Joan B. Velazquez is a partner at the Beverly Hills law firm of Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP, where she is a member of the firm's Real Estate, Taxation Law and Business & Corporate Law Departments.  In addition, she is a co-founder of  the firm's Family Business Law Group ( www.fambizlaw.com ).  Ms. Velazquez's areas of practice include general business law, mergers and acquisitions, workouts of distressed real property, financing, acquisitions, dispositions and exchanges of real property, development and joint ventures, hazardous materials and toxic wastes,  environmental law, and all aspects of federal, state and local taxation of real property and real estate transactions.

Ms. Velazquez is admitted to the State Bar of California.  Ms. Velazquez received her J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1978.  While at USC, she was a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Justice Otto Kaus.  She attended the University of Bridgeport earning a B.S., magna cum laude, in Psychology in 1972.

Ms. Velazquez is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Real Estate Taxation Section; California Women Lawyers; National Association of Women Business Owners; and Big Sisters of Los Angeles, Board of Directors, 1993-present.