If you’re wondering what it takes to be one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2021, experts say you might want to start thinking about what you can give instead of what you can get.
“Give 110 percent every day,” says Andrew Abraham, president and shareholder at Burch & Cracchiolo and the 2020 Az Business Angel of the Year, which was given to him for his philanthropic work. “Be available even when you think you are too busy.”
Abraham is among this year’s Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona. The prestigious group is chosen by Az Business magazine’s editorial team in collaboration with industry experts. The attorneys were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 of the state’s most talented and successful attorneys. Selections are based on each lawyer’s professional success and ratings, impact on his or her law firm, impact on the communities she/he serves and impact on the legal profession.
Do you know an attorney who should be considered for the 2022 list? Email Editor in Chief Michael Gossie at michael.gossie@azbigmedia.com.
Here are the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2021 — in alphabetical order — as chosen by the editorial board of Az Business magazine and legal industry experts.
Andrew Abraham
President and shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Real estate law, real estate litigation, commercial litigation
Background: Abraham, Burch & Cracchiolo’s president, is certified as a Real Estate Specialist by the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Transactions since 2008 and in every edition of Southwest Super Lawyers. In the 2011 and 2014-2020 editions, Abraham was voted among the Top 50 Lawyers in Arizona by his peers. He is included among Arizona’s Finest Lawyers and is an AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 peer review rated attorney in Martindale-Hubbell. Az Business Angels named Abraham as the 2020 Az Business Angel of the Year.
Contact: aabraham@bcattorneys.com
Amy Abdo
Director | Fennemore Craig
Practice areas: Business litigation, healthcare, employment and labor, professional liability
Thomas H. Allen
Member | Allen Barnes & Jones
Practice areas: Bankruptcy, bankruptcy trustee rights, business and consumer debtor bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, mediation and arbitration, commercial litigation
Ann-Martha Andrews
Shareholder | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Practice areas: Insurance coverage and bad faith litigation in state and federal courts throughout the Ninth and Tenth Circuits
Laurent Badoux
Shareholder | Buchalter
Practice areas: Labor and employment, trade secrets and employee mobility
Background: Badoux focuses his practice on employment and labor law, with an emphasis on compensation and employee relations advice. He has a broad range of litigation experience that includes handling some of the largest collective and class actions in Arizona, collective bargaining agreement arbitration, discrimination lawsuits, restrictive covenant enforcement and injunction, and the defense of administrative charges involving various state and federal agencies across the United States. Badoux has advised domestic and international clients in a variety of industries, including retail and services, hospitality, transportation, trades, governmental affairs, financial services, mining, oil and gas, sanitation, technology, medical devices, health care, and defense contracting. He is also a member of the board of directors for Arizona Autism United.
Contact: lbadoux@buchalter.com
Shayna H. Balch
Partner | Fisher & Phillips
Practice areas: Wage and hour law, employment discrimination and harassment, Americans with Disabilities Act, employment policies and procedures, appellate practice, labor and employment litigation, litigation of employment disputes
John J. Balitis
Chair, Labor & Employment | Jennings, Strouss & Salmon
Practice areas: Employment and labor relations, business litigation, construction, healthcare litigation and regulation, mediation and arbitration
Background: Balitis is a labor and employment law practitioner with over 30 years of experience representing clients in Arizona as well as in Colorado. He regularly represents parties in a broad range of administrative proceedings and litigates in both federal and state courts, where he has bench, jury trial, and appellate experience. Balitis also serves as an arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association.
Attraction to industry: “I wasn’t bright enough to handle pre-med, so law seemed like a good alternative at the time. The most surprising aspect of the practice is that it involves just as much collaboration and partnering with clients as it does providing legal advice.”
Contact: jbalitis@jsslaw.com
Dorothy B. Baran
Shareholder | May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie
Practice areas: Real estate, business planning and corporate law, commercial landlord and tenant law, labor and employment law, mediation and arbitration
Hilary L. Barnes
Member | Allen Barnes & Jones
Practice areas: Corporate and consumer bankruptcy
Kira N. Barrett
Partner | Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Practice areas: Commercial litigation, construction, insurance, product and general liability, employment law
Becky A. Bartness
Shareholder | Wilenchick & Bartness
Practice areas: Real estate, commercial, banking and environmental law, and commercial mediation
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
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
Jodi Bohr
Shareholder | Tiffany & Bosco P.A.
Practice areas: Employment and labor, civil litigation
Daniel L. Bonnett
Partner | Martin & Bonnett
Practice areas: Employment discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge and other issues
Neal H. Bookspan
Shareholder | Jaburg | Wilk
Practice areas: Employment, real estate and construction-related matters
Max K. Boyer
Attorney at law | Boyer Bohn
Practice areas: Tax law and trusts and estates
James E. Brophy
Managing shareholder | Ryley Carlock & Applewhite
Practice areas: Business transactions and legal compliance for for-profit and nonprofit businesses
Stephen Brower
Managing partner | Brentwood Law Group
Practice areas: Business, real estate, healthcare, securities, creditor and bankruptcy based litigation
Garland Brown
Co-founder | Weiss Brown
Practice areas: Start-up and emerging businesses, general counsel, intellectual property
Timothy D. Brown
Shareholder | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Federal tax law, with an emphasis on partnerships, limited liability companies, C and S corporations, real estate, and civil tax controversy
Background: Brown is a member of the Gallagher & Kennedy board of directors and head of the firm’s Tax Law practice. For more than 30 years, Brown has focused his practice in all areas of federal tax law, with an emphasis on partnerships, limited liability companies, C and S corporations, real estate, and civil tax controversy. He provides tax planning, structuring and documentation for business and individual clients, including joint ventures and tax-exempt organizations. Since 2007, Brown has been consistently recognized as a Best Lawyer by Best Lawyers in America, and has earned the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating.
Contact: tdb@gknet.com
Rebecca Lynne Burnham
Of counsel | Greenberg Traurig
Practice areas: Acquisition, planning, development, financing, operation and sale of real estate developments of all types with an emphasis on master plans and mixed-use development
Brian A. Cabianca
Partner | Squire Patton Boggs
Practice areas: Business litigation, with an emphasis on breach of contract, fraud, interference with business advantage, breach of fiduciary duty, trade secrets, securities, banking, noncompete agreements, defamation and intellectual property
Flavia Campbell
Member | Dickinson Wright
Practice areas: Trademarks and copyrights
Sheila Carmody
Partner | Snell & Wilmer
Practice areas: Complex litigation with an emphasis on defense of insurance companies and manufacturers in class action cases, multi-jurisdictional litigation and general commercial litigation
Susan E. Chetlin
Of counsel | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Intellectual property, patent law
Background: One of Az Business magazine’s Most Influential Women of 2020, Chetlin is a registered patent attorney and intellectual property attorney with a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent rating – the highest rating available. She has worked at big firms, boutique firms, and as in-house counsel and draws on all that experience in approaching intellectual property protection from a business point of view. Before joining Burch & Cracchiolo, Chetlin had her own IP boutique firm which was recognized as a Tier 1 Best Law Firm after just three years. Chetlin has represented clients in a wide variety of businesses and industries, including mining, equipment repair and manufacturing, robotics, insulation, geospatial technologies, autonomous systems, materials handling and transportation, armor and online businesses.
Contact: schetlin@bcattorneys.com
John A. Conley
Shareholder | Milligan Lawless
Practice areas: Representation of physicians, physician groups, and healthcare organizations in a variety of litigation matters such as contract-based claims, shareholder disputes, payor/provider disputes and business torts
Jennifer Cranston
Shareholder | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Condemnation and valuation, insurance, public utilities
Background: Cranston focuses her practice in three primary areas: real estate disputes involving condemnation and valuation issues; insurance coverage analysis and bad faith litigation; and public utility regulation. Jennifer’s objective is to provide sound legal advice, exceptional service, and cost-effective resolution for all her clients. She has successfully negotiated favorable settlements at hearings, in arbitrations, at trial, and on appeal. Cranston’s trial experience has resulted in two of the largest condemnation verdicts in the history of Arizona.
Attraction to industry: “I think I watched too much TV courtroom drama as a child. What amazes me most is that the real life of a lawyer is nothing like the shows I grew up watching, but I love it anyway.”
Contact: jennifer.cranston@gknet.com
Shawn M. Cunningham
Managing partner | Harris Powers & Cunningham
Practice areas: Medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death
Susan Dana-Kobey
Shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Family Law and civil litigation
Background: Dana-Kobey handles all aspects of divorce and family law matters at Burch & Cracchiolo. Her approach with her clients is to advocate for you in the most positive and forthright manner. Dana-Kobey lived in Argentina as a child and is fluent in Spanish. While living in Argentina, she traveled often to Brazil to visit family and also learned to speak Portuguese. Her multilingual proficiency led Dana-Kobey to volunteer by assisting Spanish-speaking individuals at the Family Court Facilitator’s Office in Orange County, California. Dana-Kobey also worked as a Spanish translator in the telecommunications industry. She also handles civil litigation matters, representing clients in cases involving serious personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, negligence, premises liability and construction matters.
Contact: sdana-kobey@bcattorneys.com
John E. DeWulf
Partner | Coppersmith Brockelman
Practice areas: Contracts, business torts, trade secrets, real estate, securities, intellectual property, professional malpractice, officer and director liability, and products
John Alan Doran
Member | Sherman & Howard
Practice areas: Labor and employment, litigation, trials, appeals
William W. Drury
Shareholder | Renaud Cook Drury Mesaros
Practice areas: Commercial and business litigation, medical malpractice and healthcare litigation, professional liability litigation, construction litigation, product liability litigation
Matthew P. Feeney
Phoenix firm chair | Snell & Wilmer
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, SEC reporting and compliance, and corporate governance matters
Susan M. Freeman
Partner | Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
Practice areas: Business bankruptcy and on appeals of all kinds
Candace French
Associate attorney | Sacks Tierney
Practice areas: Indian law, municipal law, government relations
Paul D. Friedman
Shareholder | Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine
Practice areas: Personal injury, wrongful death, ethics, and professional malpractice
Jonathan Frutkin
Principal | Radix Law
Practice areas: Business law and commercial litigation
Background: As the founder and principal of Radix Law, Frutkin has significant experience as an attorney, a business executive, and business owner. Over the course of his career, he has owned a website design business, a software company, a real estate development company, and served as the developer for a national ice cream chain.
Attraction to industry: “The most surprising thing I have found throughout my career as a business attorney is that you have highly intelligent business owners — but they struggle to understand certain legal concepts. This is where the Radix Law firm comes in as a general counsel for hire. We can help businesses with not only legal challenges, but also business opportunities.”
Contact: jfrutkin@radixlaw.com
Garrick L. Gallagher
Owner and director | Sanders & Parks
Practice areas: Personal injury, mass torts, insurance litigation and coverage
Roxann Gallagher
Shareholder | Sacks Tierney
Practice areas: Public and commercial finance, Indian law and tribal relations, business and corporate law
Lauren L. Garner
Partner | Jaburg Wilk
Practice areas: Probate and trust litigation and mediation
John T. Gilbert
Partner | Radix Law
Practice areas: Commercial litigation, business and real estate law and business acquisitions
Background: Gilbert has decades of experience in negotiating complex transactions, contracts and leases, especially in the field of real estate. He has represented clients from every area of the real estate market, including owners, developers, general contractors, and bankers. Gilbert is an “AV” rated attorney under Martindale-Hubbell’s peer review process. He previously was active in the Maricopa County Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Committee, which he chaired in the late 1980s. He also was a co-editor of the Arizona Litigation Guide, Second Edition, published in 1993. He is a member of the State Bar of Arizona, the Maricopa County Bar Association, the Scottsdale Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Contact: gilbert@radixlaw.com
J. Phillip Glasscock
Manager | Guidant Law Firm
Practice areas: Business transactions, litigation and estate planning
Background: With more than 35 years of experience, Glasscock has a simple mission at Guidant: help clients make money and keep it. Rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, Glasscock approaches business representation differently than many other attorneys. He typically starts with ascertaining the client’s exit strategy and other long-term plans so that all efforts are designed to achieve lasting success. Likewise, Glasscock’s approach with estate planning clients is focused on expediency and efficiency with the goal of “making it easy” in all respects. His client roster has included public companies and three generations of family owners of private companies. He has worked with manufacturers, international distributors, professional services firms and family-owned businesses.
Contact: jpg@guidant.law
Benjamin Gottlieb
Founding partner | MacQueen & Gottlieb
Practice areas: Real estate, business, commercial cases
Alisa J. Gray
Shareholder | Tiffany & Bosco
Practice areas: Probate and trust litigation, estate administration, elder law and mediation
Melissa S. Ho
Shareholder and practice co-chair | Polsinelli
Practice areas: Antitrust; antitrust – healthcare; compliance (fraud and abuse, stark); financial and securities litigation; financial technology (FinTech) and regulation; government investigations; healthcare litigation; internal investigations; international; litigation and dispute resolution; pro bono
Background: Melissa Ho is a trial attorney with a detailed understanding of government regulations and business litigation. A former prosecutor, she is sympathetic to the disruption and chaos a government inquiry and criminal investigation can cause. Ho defends individual clients against a wide variety of criminal allegations, including health care fraud, qui tam, RICO violations, bank fraud, real estate fraud, mortgage fraud, foreign corrupt practices, securities fraud, water and air quality violations, government corruption, procurement and public fraud, professional misconduct, civil and criminal forfeiture, licensing violations, parallel proceedings, and computer crimes.
Contact: mho@polsinelli.com
Donald W. Hudspeth
Principal attorney | Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth
Practice areas: Corporate and business law
Background: Hudspeth has more than 25 years’ experience practicing business law and corporate litigation. Before attending law school, Hudspeth held a stock broker’s license at the age of 21 and owned his own businesses at the age of 23 until he went to law school at the age of 36. Hudspeth has published two books on law, “Inside the Firm, The Inside Story of Choosing and Using a Lawyer” and “Law on the Edge: Sex and the Constitution.”
Personal qualities needed in law: “The Chinese have a saying: ‘He who cannot smile should not own a shop.” Getting along with people is critical. People like to do business with someone they like.”
Contact: don@azbuslaw.com
H. Hughes Grehan
Partner | Jones Walker
Practice areas: Commercial matters and contracts, and commercial and corporate finance transactions
Andrew F. Halaby
Partner | Snell & Wilmer
Practice areas: Intellectual property and technology litigation, intellectual property and technology, commercial litigation, professional licensure
Diane M. Haller
Partner | Quarles & Brady
Practice areas: Real estate, highly complex transactions, land development deals, and portfolio transactions
Mark Horne
Partner | Degnan Law Group
Practice areas: Litigation regarding real estate and medical malpractice as well as appeals
Susanne Ingold
Shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Employment law and litigation; and issues of workplace discrimination, employer policies, employee discipline and termination, and compliance with state and federal labor and employment laws
Background: Ingold, one of Az Business magazine’s Most Influential Women of 2019, regularly represents clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in complex litigation matters in state and federal court. An experienced litigator and trial lawyer, she has successfully defended corporations, businesses, employers, executives and management in jury trials throughout Arizona’s state and federal courts. Ingold also practices in general liability defense and construction litigation and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Construction Defect-General Liability Practice Group. She has served as lead counsel for commercial and construction industry clients in multi-million dollar litigation matters, including developers, general contractors, subcontractors and insurers.
Contact: singold@bcattorneys.com
Norma C. Izzo
Chair, Family Law and Domestic Relations | Jennings Strouss & Salmon
Practice areas: Family law and domestic relations, pre/post-nuptial agreements, co-habitation agreements and domestic partnerships, adoptions and guardianships, asset division, collaborative divorce
Background: Izzo concentrates her practice in the area of family law and domestic relations matters, including complex litigation and asset division, business dissolution, collaborative divorce, mediation, arbitration, parent coordination, child custody, child support, and spousal maintenance. She perceives practicing in the area of family law as a three dimensional experience: legal, financial and emotional. Izzo serves as a parenting coordinator and mediator for family law matters of all levels of complexity. She has served as past president of the Maricopa County Bar Association and president of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts – Arizona Chapter.
Contact: norma@jsslaw.com
Todd S. Kartchner
Director | Fennemore Craig
Practice areas: General and complex business litigation
David C. Kresin
Managing partner | Robaina & Kresin
Practice areas: Employment litigation matters including discrimination, retaliation, medical leave denial, restrictive covenant enforcement, unpaid compensation disputes, and wage and hour violations
John C. Lemaster
Shareholder | Ryley Carlock & Applewhite
Practice areas: Commercial litigation, managing and trying complex cases
Tamalyn E. Lewis
Shareholder | Engelman Berger
Practice areas: Bankruptcy and reorganization, creditors’ rights, commercial landlord tenant law, loan workouts, business and financial restructuring, real estate, loan documentation
Amy L. Lieberman
Founder | Insight Employment Mediation and Insight Mediation Group
Practice areas: Arbitration and mediation
Laura A. Lo Bianco
Partner | Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
Practice areas: Corporate law and transactional matters
Rachel Love
Partner | Struck Love Bojanowski & Acedo
Practice areas: Corrections defense, government liability defense, class action and complex litigation, civil litigation defense, insurance defense
Patrick MacQueen
Founder and partner | MacQueen & Gottlieb
Practice areas: Real estate transactional law and real estate litigation
William J. Maledon
Partner | Osborn Maledon
Practice areas: Alternative dispute resolution and mediation, antitrust and trade regulation counseling, antitrust and trade regulation litigation, appellate, commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, securities defense, sports law, state and local administrative law
Background: Maledon is recognized as one of the leading commercial litigation and trial attorneys in Arizona and in the country. He has extensive experience in both federal and state courts in a wide variety of cases in Arizona and throughout the country, including antitrust and trade regulation, product liability, insurance coverage and insurance bad faith, class actions, securities, sports, and various other complex commercial cases. He also has extensive experience in handling appellate matters in both federal and state courts and he also has acted as mediator in numerous significant cases.
Contact: wmaledon@omlaw.com
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
Susan J. Martin
Partner | Martin & Bonnett
Practice areas: Labor and employment class actions and individual case
Michelle Matheson
Managing partner | Matheson & Matheson
Practice areas: Employment law, represents management and employers, workplace investigations and training, insurance law
Paul J. McGoldrick
Attorney and owner | Shorall McGoldrick Brinkmann
Practice areas: Personal injury cases and has experience as lead counsel in complex business disputes
Christopher J. Meister
Office managing shareholder | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Practice areas: Employment law, traditional labor relations
Alexandra Mijares Nash
Partner | Mijares Nash
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
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
Randy Nussbaum
Shareholder | 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
Gerard R. O’ Meara
Partner | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Civil litigation, insurance defense law, real estate, corporate and commercial transactions, probates, wills and trusts
Contact: gustlaw.com
Kristy L. Peters
Shareholder | Littler Mendelson
Practice areas: Labor and employment matters arising under federal and state laws
Steven D. Pidgeon
Co-managing partner | DLA Piper
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and general corporate
Frank M. Placenti
Senior partner | Squire Patton Boggs
Practice areas: Corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions
Pamela Overton Risoleo
Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig
Practice areas: Product liability, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, commercial litigation, business torts, breach of contract, cyber and data breach litigation, eminent domain
Scott I. Palumbo
Founding partner | Palumbo Wolfe & Palumbo
Practice areas: Defending the rights of personal injury victims and those who have lost loved ones to wrongful death
Background: Palumbo is a trial lawyer dedicated to defending those who have been victimized by serious personal injury accidents and those who have lost loved ones to wrongful death.
Source of pride: “I represented a young man who was terribly brain injured in a crash. We went to trial and obtained a verdict on his behalf. The funds from that verdict have been used for therapy and rehabilitation. I am very happy to report that 10 years later, that young man is now a happy adult living a much better life. To know that we played a large part in his recovery is very rewarding.”
Contact: spalumbo@palumbowolfe.com
Susan Plimpton Segal
Partner | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Public law, municipal law, education law, employment law
Contact: gustlaw.com
Stephanie Quincy
Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig
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
Background: In her 30 years of practice, Ricketts has handled more than 200 diverse complex contract and consumer-related matters. Prior to founding Sacks, Ricketts & Case, Ricketts was the most senior woman partner in the Phoenix office of DLA Piper, the largest global law firm. Ricketts is a recognized NITA instructor who has taught both trial and deposition skills.
Attraction to industry: “The legal industry is a mecca for constant learning — both of industries and legal issues. Most surprising are the lack of women in leadership positions and the number of talented women lawyers who leave the profession. This is particularly surprising because 53 percent of my ASU law school class were women.”
Contact: cricketts@srclaw.com
David B. Rosenbaum
Partner | Osborn Maledon
Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts
Background: David B. Rosenbaum’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in the state and federal courts. He has represented public companies and their officers and directors in numerous securities fraud class actions, represented Fortune 50 companies in a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including matters involving intellectual property disputes, represented a major telecommunications company in an array of commercial litigation matters, represented companies in sales and use tax disputes, and represented national and local companies in employment controversies, including class-action discrimination lawsuits. As past president of the Federal Bar Association and Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Rosenbaum has developed knowledge and experience in the finer points of prosecuting complex litigation in the federal courts.
Contact: drosenbaum@omlaw.com
Paul J. Roshka, Jr.
Shareholder | Polsinelli
Practice areas: Financial regulatory enforcement; financial and securities litigation; financial technology (FinTech) and regulation; government investigations; internal investigations; corporate directors and officers liability litigation; class action and multidistrict litigation; commercial litigation; litigation and dispute resolution
Background: Known for his thorough preparation and persistence, Paul Roshka has a national practice representing companies, their directors, officers, and employees during investigations and enforcement/disciplinary proceedings involving potential violations of the federal and state securities laws, and other financial regulatory statutes and rules. He has handled matters initiated by virtually every SEC regional office and FINRA district office, and their home offices in Washington, D.C. He is also a recognized bet-the-company litigator. Roshka has defended securities/financial claims in federal and state court, including class action defense.
Contact: proshka@polsinelli.com
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
Bradley D. Shwer
Co-founding partner | Thorpe Shwer
Practice areas: Business and commercial litigation, personal injury torts, and products liability
Gena L. Sluga
Shareholder | Christian Dichter & Sluga
Practice areas: Insurance coverage analysis
Wendi A. Sorensen
Shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Personal injury and wrongful death litigation, mediation and arbitration
Background: Sorensen is an Arizona State Bar practicing attorney and mediator who is a certified specialist in personal injury and wrongful death law and has been practicing for more than 30 years. She specializes in complex and catastrophic injury claims including those involving trucking law, worksite injuries, products liability, professional liability and insurance coverage. In her growing mediation practice, she offers an effective approach that is both logically predictive of the eventual result at trial and at the same time compassionate to the claimant, allowing him his “day in court” at a fraction of the cost. Sorensen also serves as a Judge Pro Tem and as a member of the Executive Board of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Contact: wsorensen@bcattorneys.com
Dana Stagg Belknap
Shareholder | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Land use, real estate development and governmental affairs
Background: Stagg Belknap practices in the areas of land use, real estate development and governmental affairs. She has represented various regional and national developers and landowners in the planning and development of mixed-use, master-planned communities by assisting in a broad range of issues, including master planning and land use entitlements, negotiating annexations and development agreements, and advising on archaeological issues, infrastructure financing and development, analysis of water rights, and environmental protections. She is skilled at the representation of commercial developers in negotiating economic incentive agreements with municipalities and in the representation of developers in the lease and purchase of State Trust Land.
Contact: dsb@gknet.com
Christopher D. Thomas
Partner | Perkins Coie
Practice areas: Environmental and natural resource permitting and related federal, state and administrative litigation
William L. Thorpe
Co-founding partner | Thorpe Shwer
Practice areas: Represents both large and small enterprises in complex commercial and tort matters
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
Background: Weiser’s practice encompasses all aspects of commercial landlord/tenant law, from document preparation, negotiation and interpretation to dealing with such issues as defaulting and bankrupt tenants, brokerage disputes, construction related matters and the day-to-day issues facing office, retail, industrial and medical owners and property managers.
Personal strengths: “Being organized, and driven by the desire to help others navigate the complicated world of commercial real estate. Being organized is essential to the preparation of legal documents, regardless of their complexity. The desire to help others is a far better driving force than the desire for wealth or fame.”
Contact: pweiser@buchalter.com
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
Background: Wilenchik is a civil litigation attorney practicing more than 40 years in business and real estate litigation. He is a certified civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and past chairman of the State Bar Civil Trial Practice Section. Wilenchik is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell. Wilenchik is an Arizona Bar Foundation Fellow and was elected a Fellow to the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys.
Attraction to industry: “I was attracted to the idea of helping others to achieve simple justice, and that is truly why I became a lawyer.”
Contact: DIW@wb-law.com
Nancy Williams Bonnett
Attorney and shareholder | Pietzsch, Bonnett & Womack
Practice areas: Employee benefits and executive compensation
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
Charles W. Wirken
Partner | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Alternative dispute resolution, appellate practice, commercial litigation, franchise litigation, real estate litigation
Contact: gustlaw.com
Susan M. Wissink
Director, management committee member, chair of Fennemore Craig Foundation | Fennemore Craig
Practice areas: Corporate and mergers and acquisitions
