This program will discuss current events in relation to criminal law, election law and the interplay therein. The program will also cover issues in both Arizona’s recent and past history involving the interactions of politics and law. It will discuss challenges and complications of criminal cases involving famous people.
What You’ll Learn:
1. The interplay between politics and criminal law
2. How the effects of the interplay between politics and criminal law can affect the criminal justice system
3. How election laws have played a much larger role in the criminal courts
Presented by: Criminal Justice Law Section
Laura Conover, Pima County Attorney's Office
Laura Conover has a unique perspective on Southern Arizona's criminal justice system. She was elected as the Pima County Attorney in 2020. As the third woman to hold the Office, second defense attorney, and first victims' rights attorney, she has assembled a diverse senior leadership team and plans to revolutionize operations.
Reform, transparency, and accountability are Laura's core objectives. She endeavors to reform cash bail, end all use of capital punishment, divert cases of substance use disorder and mental illness to treatment, and protect people with vulnerable immigration statuses. She is fortifying units in Conviction & Sentencing Integrity and Fraud & Consumer Protection to safeguard against unethical and exploitative behaviors. She is building the first adult restorative justice program in the state.
Michael Aaron Neufeld, The Neufeld Law Firm PLC
Michael A. Neufeld of the Neufeld Law Firm PLC splits his practice evenly between Immigration and Criminal law; focusing on the interplay between the two. He is the current Chairman of the State Bar of Arizona Criminal Justice Section executive council and past Chairman of the State Bar of Arizona Immigration Section executive council. In addition to handling of his own immigration and criminal cases he provides consulting services on immigration consequences for other law firms and individuals. He is the immigration resources attorney for the Pinal County Public Defender Office. He has served as a court appointed expert on criminal and immigration issues in state and federal court. He was a member of the most recent committee to update the “Quick Reference Chart for Determining Immigration Consequences of Selected Arizona Offenses,” published by the Florence Project for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He is also available for expert witness letters and testimony. He has extensive experience in dealing with immigration cases for those accused or convicted of criminal offenses as well as representing individuals who may have to later face immigration court in criminal cases. He also practices family based and investor based immigration law and has secured green cards for countless individuals from all over the world. He is based out of Phoenix but often travels to the Immigration courts in Florence and Eloy as well as the Superior Courts of several counties. He can be reached at Mneufeldjd@gmail.com or (602)685-1112.
Sara Xochitl Orozco
Karen Singer Smith
Lee Stein, attorney, Mitchell Stein Carey Chapman PC
a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Special Assistant Attorney General in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, has nearly 25 years of experience representing clients in white collar prosecutions and government investigations. He also was a partner at Perkins Coie, LLP, where he co-chaired the firm’s national Investigations and White Collar Defense practice group.
Lee is an accomplished trial lawyer who represents Fortune 500 companies and individuals in sensitive internal investigations and criminal prosecutions in both federal and state courts. Lee has seen nearly every imaginable white collar issue, including SEC investigations, environmental and wildlife prosecutions, fraud cases and public corruption matters.
An area of emphasis for Lee over the last 5 years has been advising clients on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He has handled FCPA investigations all over the world and has resolved those matters when necessary with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lee regularly represents students accused of misconduct by their college or university. He has resolved many such matters and has successfully litigated cases before University Hearing Boards. Lee is well versed in Title IX and the constitutional rights of students involved in the disciplinary process.
Lee is a frequent speaker on white collar issues. He has trained corporate investigators on conducting internal investigations, appeared on panels on the FCPA and other white collar issues, and spoken to in-house counsel on ethical issues in internal investigations. He has also taught classes at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University law schools on corporate criminal issues and the lawyering process.
Lee graduated magna cum laude from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Editor-in- Chief of the Law Review. Following his law school graduation, Lee served as a law clerk to Arizona Supreme Court Justice James Moeller. (8/2017)
Hon. Peter B Swann, Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One
Peter Swann retired as a judge Arizona Court of Appeals in 2022, after fourteen years’ service on that court, including two years as Chief Judge. From 2003-2008 he was a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, where he served in the Civil and Family Departments. From 2006-2008, he served as Associate Civil Presiding Judge and helped develop the court’s electronic filing system. As an attorney in private practice in Phoenix at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, he represented clients in commercial and constitutional litigation and commercial transactions. Swann received his law degree from University of Maryland Law School, where he graduated first in his class in 1991. After serving as a law clerk to the Hon. Norman P. Ramsey in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, he became a member of the State Bar of Arizona, receiving the highest score on the Arizona bar exam. Swann served six years on the Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Arizona, has served for the past 22 years on the Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure and also served on its Professionalism Committee. In 2013 and 2014, Swann served on a committee tasked with rewriting the Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure, and in 2015 and 2016 served on the Supreme Court’s Civil Rules Restyling Task Force and Family Rules Restyling Task force. In 2016 and 2017, he served on the Supreme Court’s Civil Justice Reform Commission. In 2008, Judge Swann was named “Judge of the Year” by the Phoenix Chapter of the Arizona Board of Trial Advocates. In 2016, Swann was named “Judge of the Year” by the Arizona Supreme Court. And in 2019, he was named “Judge of the Year” by the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel. Since 2003, Swann has frequently served as a mediator in both appellate and trial court matters in all types of civil and family cases.