I think Joe is full of shyt claiming that he'd never sue.Joe doesnt value ish and is taking advantage of his main hustle as a crutch to not pay/hold him Hostage. He thinks not suing his boy is a favor and not what it really is which, more money and time loss going to court. Its a thinly veiled gesture of endearment
I think he probably looked into suing R&M but realized he didn't have a case because he voided the contract by firing them. Now he's drawn up contracts for ice and Ish that would allow him to do what he wanted to do to Rory and Mal, they can't start another podcast if he fires them and they can't quit without risking a lawsuit from Joe.