AZ Attorney

An announcement from the State Bar of Arizona:

Members of the State Bar of Arizona have elected 10 attorneys to serve as their representatives on the Bar’s Board of Governors. The Board is the governing body of the State Bar, a nonprofit association that exists to serve and protect the public with respect to the provision of legal services and access to justice.

Thirty people serve on the Board of Governors, including four public members who are not attorneys. Board members are elected by district on a staggered schedule.

Below is a list of the newly elected Board members and returning incumbents. Their election will be confirmed by the certification of the results at the State Bar’s annual convention, June 14-16, 2017.

Elected Board Members

District 6 (Maricopa County) 

• Benjamin P. Taylor, Taylor & Gomez LLP
• Sam Saks, Smith Paknejad PLC
• Jessica S. Sanchez, Tempe Union High School District
• Jennifer R. Rebholz, Choate & Seletos
• Pouria Paknejad, Smith Paknejad PLC
• David Wm. Engelman, Engelman Berger PC
• Tyler J. Carrell, Gallagher & Kennedy PA
• Sara A. Siesco, Ely, Bettini, Ulman, Rosenblatt & Ozer
• Robert J. McWhirter, The Law Offices of Robert J. McWhirter

District 8 (Pinal County)

• Denis M. Fitzgibbons, Fitzgibbons Law Offices PLC

President, Young Lawyers Division

• Daniel J. Mazza, Mazza Law Center PLC, Scottsdale

The president of the State Bar’s Young Lawyers Division is not elected, but automatically serves as a voting board member during his/her one-year term as YLD President.

Public Member

• Jason E. Cobb of Compass Fiduciary Group LLC in Phoenix was selected by the board to fill one public member opening on the board.

This press release is also posted online here.

You can read more about the candidates, via their own statements, which we ran in the May issue of Arizona Attorney Magazine.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts doctoral student is trying to force the CIA to open up about how it uses jokes on social media. The CIA has been on Twitter since June 2014 when it tweeted, “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.” It was a humorous nod to […]

via MIT student sues CIA for info on Twitter jokes — Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

An adult Gerald Gault and his attorney Amelia Lewis.

The 50th anniversary of the landmark decision In Re Gault will be the focus of a May 15 event in Phoenix, sponsored by ALWAYS—Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services. The evening next Monday will include a reception and dramatic performance by Rising Youth Theatre.

Gault is the U.S. Supreme Court decision based on an Arizona case that ensured the right to a lawyer for children accused of crimes in juvenile court. More specifically, it held that “juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process rights as adults, such as the right to timely notification of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to counsel.”

That evening, ALWAYS also will “honor the leadership behind the Youth Collaborative in Maricopa County with the 2017 Youth and Justice Award.”

• When: Monday, May 15, 2017
• Time: 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Where: University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Campus

Address (see map below):

Virginia Piper Auditorium, 600 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004

Free tickets are available here.

In Arizona Attorney Magazine, we covered the Gault anniversary in our May issue. Start reading here.

Here is an article by Judge Peter Cahill and Sarah Edwards.

Here is an article by Judge Jay Blitzman.

Gault order by Justice Lorna Lockwood for habeas hearing (click to enlarge)

And here is more information about ALWAYS:

Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services is a nonprofit law office committed to opening the doors of justice for youth and young adults who have experienced homelessness, human trafficking, abuse, or the foster care system. We are attorneys, advocates, and volunteers working together to eliminate legal barriers to success and stability for vulnerable young people in Arizona. We believe every person deserves full access to the justice system, and we work every day to make this a reality for vulnerable youth in Arizona. We provide no-cost legal services to support the safety, stability, and self-sufficiency of our clients. ALWAYS services include full representation, consultations and brief advice, training, and system reform advocacy.

Map to the event:

28 attorneys as well as multiple other volunteers assisted at Legal Clinics on Law Day, held in Arizona on April 29, 2017.

News from my colleague Alberto Rodriguez, Public Information and Community Outreach, at the State Bar of Arizona:

On Saturday, April 29, the State Bar of Arizona held the 2017 Law Day Legal Aid Clinics where 28 volunteer lawyers offered free one-on-one legal consultations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at two Valley locations.

Volunteer attorneys provided 214 consultations during five-hour law clinic to the 205 consumers who were seen. Several attorneys offered free follow-up services after the clinic to consumers who needed additional help.

The clinics offered free legal consultations by members who practice family law, bankruptcy/foreclosure, probate/trust law, and immigration law at State Bar of Arizona offices in central Phoenix, and Glendale Community College in the west valley.

For the third year in a row, the Bar partnered with ABC15 and Univision Arizona to promote the day-long clinics, which were overwhelmingly successful.

The State Bar of Arizona expresses its sincerest appreciation to our attorney and logistics volunteers, along with our media and community partners. Thank you!

Here is a list of the attorneys who assisted:

• Taylor Anderson, Anderson and Cabrera Law Group PLLC
• Marysol Angulo, Hernandez Global
• Rebecca E. Browning, Browning Law Office PLLC
• Tabitha Cabrera, Anderson and Cabrera Law Group PLLC
• Craig Cherney, Canterbury Law Group LLP
• Kristen DeWitt-Lopez, DeWitt-Lopez Law PC
• Thomas W. Dorsey, The Law Office of Thomas W. Dorsey PLLC
• Nina J. Edidin, My Az Lawyers
• Pam Florian, Florence Project
• Chris D. Graham, Christopher D. Graham PLLC
• Cody L. Hayes, Hayes Esquire PLLC
• Brant Hodyno, Brant Hodyno, Esq.
• Bernard J. Johnsen, Bernard Justice Johnsen Law PLLC
• Lisa Johnson Stone, Law Offices of Stone and Davis PC
• Jeff Katz, Community Legal Services
• Roman A. Kostenko, Law Office of Roman A. Kostenko PLC
• Richard Lee, Community Legal Services
• Jack L. O’Connor III, Curry, Pearson & Wooten PLC
• Alane M. Ortega, Law Office of Alane M. Ortega PLLC
• Daniel R. Ortega III, The Law Office of Daniel R. Ortega III
• Christopher J. Piekarski, Piekarski & Brelsford PC
• Jim T. Rayburn, Rayburn Law Office
• Javier Sobampo, The Sobampo Law Firm PLLC
• Fae Sowders, Sowders Law
• Shawn L. Stone, Stone Law Group
• Shufan Sung, Sung Law Group
• Darren D. Whiting, Whiting Legal LLC
• Jesi L. Wolnick, Manning & Kass Ellrod Ramirez Trester

A complete list of volunteers can be viewed here.

Today, we talk about parallel citations and what the Arizona Supreme Court says.

In what may be the most legal blog post I’ve ever published, I share below news from the Arizona Supreme Court regarding a change in its policy regarding parallel citations. This may be good news to those of you who suspended their use quite a while ago. Here is the Court:

The Arizona Supreme Court has determined that as of now it will no longer require any appellate briefs, petitions, and other pleadings filed in that Court to contain parallel citations for Arizona cases. This means that when citing Arizona cases to the Court, lawyers and self-representing parties need only cite to the Arizona Reports alone, without a parallel citation to the Pacific Reports.

While the Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure has not required any more than citation to the official reports for civil appeals since January 1, 2015, for criminal matters Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 31.13(c)(vi) currently requires citation “also when possible to the unofficial reports.” A petition that proposes to restyle the Criminal Rules, specifically proposed new Rule 31.10(g), is expected to be on the Court’s August Rules Agenda. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will no longer expect parallel citations in criminal case filings.

Citations for specific points of law within a case still must include “the volume, page number and, if applicable, the paragraph number, of the official Arizona reporter.” See Arizona Rule of Civil Appellate Procedure 13(f).

May 1 is Law Day, and this year’s theme is The 14th Amendment: Transforming American Democracy. Here’s what’s going on in Washington.

via 2017 Law Day Celebrates the 14th Amendment — NWSidebar