Group (AIEG), the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) and the State Bar of Texas. He has served as an Associate Director of TTLA and was the founding Chair of the TTLA Advocate’s organization. Mr. Barrientos has served on the Board of Directors of the Corpus Christi Bar Association, holding the office of president for the 2003-2004 term. He has served on the Coastal Bend Legal Services Board of Directors and is currently a Board member of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation – the body that funds legal services providers for indigent Texans. Joseph has also served as a panel member of the District 11A Grievance Committee of the State Bar of Texas. He is fluent in written and spoken Spanish.