With over 49 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer, Joe Watkins spent the first 20 years of his career with a defense firm, where he handled and tried a wide range of cases, including products liability, medical, dental, and chiropractic malpractice, legal malpractice, catastrophic trucking and automobile cases, premises liability, and insurance coverage cases. In 1997 he, along with two of his defense firm partners, started a plaintiff's practice, where he represented severely injured individuals and their families in personal injury and wrongful death cases in state and federal courts throughout Georgia. Joe also has argued cases in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Georgia, as well as in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He began a part-time mediation practice in 2005.

Joe joined Henning Mediation's Panel of Neutrals in 2017 and is available for mediation and arbitration. Sessions may be conducted in-person at Henning's Atlanta office, via secure video conferencing.