If you’re wondering what it takes to be one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona, experts say a leap of faith might be a good start.

“Don’t be afraid to try something new or take the lead,” says Jonathan L. Frutkin, principal at Radix Law. “As a lawyer, your clients are looking to you as the assertive voice of reason. Do your research, work hard and exceed their expectations. You’ll be rewarded in the end.”

Frutkin is among the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2020. The attorneys were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 of the state’s most talented and successful attorneys. The prestigious group of candidates is vetted by Az Business magazine’s editorial team in collaboration with industry experts, and then an algorithm — incorporating professional ratings, industry accolades, impact on the communities she/he serves, and impact on the legal profession — is used to make final selections.

So how can a young attorney build a career that will land her on a future Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona list? Since we live in an era of specialization — in sports, in medicine, in business — experts say it might not be a bad idea to follow that lead in the legal industry.

“Find an area of law that you have a passion for, learn as much as you can by reading, working hard, and finding a mentor or mentors to guide you,” says Steven N. Berger, shareholder at Engelman Berger, another attorney who has made the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona list multiple times. “Treat other attorneys as you would hope to be treated. Details are crucial, but don’t lose sight of the big picture. Never lose sight of your client’s goal.”

Double-click the slideshow photos from the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona reception to see them at full size and resolution.

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Another thing never to forget, according to some of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona, is that the client’s goals should always come first.

“Law is a service industry, much like the restaurant business,” says Jennifer A. Cranston, shareholder at Gallagher & Kennedy, one of AZRE magazine’s Most Influential Women in Arizona and a member of this year’s Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona. “The product can be excellent, but if the service is lousy, you won’t have happy customers, which means no repeat business or referrals.”

Do you know an attorney who should be considered for the 2021 list? Email Editor in Chief Michael Gossie at michael.gossie@azbigmedia.com.

Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2020

Andrew Abraham

President and shareholder

Burch & Cracchiolo

Practice areas: Real estate law, real estate litigation, commercial litigation

Julia S. Acken

Member

Jennings Strouss

Practice areas: Labor and employment law

Hilary L. Barnes

Member

Allen Barnes & Jones

Practice areas: Corporate and consumer bankruptcy

Timothy J. Berg

Director

Fennemore Craig

Practice areas: Civil appeals, state constitutional and public law, public records law and public utilities regulation

Steven N. Berger

Shareholder

Engelman Berger

Practice areas: Bankruptcy and reorganization, creditor’s rights, loan workouts, business restructurings, business and real estate disputes, mediation

Keith A. Berkshire

Founder

Berkshire Law Office

Practice areas: Family law

Maureen Beyers

Partner

Beyers Farrell

Practice areas: Business litigation and arbitration

Laura Bianchi

Shareholder and partner

Bianchi Brandt & Hale

Practice areas: Cannabis business law and financing

Steve Biddle

Shareholder

Littler

Practice areas: Discrimination and harassment, workplace safety and health, labor-management relations, wage and hour matters

William D. Bishop

Founder

Bishop Law Office

Practice areas: Family law

Neal H. Bookspan

Shareholder

Jaburg | Wilk

Practice areas: Employment, real estate and construction-related matters

Heather J. Boysel

Managing Member

Gammage & Burnham

Practice areas: Healthcare, government relations and administrative law, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, real estate, land use, construction law

Heather Buchta

Office chair of the Intellectual Property Group

Quarles & Brady

Practice areas: E-commerce, software, technology and data privacy, with an additional focus on copyright and trademark prosecution

Edwin C. Bull

Shareholder

Burch & Cracchiolo

Practice areas: Real estate, land use and zoning

Robin E. Burgess

Shareholder

Sanders & Parks

Practice areas: Healthcare, medical malpractice, product liability, professional liability, municipal liability

Annette T. Burns

Founder

Annette T. Burns Law Offices

Practice areas: Family law, and focuses on acting as mediator and arbitrator

Flavia Campbell

Partner

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie

Practice areas: Trademarks and copyrights

Anne Chapman

Attorney

Mitchell | Stein | Carey | Chapman

Practice area: White-collar criminal defense

Jennifer Cranston

Shareholder and member of the board of directors

Gallagher & Kennedy

Practice areas: Condemnation and valuation, insurance, public utilities

John Alan Doran

Member

Sherman & Howard

Practice areas: Labor and employment, litigation, trials, appeals

Daniel G. Dowd

Partner and president

Cohen Dowd Quigley

Practice areas: Commercial litigation, administrative disputes, internal investigations

Logan Elia

Partner

Rose Law Group

Practice areas: Business litigation, intellectual property law, cyber law, medical cannabis litigation, and appellate practice

James A. Fassold

Shareholder

Tiffany & Bosco

Practice areas: Appellate practice, probate administration and litigation

Matthew P. Feeney

Phoenix firm chair

Snell & Wilmer

Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, SEC reporting and compliance, and corporate governance matters

Brigitte Finley Green

Shareholder

Engelman Berger

Practice areas: Public finance and federal tax law

Richard A. Friedlander

Attorney

Lang & Klain

Practice areas: Mediation, arbitration, construction litigation, commercial litigation

Jonathan Frutkin

Principal

Radix Law

Practice areas: Business law and commercial litigation

Garrick L. Gallagher

Owner and director

Sanders & Parks

Practice areas: Personal injury, mass torts, insurance litigation and coverage

Lauren L. Garner

Partner

Jaburg Wilk

Practice areas: Probate and trust litigation and mediation

Sean D. Garrison

Partner

Bacal & Garrison Law Group

Practice areas: Software license agreements, software and platform development agreements, software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements, joint development agreements

Karen S. Gaylord

Partner

Jennings Haug Cunningham

Practice areas: Environmental law and litigation, energy and energy regulatory law, water law

James Goodnow

President and managing partner

Fennemore Craig

Practice areas: Business litigation, commercial contingency litigation, litigation

Benjamin Gottlieb

Founding partner

MacQueen & Gottlieb

Practice areas: Real estate, business, commercial cases

Stacey F. Gottlieb

Of counsel

Cohen Dowd Quigley

Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense

Andrew F. Halaby

Partner

Snell & Wilmer

Practice areas:  Intellectual property and technology litigation, intellectual property and technology, commercial litigation, professional licensure

Angie K. Hallier

Partner

Hallier Lawrence

Practice areas: Divorce and family law matters, including litigation, mediation, collaborative divorce, and arbitration

Robert Haws

Chair of the Employment and Education Law Practice Groups

Gust Rosenfeld

Practice areas: Labor and employment, education law

Ben Himmelstein

Partner

Radix Law

Practice areas: Business break-ups, misappropriation of trade secrets, business torts, sales contracts, buy and sell agreements, and non-compete and non-solicit agreements

Kami M. Hoskins

Partner

Gordon & Rees

Practice areas: Employment law; bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors’ rights; commercial litigation

Donald W. Hudspeth

Principal attorney

Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth

Practice areas: Corporate and business law

Douglas A. Jorden

Partner

Jorden Hiser & Joy

Practice areas: Land use, zoning, municipal law, real estate, environmental and Indian law

Michael K. Kennedy

Co-founding partner, shareholder and member of the board of directors

Gallagher & Kennedy

Practice areas: Business litigation, professional liability, sports law

Jordan A. Kroop

Partner

Perkins Coie

Practice areas: Corporate bankruptcy, restructuring and reorganization

David L. Lansky

Member

Clark Hill

Practice areas: Represents buyers, sellers, investors, and lenders in a wide variety of complex commercial real estate transactions

Amy L. Lieberman

Founder

Insight Employment Mediation and Insight Mediation Group

Practice areas: Arbitration and mediation

Richard Lieberman

Chairman, Corporate, Securities and Finance Department

Jennings, Strouss & Salmon

Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, securities, corporate governance, finance and banking, employment, executive compensation, bankruptcy and corporate restructuring

John F. Lomax, Jr.

Partner

Snell & Wilmer

Practice areas: Labor and employment, Native American affairs, energy and utilities

Patrick MacQueen

Founder and partner

MacQueen & Gottlieb

Practice areas: Real estate transactional law and real estate litigation

Gerald Maltz

Shareholder and president

Miller Pitt Feldman & McAnally

Practice areas: Business litigation

Michael C. Manning

Partner

Stinson

Practice areas: Business litigation, antitrust, governance, risk and compliance, real estate litigation

Nicole Maroulakos Goodwin

Managing Shareholder

Greenberg Traurig

Practice areas: Corporate governance disputes, financial services litigation, real estate litigation, post-acquisition disputes, health care litigation, and franchise litigation

Karen C. McConnell

Partner

Ballard Spahr

Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities and capital markets

Michael McGrath

Partner and board chair

Mesch Clark Rothschild

Practice areas: Debtor and creditor rights as well as commercial and real estate litigation and transactions

Alexandra Mijares Nash

Partner

Blythe Grace

Practice areas: Represents corporations and individuals in a wide variety of criminal and civil matters

Tracy A. Miller

Shareholder

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

Practice areas: Represents management in all facets of labor and employment law and civil rights

Pedro J. Miranda

Partner

Squire Patton Boggs

Practice areas: Public finance

Michael D. Moberly

Shareholder

Ryley Carlock & Applewhite

Practice areas: Labor and employment, insurance defense, litigation

Jason B. Morris

Partner

Withey Morris

Practice areas: Land use, planning, zoning, and administrative law

Mark Nadeau

Co-managing partner, Phoenix office

DLA Piper

Practice areas: Television, aviation, real estate hospitality, energy, trade secret and unfair business practice matters

Tibor Nagy, Jr.

Office managing shareholder

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

Practice areas: Labor and employment law

Edward F. Novak

Shareholder

Polsinelli

Practice areas: Government investigations, commercial litigation, healthcare litigation, attorney discipline, white-collar criminal defense

Randy Nussbaum

Attorney

Sacks Tierney

Practice areas: Bankruptcy, debtor and creditor rights, trustee representation, commercial litigation, real estate law, construction litigation

Shawn Oller

Office managing shareholder

Littler

Practice areas: Represents management and companies in all aspects of employment litigation arbitration and mediation

Kevin E. O’Malley

Shareholder and member of the board of directors

Gallagher & Kennedy

Practice areas: Insurance, public bidding and procurement, administrative law, professional liability, litigation, construction

Pamela Overton Risoleo

Shareholder

Greenberg Traurig

Practice areas: Class action litigation, products liability and mass tort, litigation, trial practice

James H. Patterson

Member

Dickinson Wright

Practice areas: real estate, land use and zoning, leasing, real estate acquisition and dispositions, real estate finance, corporate

Steven D. Pidgeon

Co-managing partner

DLA Piper

Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and general corporate

Steven Plitt

Senior member

The Cavanagh Law Firm

Practice areas: Insurance law and insurance benefits, insurance litigation

Marlene A. Pontrelli

Member  |  Dickinson Wright

Practice areas: Family law, including dissolution and legal separation of marriage, business valuations, division of property, spousal support, post-dissolution modifications, premarital and post-marital agreements, paternity, child custody, parenting time, child support matters

Daniel P. Quigley

Partner and vice president

Cohen Dowd Quigley

Practice areas: Commercial litigation, including cases raising antitrust and intellectual property issues

Stephanie Quincy

Partner

Quarles & Brady

Practice areas: Labor and employment, trade secrets and unfair competition, financial institutions litigation, trade secrets

Cynthia A. Ricketts

Founding partner

Sacks Ricketts & Case

Practice areas: Complex contract and commercial litigation, consumer class action defense

Barbara Rodriquez-Pashkowski

Chair of the firm’s Real Estate and Commercial Sections

Gust Rosenfeld

Practice areas: Environmental law, natural resources, administrative law, litigation

David B. Rosenbaum

Partner

Osborn Maledon

Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation in the state and federal courts

Thomas J. Salerno

Partner

Stinson

Practice areas: Bankruptcy and restructuring

Brian J. Schulman

Head of Litigation Group

Weiss Brown

Practice areas: Securities litigation and regulatory compliance, financial services litigation and regulatory compliance, real estate litigation, franchise law, Indian law

Darin Sender

Founding partner and attorney

Sender

Practice areas: Zoning and land use law

John G. Sestak

Member

Jennings Strouss

Practice areas: Corporate, administrative, creditors’ rights, securities litigation, real estate, employment, professional negligence, and environmental matters

Nonnie L. Shivers

Shareholder

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

Practice areas: Employment law, including an emphasis on complex but proactive compliance projects, such as 50-state compliant wage deductions and lawful parental leave programs

Leon Silver

Managing partner

Gordon & Rees

Practice areas: Commercial litigation, retail and hospitality, privacy, data and cybersecurity, securities litigation, employment litigation

Frances R. Sjoberg

Partner

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie

Practice areas: Intergovernmental agreements, tribal business transactions, real estate and complex project management

K. Thomas Slack

Partner

Beale Micheaels Slack & Shughart

Practice areas: Represents plaintiffs in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases including trucking, automobile, railroad crossing and workplace accidents

Wendi A. Sorensen

Shareholder

Burch & Cracchiolo

Practice areas: Personal injury and wrongful death litigation, mediation and arbitration

Christopher S. Stachowiak

Attorney  |  Osborn Maledon

Practice areas: Domestic and cross border mergers, acquisitions, angel and venture capital financings, public and private securities offerings, joint ventures, technology licensing

Matt C. Sweger

Partner

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie

Practice areas: Corporate and finance transactions, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, capital raising, formation of new businesses

Christopher D. Thomas

Partner

Perkins Coie

Practice areas: Environmental and natural resource permitting and related federal, state and administrative litigation

William L. Thorpe

Thorpe Shwer

Practice areas: Represents both large and small enterprises in complex commercial and tort matters

Andrew B. Turk

Senior counsel

Clark Hill

Practice areas: Construction law, healthcare litigation, tort, and insurance litigation

Debora Verdier

Partner

Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester

Practice areas: Employment law-defense

C. Bradley Vynalek

Partner

Quarles & Brady

Practice areas: Litigation and dispute resolution; real estate and construction litigation; banking and financial institutions; fiduciary, trust and probate litigation

E. Jeffrey Walsh

Shareholder, commercial litigation

Greenberg Traurig

Practice areas: Commercial litigation, construction law, real estate litigation, trial practice, arbitration and mediation

Paul M. Weiser

Managing shareholder, Arizona office

Buchalter

Practice areas: Commercial real estate

Scott K. Weiss

Attorney

Weiss Brown

Practice areas: Corporate and securities, financing, mergers and acquisitions

Dennis Wilenchik

Member and manager

Wilenchik & Bartness

Practice areas: Complex civil litigation, business and real estate law, contract and business disputes, criminal law, civil and criminal appeals

Lonnie J. Williams, Jr.

Partner  |  Stinson

Practice areas: Represents large companies in discrimination lawsuits and in intellectual property cases

Lori L. Winkelman

Attorney

Phoenix Law Group

Practice areas: Pharmacy benefits and operations; compliance counseling; contracting; corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, and creditors’ rights

Susan M. Wissink

Director, management committee member, chair of Fennemore Craig Foundation

Fennemore Craig

Practice areas: Corporate and mergers and acquisitions

Michael B. Withey

Partner

Withey Morris

Practice areas: Handles larger, complicated re-zonings; negotiates the differing development and re-development agreements with municipalities and counties throughout Arizona

Grant Woods

Shareholder

Gallagher & Kennedy

Practice areas: Government affairs and lobbying, litigation, plaintiff’s personal injury and wrongful death

Mark G. Worischeck

Managing shareholder

Sanders & Parks

Practice areas: Insurance coverage, aviation, personal injury