For many, the vision of leadership becomes clear very early in life. Particularly for those who go on to become one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022.
“In my teens, I heard a leadership mantra: ‘Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way,’” says Steven N. Berger, shareholder at Engelman Berger. “I chose to embrace leadership as the other two options didn’t sound too enticing. Leadership by example is another key concept.”
Berger’s path to leadership led him to be be included in Az Business magazine’s Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022. The Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona were selected using an algorithm that factors in professional ratings and accolades, impact on Arizona’s legal profession, and impact on the communities in which the lawyers practice. There were more than 1,000 attorneys under consideration for the 2022 list.
READ ALSO: Ranking Arizona: Top 10 law firms for 2021
“After law school and then clerking for Justice William J. Brennan of the United States Supreme Court, whom I admired greatly, I knew I wanted to be a part of a firm that adhered to the highest standards of quality, professionalism and community involvement,” says William J. Maledon, partner and shareholder at Osborn Maledon. “I think that goal was achieved with Osborn Maledon.”
Maledon isn’t the only attorney on this year’s list of the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona who were helped on the leadership journey by mentors or colleagues.
“I have benefited professionally from strong and savvy leaders, and as I grew and experienced more success in my field, I wanted to do more for my colleagues, our associates, and our clients,” says Nicole Maroulakos Goodwin, Phoenix managing shareholder at Greenberg Traurig. “Dedicating time to leading our office is my way of giving back to the firm that has been supportive of me.”
Wendi Sorensen, a shareholder at Burch & Cracchiolo, agrees with that sentiment.
“As our firm has grown and we have taken on younger attorneys, I remember how important good guidance was to me when I was new in this profession,” she says. “It’s important to me to repay some of that kindness by sharing skills and guiding the new generation of lawyers.”
Below are the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022, representing excellence in leadership and accomplishments for the state’s innovative and exceptional legal industry. The Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022 will be recognized at a networking reception on February 3, 2022, at the Aviation Business Center at Scottsdale Airport. For sponsorship information, email Amy.Lindsey@azbigmedia.com. For information about the event honoring the Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022, email Lynette.Carrington@azbigmedia.com or click here.
The Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2022
Andrew Abraham
President and shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Real estate law, real estate litigation, commercial litigation
Background: Abraham is a Certified Specialist in Real Estate Law and his practice is primarily real estate law and litigation. In addition to serving as Burch & Cracchiolo’s president, Abraham was named the Best Lawyers in America’s 2020 “Lawyer of the Year” in Metro Phoenix in Real Estate Litigation. He has been recognized as one of 50 Top Attorneys in Arizona by Southwest Super Lawyers in 2011 and 2014-2021. Abraham is also a Martindale-Hubbell 5.0 preeminent attorney. More recently, he received the Az Business Angel of the Year award at the 2021 Az Business Angels Awards.
Contact: aabraham@bcattorneys.com
Donald R. Alvarez
Partner | Radix Law
Practice areas: Civil litigation, business and commercial litigation, business divorces, contract disputes and business torts
Background: Alvarez has been practicing law since 1976 and is an “AV” rated attorney with extensive litigation experience in many types of civil and commercial disputes. He also has served for over 40 years as an Arbitrator in most types of civil and commercial cases. He is admitted to practice in both Arizona and New York and is a member of the Maricopa County Bar Association, the Arizona Association for Justice, the Scottsdale Bar Association, and Arizona’s Finest Lawyers (Sustaining Member). Don has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Maricopa County Bar Foundation (chairman in 2005) and the city of Scottsdale’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.
Contact: radixlaw.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
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
James J. Belanger
Founder | J. Belanger Law
Practice areas: Criminal and white collar criminal defense, lawyer ethics, discipline and malpractice, response to government investigation
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
Maureen Beyers
Partner | Beyers Farrell
Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation and arbitration
Laura A. Bianchi
Partner | Bianchi & Brandt
Practice areas: Cannabis law, business, compliance, and operations
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
Marc D. Blonstein
Member | Berens Blonstein
Practice areas: Real estate transactions, real estate financing, master planned communities, subdivision matters, and leasing
Nicholas Boca
Managing family law attorney| Cantor Law Group
Practice areas: Family law
A Phoenix native, Boca began his career as an assistant Attorney General with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, representing the Department of Child Safety. In this position, he appeared in several hundred court hearings, mediations, and trials. After that, Boca started with Cantor Law Group, where he now is the managing family law attorney. With Cantor Law Group, Boca’s trial experience continues to build, handling extremely contentious custody matters, along with high-net worth, complex, and high-profile cases. Boca is the co-chair of the MCBA family law section and chair of the Juvenile Law Section for the State Bar of Arizona.
Contact: n.boca@cantorlawgroup.com
Brian R. Booker
Partner | Gordon & Rees
Practice areas:Commercial litigation, product and general liability, professional liability defense, securities litigation
Annette T. Burns
Founder | Annette T. Burns Law Offices
Practice areas: Family law
Dwayne Burns
Attorney | Davis Miles McGuire Gardner
Practice areas: Personal injury, product liability, wrongful death
Background: Burns is recognized as a highly effective advocate in personal injury law. He represents clients in bringing high profile catastrophic injury, wrongful death, products liability, and medical malpractice cases. An attorney with Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, he was recently named to the National Top 100 Black Lawyers; to The National Top 40 under 40 Black Lawyers; and as a Rising Star Super Lawyer, by Thompson Reuters. Burns is a member of the Maricopa County Bar Association Board of Directors and Diversity & Inclusion Committees. In addition, he serves his community by coaching the Arizona State University Spirit Squad.
Contact: dburns@davismiles.com
David Michael Cantor
Founding partner | DM Cantor
Practice areas: Criminal defense, homicide, white collar, and sex crimes.
Background: Cantor is a Board-Certified Criminal Law Specialist, and has conducted more than 200 jury trials in his 30-plus year career. These have ranged from misdemeanor DUI, to multi-million-dollar federal white collar and double-capital murder defense jury trials. He has also handled hundreds of pre-indictment sex crime allegations, as well as dozens of Professional Board and Title 9 defenses. Cantor has not only defended regular Arizona citizens, but also many high-profile businesses and clients whose cases have been featured on national media outlets such as CNN, the CBS morning show, Hannity and Colmes, Inside Edition, Anderson Cooper Live, Good Morning America, and the Howard Stern Show.
Contact: d.cantor@dmcantor.com
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
J. Craig Cartwright
Shareholder | Buchalter
Anne Chapman | Attorney
Mitchell | Stein | Carey | Chapman
Practice areas: Defends clients in criminal cases and assisted companies with internal and governmental investigations
Elizabeth Chatham
Partner | Stinson
Practice areas: Immigration
Shannon L. Clark
Shareholder | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Plaintiff’s personal injury and wrongful death
Stasy D. Click
Founder | Law Office of Stasy Click
Practice areas: Family law
Scott B. Cohen
Shareholder | Engelman Berger
Practice areas: Represents banks, lenders, landlords, guarantors, committees, and other creditors in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights matters, loan workouts, business turnarounds, Chapter 11 reorganizations, receiverships, bankruptcy litigation, and commercial litigation
Mark L. Collins
Member | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Real estate, litigation, public law
Background: Collins has almost 40 years of experience in complex commercial and real estate litigation. Over the past decade, he has focused his practice on representing a governmental entity in negotiating and crafting the documents necessary for a wide variety of commercial projects including hotels, corporate headquarters and massive upgrades to a regional public facility. For many years, Collins has been listed in the Real Estate Law category of The Best Lawyers in America and is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale Hubbell. Collins was Best Lawyers in America’s 2021 Lawyer of the Year in Tucson for Real Estate Litigation.
Contact: mcollins@gustlaw.com
Anthony J. Coury
Shareholder | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Litigation, plaintiff’s personal injury and wrongful death
Henry Darwin
Partner | Gallagher & Kennedy
Practice areas: Environmental law
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
Ashley Duncan Adams
Founder and principal | Adams & Associates
Practice areas: White collar,
criminal defense, government relations
Helen Davis
Chair of the board | The Cavanagh Law Firm
Practice area: Family law
Background: Davis is the managing partner and chair of The Cavanagh Law Firm and is adjunct faculty at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Davis handles complex financial and custody cases and is certified as a Specialist in family law by the Arizona State Bar; a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers; a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers; is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell; honored by Best Lawyers in America since 2013, Southwest Super Lawyer since 2015, and Arizona’s Finest Lawyer’s since 2014; honored as one of the most Influential Women in Arizona; and an Athena nominee.
Contact: hdavis@cavanaghlaw.com
Matthew P. Feeney
Phoenix firm chair | Snell & Wilmer
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, SEC reporting and compliance, and corporate governance matters
Jay A. Fradkin
Chair, Medical Malpractice and Healthcare Professional Liability | Jennings Strouss
Practice areas: Medical and professional malpractice defense, products liability, personal injury defense, and insurance defense
Leah S. Freed
Shareholder | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Practice areas: Management-side labor and employment law
Susan M. Freeman
Partner | Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
Practice areas: Business bankruptcy and on appeals of all kinds
Paul D. Friedman
Shareholder | Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine
Practice areas: Personal injury, ethics and malpractice
Jonathan Frutkin
Principal | Radix Law
Practice areas: Corporate and business law, corporate bankruptcy and commercial litigation
Background: Frutkin has significant experience as an attorney, a business executive, and business owner. Frutkin’s legal practice focuses on providing general counsel, including legal advice on capital formation, mergers and acquisitions, litigation strategy and intellectual property. His work includes handling both domestic and international transactions on behalf of his business clients, ensuring that these matters comply with all relevant federal, state and international laws. Frutkin brings his talent and expertise, including real-life experience in the business world, to the practice areas of corporate and business law, corporate bankruptcy and commercial litigation.
Contact: radixlaw.com
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
J. Phillip Glasscock
Manager | Guidant Law Firm
Practice areas: Business transactions, litigation and estate planning
Benjamin Gottlieb
Founding partner | MacQueen & Gottlieb
Practice areas: Real estate, business, commercial cases
Phillip P. Guttilla
Office managing partner | Polsinelli
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions
Background: Guttilla is a deal lawyer. Whether it is a business sale or purchase transaction with a short timeline or a must-close financing, he brings practical solutions and creative thinking to get to closing. As a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst, Guttilla takes a multidisciplinary approach to serving his clients. He delivers what he expects from his team – thought leadership and creative solutions with superior responsiveness. Guttilla values his clients and builds deep relationships; many of his client relationships go back decades. He is a trusted adviser who strives to help his clients minimize taxes, maximize their business enterprise value and keep the larger picture in focus.
Contact: pguttilla@polsinelli.com
Jennifer Hadley Catero
Partner | Snell & Wilmer
Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on corporate governance litigation, banking, consumer financial services and securities litigation and privacy and data security issues
Robbie Hendricks
Managing partner | State 48 Law Firm
Practice areas: Complex divorce litigation and high conflict custody cases
Tami Keller
Shareholder | Polsinelli
Practice areas: Works with lenders and borrowers in connection with commercial loan transactions and construction-based acquisitions, including both asset-based and real property lending
Larry Lazarus
Partner | Lazarus & Silvyn
Practice areas: Lazarus oversees a variety of client projects including high-rise office buildings, planned residential developments, resorts, luxury condominiums, urban in-fill redevelopment, and Native American community properties development.
Background: Lazarus has earned the reputation as one of Arizona’s most talented land use attorneys due to his promotion of sound land use principles, good public policy and for the respect he shows to people from all walks of life. As a former chairman of the Urban Form Directions for the City of Phoenix, he significantly influenced the nationally recognized General Plan for the City called the Village Concept Plan.
Contact: llazarus@lslawaz.com
Amy L. Lieberman
Founder | Insight Employment Mediation and Insight Mediation Group
Practice areas: Arbitration and mediation
Leonardo Loo
Phoenix office managing partner | Quarles & Brady
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, commercial financing, international transactions, securities, and general corporate law
Patrick R. MacQueen
Founding 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 and litigation, appellate, commercial litigation, sports 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
Anne E. McClellan
General counsel | Jennings Strouss
Practice areas: Pofessional liability, legal ethics, and litigation in the areas of medical malpractice defense, healthcare, personal injury defense, and business disputes
Paul J. McGoldrick
Attorney and owner | Shorall McGoldrick Brinkmann
Practice areas: Personal injury cases and has experience as lead counsel in complex business disputes
Michael McGrath
Partner and the board chair | Mesch Clark Rothschild
Practice areas: Debtor and creditor rights as well as commercial and real estate litigation and transactions
Pernell McGuire
Managing partner | Davis Miles McGuire Gardner
Practice areas: Bankruptcy, banking and lending
Background: McGuire has served as the managing partner of Davis Miles McGuire Gardner for the past seven years. Under his leadership, the firm has doubled its revenues and earned a No. 3 ranking among all large firms in the state, according to Ranking Arizona in 2021. McGuire and his partner, Douglas Gardner, recently led an ownership transition of the firm, naming an additional nine new equity partners while retaining the firm’s traditional name. He is a certified specialist in bankruptcy by the Arizona State Bar and is named among the 2022 Best Lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report.
Contact: pmcguire@davismiles.com
John A. Micheaels
Partner | Beale Micheaels Slack & Shughart
Practice areas: Medical malpractice and catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases
Alexandra Mijares Nash
Partner | Mijares Nash
Practice areas: Represents corporations and individuals in a wide variety of criminal and civil matters
Kiersten A. Murphy
Attorney | Henze Cook Murphy
Practice areas: Public procurement, commercial litigation, appeals
Christina M. Noyes
Partner | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Franchise, corporate, intellectual property
Background: Noyes has 25 years’ experience in franchise, corporate, and intellectual property law. Her practice includes preparing and reviewing franchise disclosure documents and obtaining franchise registrations on a national basis, as well as handling federal and state trademark registrations and renewals. She represents franchisees and franchisors, and she has been listed in the Franchise Law category of The Best Lawyers in America since 2009. She was named by Best Lawyers as the 2015 Franchise Law Lawyer of the Year for Arizona. Noyes’ practice also includes helping business and nonprofit clients with formation, contracts with vendors and customers, mergers and asset acquisitions.
Contact: cmnoyes@gustlaw.com
Randy Nussbaum
Attorney | Sacks Tierney
Practice areas: Bankruptcy, debtor and creditor rights, trustee representation, commercial litigation, real estate law, construction litigation
Luis Ochoa
Partner | Quarles & Brady
Practice areas: Indian law and policy, tribal housing, gaming, business entity formation, real estate development, leasing of non-tribal fee land, tribal trust and allotted land
Sharon J. Oscar
Founder | Law Office of Sharon J. Oscar
Practice areas: Shopping center law, commercial real estate and commercial leasing cases
Michael R. Palumbo
Special counsel | Jennings Strouss
Practice areas: Civil litigation
Scott I. Palumbo
Founding partner | Palumbo Wolfe & Palumbo
Practice areas: Personal injury and 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. He is the immediate past president of the Arizona Association for Justice/Arizona Trial Lawyers Association and an adjunct professor of law at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Palumbo is included in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation and Medical Malpractice Law and was named the 2020 “Lawyer of the Year” for Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Law.
Contact: palumbowolfe.com
Randy Papetti
Partner | Papetti Samuels Weiss
Practice areas: He has litigated and tried major commercial, intellectual property, and even criminal cases
Kristy L. Peters
Shareholder | Littler Mendelson
Practice areas: Labor and employment matters arising under federal and state laws
Steven Plitt
Senior member | The Cavanagh Law Firm
Practice area: Insurance defense
Background: With more than 39 years of experience, Plitt is an insurance coverage lawyer handling complex, high-exposure disputes and bad faith cases. He was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Coverage Counsel and the American Law Institute. He has been named as an “Insurance Lawyer of the Year” several times by Best Lawyers. Plitt has been a Top 50 lawyers in Arizona for Southwest Super Lawyers for the past 15 years. He is Band 1 ranked by Chambers and Partners USA and teaches insurance law at The University of Arizona.
Contact: splitt@cavanaghlaw.com
Jason Pritchett
Partner | Radix Law
Practice areas: Commercial business transactions, mergers and acquisitions
Background: Pritchett is an experienced Arizona business attorney practicing primarily in the areas of commercial business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, contract drafting, reviewing and negotiation, as well as sports consulting and advisement. Previously, Pritchett practiced in the litigation and corporate groups at Fennemore Craig. Pritchett’s diverse practice experience in both the litigation and corporate worlds grants him a complete perspective of business transactions and entity development from inception to completion. This valued insight enables Pritchett to efficiently and effectively advance his clients’ interests, whether fellow attorneys, business executives or start-up entrepreneurs.
Contact: pritchett@radixlaw.com
Daniel P. Quigley
Partner and president | Cohen Dowd Quigley
Practice areas: Complex business litigation and contested administrative proceedings
Stephanie Quincy
Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig
Practice areas: Labor and employment, trade secrets and unfair competition, financial institutions litigation, trade secrets
Cathy L. Reece
Director | Fennemore
Practice areas: Financial restructuring, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights
Joel B. Robbins
Partner | Robbins & Curtin
Practice areas: Serious personal injury, wrongful death, and civil rights cases
Barbara U. Rodriguez-Pashkowski
Partner | Gust Rosenfeld
Practice areas: Environmental law, litigation
Background: Chair of the firm’s Real Estate and Commercial Sections, Rodriguez-Pashkowski concentrates her practice on environmental law, including environmental compliance, WQARF, CERCLA, UST matters, due diligence, air quality, water quality, and RCRA. She brings to her clients years of experience, including state and federal Superfund litigation, UST compliance and appeals, air quality and water quality permitting and regulatory compliance, asbestos compliance, RCRA regulatory compliance, environmental rule writing, and legislation. Rodriguez-Pashkowski works with various federal, state, and local governmental entities and private companies on a broad range of environmental issues. She was selected as MCBA Member of the Year, 2021, and was named in The Best Lawyers in America and Az Business Leaders in 2021.
Contact: bpashkowski@gustlaw.com
Cynthia A. Ricketts
Founding partner
Sacks Ricketts & Case
Practice areas: Complex contract and commercial litigation, consumer class action defense
Kristen Rosati
Partner | Coppersmith Brockelman
Practice areas: Data breaches, health information exchange, data sharing for research and clinical integration initiatives, clinical research compliance, and biobanking and genomic privacy
David B. Rosenbaum
Partner | Osborn Maledon
Practice areas: Complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts
Background: Rosenbaum’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in 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 federal courts.
Contact: drosenbaum@omlaw.com
Thomas J. Salerno
Partner | Stinson
Practice areas: Bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, aviation and aerospace
Ted A. Schmidt
Managing partner | Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian
Practice areas: Personal injury
Brian J. Schulman
Attorney | Weiss Brown
Practice areas: Complex business disputes, including contract matters, fraud, securities law, shareholder disputes, real estate, financial services, and officer/director liability
Background: As both a litigator and counselor, Schulman is in the problem-solving business – whether that means acting as a zealous advocate in court or offering strategic advice on an internal business issue. Schulman’s litigation practice focuses on business and regulatory disputes, including contract matters, fraud, securities law, shareholder disputes, business divorces, real estate, tribal law, financial services, and officer/director liability. Schulman also acts as a private mediator and judge pro tempore.
Contact: brian.schulman@weissbrown.com
Dev Sethi
Partner | Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian
Practice areas: Personal injury and wrongful death
David S. Shughart
Partner | Beale Micheaels Slack & Shughart
Practice areas: Personal injury and insurance litigation
Bradley D. Shwer
Co-founding partner | Thorpe Shwer
Practice areas: Business and commercial litigation, personal injury torts, and products liability
Background: Shwer is the founding partner of Thorpe Shwer, a boutique civil litigation law firm representing Fortune 500 companies, local businesses, individual entrepreneurs, and government entities in high-stakes cases across the United States. His practice areas include business and commercial litigation, personal injury defense, franchise litigation, products liability, and employment litigation. He has litigated cases across the country in federal and state courts. He has been recognized as a top 50 lawyer in Arizona by Southwest Super Lawyer and as a Sun Devil 100 member.
Contact: bshwer@thorpeshwer.com
Leon B. Silver
Managing partner | Gordon & Rees
Practice areas: Complex commercial and real estate disputes
Keri Silvyn
Partner | Lazarus & Silvyn
Practice areas: The client projects Silvyn oversees include medical campuses, retail, office, residential and mixed-use developments, industrial complexes, continuing care retirement communities, local cities and towns, and negotiations of economic development agreements.
Background: Silvyn specializes in zoning and land use law in Southern Arizona, with an emphasis on sustainable development, and appropriate and responsible growth. She advises private developers and local governments on the application of zoning codes, compliance with state statutes and current land use case law, and effective public/private partnerships. Silvyn’s career spans over 20 years and her leadership and expertise have been recognized for excellence locally, statewide and nationally.
Contact: ksilvyn@lslawaz.com
K. Thomas Slack
Partner | Beale Micheaels Slack & Shughart
Practice areas: Catastrophic injury and wrongful death
Gary Smith
Manager | Guidant Law Firm
Practice areas: Cannabis, psychedelics, construction, real estate and administrative law
Background: A seasoned litigator, mediator and arbitrator, Smith focuses his practice on cannabis, psychedelics, construction, real estate and administrative law. He is trusted to handle a wide range of complex, multi-million-dollar disputes. A prolific writer, speaker and thought leader, Smith has authored numerous legal manuals, including “The Orange Book: The Regulation of Arizona Contractors,” and “Psychedelica Lex,” the latter of which solidified him among the country’s foremost authorities on psychedelics law. AV Preeminent rated from Martindale-Hubbell, Smith founded the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association and serves on the board of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.
Contact: admin@guidant.law
Wendi A. Sorensen
Shareholder | Burch & Cracchiolo
Practice areas: Personal injury and wrongful death
Background: Sorensen is a Certified Specialist in Personal Injury/Wrongful Death Litigation. In addition, she has a robust mediation practice defending aggravated liability and damages matters, including trucking accident cases, vehicular products liability matters, construction site injury and death matters, and premises liability cases. She is the current Arizona State Bar Board of Legal Specialization Chair. Sorensen is a Best Lawyer in America, and been named one of the “Top 25 Women Attorneys” in Arizona by Southwest Super Lawyers in 2013 and 2015-2021. She was a Arizona Business Leaders Top Lawyer in 2019-2021 and one of the “Most Influential Women in Business” in 2015.
Contact: wsorensen@bcattorneys.com
Carolyn Tatkin
Partner | Radix Law
Practice areas: Consumer and business bankruptcy, representing both creditors and debtors
Background: With more than 35 years of legal experience, Tatkin is adept at handling all aspects of her clients’ bankruptcy matters. She also focuses on non-bankruptcy resolutions for clients with complex financial challenges. She enjoys counseling her clients, prioritizes open communication, and particularly values the trust that they place in her. Over the years, she has also practiced in the fields of commercial litigation, insurance bad faith litigation, construction defect litigation as well as general business and commercial law.
Contact: radixlaw.com
Pilar Thomas
Partner | Quarles & Brady
Practice areas: Tribal renewable energy project development and finance, tribal economic development, federal Indian Law
William L. Thorpe
Founding partner | Thorpe Shwer
Practice areas: Complex commercial and tort matters
Background: Widely considered one of Arizona’s preeminent litigators and trial attorneys, Thorpe is the founding partner of Thorp Shwer, a boutique civil litigation law firm representing Fortune 500 companies, local businesses, individual entrepreneurs, and governmental agencies in high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts across the United States. His practice areas including business and commercial disputes, personal injury defense, railroad and trucking industry litigation, products liability, employment litigation, and appellate work. He has tried cases to juries in federal and state courts throughout the Southwest.
Contact: wthorpe@thorpeshwer.com
Geoff Trachtenberg
Managing partner | Levenbaum Trachtenberg
Practice areas: Personal injury, litigation and appeals
Debora Verdier
Senior member | The Cavanagh Law Firm
Practice area: Labor and employment
Background: Verdier defends employers, including municipalities, in all types of labor and employment disputes pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state and federal courts and private arbitrators. She has been appointed to the International Association of Defense Counsel and served as a judge pro tem in the Maricopa County Superior Court for eight years. Since 2012, she has served as an adjunct professor at Arizona State University, where she teaches a practical skill course called “The Litigation Experience.” She has been recognized as one of Southwest Supers Lawyers’ “Top 25 Arizona Women Attorneys” for seven years in a row.
Contact: dverdier@cavanaghlaw.com
Paul M. Weiser
Shareholder | Buchalter
Practice areas: Commercial real estate
Scott K. Weiss
Attorney | Weiss Brown
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, start-up emerging businesses, financing
Background: Weiss is a corporate and securities attorney and focuses his practice in the areas of securities, private placements, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. Weiss is also a certified public accountant. Prior to forming his own law firm, Weiss was a shareholder at an international law firm and served in the audit practice of Arthur Andersen. Weiss has been listed in Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, in the 2008-2010 and 2014-2021 editions.
Contact: scott.weiss@weissbrown.com
Christine Whalin
Partner and managing attorney | DM Cantor
Practice areas: Criminal defense, white collar defense, DUI-related defense.
Background: Whalin is presently one of only 12 female criminal defense attorneys in the state of Arizona who are Board Certified Specialists in Criminal Law per the State Bar of Arizona, Board of Legal Specialization. She is also an “AV” rated attorney under Martindale-Hubbell’s peer review process. Whalin is a trial lawyer practicing for more than 15 years, strictly in the area of criminal defense. She focuses on representing individuals in all types of criminal cases ranging from state and federal felony and misdemeanor matters, along with school discipline and Title IX litigation. She is particularly skilled handling major felony cases involving sexual misconduct, sexual assault, and other serious “life-in-prison” allegations. Some representative cases:
• Obtained acquittals after numerous Jury Trials on felony and misdemeanor allegations, including sexual conduct with a minor, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangerment, child molestation, DUI, assault, public sexual indecency, and burglary.
• Significant experience in representing those accused of sexual offenses such as sex conduct with a minor, child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual assault, and other sexual offenses.
• Successfully represented numerous people in vehicular crime allegations such as hit and run, aggravated DUI, manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, DUI, and other driving offenses.
• She has also successfully represented numerous individuals accused of drug possession, sale, and transportation. Successfully represented individuals in both pre-arrest and post-arrest investigations for fraudulent schemes, theft, money laundering, conspiracy, embezzlement,
and gambling violations.
Contact: c.whalin@dmcantor.com
Dennis I. Wilenchik
Managing partner | Wilenchik & Bartnes
Practice areas: Civil litigation with an emphasis on real estate and business
Quinn P. Williams
Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig
Practice areas: Mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings
Susan M. Wissink
Director | Fennemore
Practice areas: Corporate and mergers and acquisitions
Mark G. Worischeck
Shareholder | Sanders & Parks
Practice areas: Complex civil litigation
