Joey Nero joined KDG legal in 2023 after working as a professional baseball executive for ten years.  Nero spent three seasons with the Cleveland Guardians (2013-2015) and seven seasons (2016-2022) with the Miami Marlins.  Nero is a Cleveland native, a 2015 graduate of Capital University Law School (J.D.), a 2012 graduate of Ohio State University (B.Ed.), and a 2009 graduate of Padua Franciscan High School.

He most recently served as the Miami Marlins Assistant Director of Baseball Operations.  His responsibilities included player contracts and negotiations, salary arbitration research, payroll management, player personnel decisions, team operations, and player experience initiatives.  Additionally, he managed the team's advance scouting and video departments.

Nero previously served as a legal extern for Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and the Ohio House of Representatives and as a Sports Marketing Consultant for the Ohio State University Athletic Department.  During his time at Capital University Law School Nero was the President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Association and earned concentrations in both Environmental Law and Energy Law and Policy.

Nero brings a well-rounded perspective to estates and trusts work.  Specifically, with experience navigating complex real estate, tax, and corporate ownership components, he is well-versed in progressive strategies for asset protection related to estate and trust planning.  Additionally, Nero's decade of professional sports experience will be a catalyst in the creation of a Sports and Entertainment Law practice within KDG.

Nero and his family have been a consistent estate and funeral planning presence in the Cleveland, Ohio community since his great-grandparents founded Vito-Nero Funeral Home in Garfield Heights in 1930.  The business is currently in its fourth generation of family control.

In addition to his responsibilities at KDG, Nero is an adjunct professor of Sports Law in the Mike Cleary Sports Leadership Program at John Carrol University in University Heights, Ohio.

Nero is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland.