Jennings Strouss welcomes Joel F. Newell to the firm
Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, P.L.C., a leading Phoenix-based law firm, announced that Joel F. Newell has joined the Firm’s Bankruptcy practice as an Associate.
“With his experience, I am confident that Joel will make a great addition to our practice,” stated Bradley J. Stevens, Chair of the Firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights practice group. “He will excel with us and provide outstanding legal services to our clients.”
Newell will focus his practice on Chapter 11 and 13 bankruptcies. He has extensive experience in all areas of creditor rights in both commercial and consumer bankruptcy law including Chapter 7, 11, and 13, matters, adversary litigation, relief from stay matters, proofs of claim, plan objections, and other substantive bankruptcy motions. Newell has also defended and prosecuted trial court decisions appealed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Ninth Circuit of Appeals, and the Arizona Court of Appeals. He currently serves as the Chair of the State Bar of Arizona Bankruptcy Section and is the former Chair of the Maricopa County Bar Association Bankruptcy Section. Newell received his J.D. from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School and his B.A. in Business Management from Anderson University.
“I am delighted for the opportunity to work with the people of Jennings Strouss,” said Newell. “I have always respected the Firm’s Bankruptcy practice, and I am extremely proud to join the group.”
Jennings Strouss’ Garrett J. Olexa among honorary commanders at Luke
Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, P.L.C., a leading Phoenix-based law firm, announced that attorney Garrett J. Olexa was recently among the latest group of leaders appointed as a member of the Honorary Commanders Program by Brigadier General Gregory Kreuder, Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
Luke Air Force Base’s Honorary Commander program allows base leadership to establish and develop relationships with local, civic, and business leaders, giving them the ability to learn about and become involved in the Valley’s communities.
“I am honored and thankful for the opportunity to serve as an Honorary Commander at Luke Air Force Base,” said Garrett J. Olexa, “I look forward to the knowledge and experience that I will gain from this program.”
As an Honorary Commander, Mr. Olexa is recognized as an exceptional business and community leader, as well as an avid supporter of the Luke Air Force Base’s mission of uniting the military and local communities.
Jones, Skelton & Hochuli clerks pass bar exam
Jones, Skelton & Hochuli announced that its four new law clerks have passed their bar exams. Congratulations to Samantha Cote, Joshua Dunford, Kathryn Hunnicutt, and Anne-Grace Reule. They will be sworn in later this year.
All four clerks worked at the firm as part of the firm’s 2019 summer associate program, and graduated from law school May 2020. They have chosen JSH to begin their law practice.
Samantha Cote works in the transportation, auto, products and general liability trial group. She earned her law degree at Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. While at ASU, she acted as the chair of the fundraising committee and served as the symposium editor of the Arizona State Law Journal, served as Secretary of the Liberty Project, and earned the Rob Carey Sports Law Scholarship. During law school, Sam gained valuable experience working as a as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Extern at the City of Phoenix Prosecutor’s Office, and as an extern at the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. At the Prosecutor’s Office, she provided support to prosecutors preparing for court proceedings, analyzed cases to determine which are best suited for ADR, and worked with defendants and defense attorneys to resolve cases. She was also a volunteer with the Arizona Legal Center, where she assisted individuals with legal issues, and helped attorneys with intakes. Sam earned her undergraduate degree in Sport Management, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst graduating magna cum laude. She was awarded the Glenn M. Wong Sports Law Scholarship and named a Top Senior Nominee. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she worked at the Worcester District Attorney’s Office as a Juvenile Unit Intern, and with the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs – a Futures Collegiate Baseball League – as a Baseball Operations Intern.
Joshua Dunford works in the firm’s transportation, auto, products and general liability trial group. He focuses his practice on automobile liability defense, general civil litigation, product liability defense, transportation defense, and alleged wrongful death and personal injury defense. While pursuing his J.D. from ASU, Josh was an honoree of the Dean’s Recruitment Award and a Willard H. Pedrick Scholar. He served as a Senior Article Editor of the Sports and Entertainment Law Journal and was a member of the Executive Moot Court Board Problem Drafting Committee. He obtained legal experience as a judicial extern at the Arizona Court of Appeals for the Honorable Kenton D. Jones, and extern at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While at the Court of Appeals, he wrote memorandum decisions and orders, including Anders appeals and severance cases. He also analyzed substantive legal issues in both civil and criminal matters, communicating these analyses in writing, orally to peers and superiors. Josh earned his undergraduate degree in Communications from Brigham Young University-Idaho, where he also served as President of the Prelaw Society. He earned 1st Place in the Research and Creative Works Conference, and coordinated and hosted a support group for LGBT students. After graduating from BYU-Idaho, Joshua worked as a Hispanic Victim Advocate and Peer Advocacy Program Coordinator at the Family Crisis Center in Rexburg. He worked with school leadership to implement advocacy programs and courses for the student body, accompanied clients to court proceedings, and served as an English-Spanish-English translator where needed.
Kathryn Hunnicutt works in the firm’s Professional Liability & Complex Litigation Trial Group, focusing in the areas of insurance coverage, bad faith and extra-contractual liability, professional liability, and commercial and contract litigation. In addition to working as a summer associate at JSH, and most recently, she served as a law clerk at the City of Scottsdale Attorney’s Office where she researched applicable state and federal law and drafted memoranda for eleven attorneys. While earning her law degree at ASU, Kathryn was an active member in the Women Law Students’ Association, Arizona Women Lawyers Association. She also acted as the chair of the events committee and served as and articles editor of the Arizona State Law Journal. She earned her undergraduate degree in Marketing, with a minor in Spanish, from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. In her final year, Kathryn studied abroad in idyllic Rome, completing courses in Macroeconomics and International Marketing at John Cabot University. She was a member of the Arizona Law Review. Demonstrating her passion for leadership and social networking, Kathryn served as Social Chair Assistant for Chi Omega Sorority, and was a Social Committee Member for Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. While pursuing her undergraduate and law degrees, Kathryn worked as Assistant Director at Primrose School of Ahwatukee, where she managed the day-to-day operations, marketing and annual philanthropic events of this preeminent preschool.
Anne-Grace Reule practices in the areas of commercial litigation, auto liability, personal injury, general civil litigation and insurance defense. She represents clients in matters involving alleged wrongful death and catastrophic injury, premises and social host liability, products liability, and bad faith. While pursuing her law degree at ASU, In addition to earning legal experience as a summer law clerk at JSH and another Valley law firm, she was also in a summer externship position with the Arizona Justice Project. Active in her law school community, Anne-Grace served as Vice President of the Moot Court Executive Board, worked as a teaching assistant for the Legal Advocacy Writing Course, and served as Associate Editor of Jurimetrics Journal of Law, Science, and Technology. Passionate about litigation and trial practice, she competed and won against the University of Arizona’s law school moot court teams in a closing-argument style competition (Moot Court Jenckes’ Closing Argument Competition), taking first place two years in a row. Anne-Grace was awarded of the J. Windle Merit Scholarship and inducted into the Order of the Barristers upon graduation. While pursuing her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida, Anne-Grace worked as a legal assistant at an intellectual property law firm in Tampa. She graduatedmagna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science and Arabic Language. Anne-Grace was the recipient of the Outstanding Leadership of Student Organization Award, served as President of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, and served as President of the Arabic Language Organization.
