Gonzalo Joseph Barrientos 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. Joseph served as an assistant Travis County Attorney in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, he became a felony prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, where he represented 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 to become associated with the plaintiffs' personal injury firm of Perry & Haas, L.L.P., in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Joseph 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, General Motors, Navistar, Paccar, Builder's Square and Briggs-Weaver. In 1998, he became a member of the firm of Edwards, Perry & Haas, L.L.P. In 2000, he joined the predecessor law firm of Watts Law Firm, L.L.P., where he is now a partner. He 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 Fifth Circuit. Joseph is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Attorneys 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 Advocates' organization. Joseph 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 also served on the Coastal Bend Legal Services Board of Directors and is currently a board member of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation.

Joseph is a panel member of the District 11A Grievance Committee of the State Bar of Texas. He is fluent in written and spoken Spanish