Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One Potpourri – The Sequel

Samuel A Thumma Related Seminars and Products

Judge

Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One

Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, Phoenix, Arizona, since 2012, and Chief Judge 2017-2019. Sam is a member of the National Judicial College Board of Trustees; is a Uniform Law Commissioner, where he serves as Secretary and on the Executive Committee and is an ABA Presidential appointee to the Advisory Council of the ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence and the Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Services. He is a member of the Joint Technology Committee, appointed by the National Center for State Courts, and is an Advisor to the American Law Institute’s RESTATEMENT OF LAW (THIRD) OF TORTS: REMEDIES project. Sam chairs Arizona’s Commission on Access to Justice, having previously chaired various Committees, Commissions and Task Forces for the Arizona Supreme Court and the State Bar of Arizona. In 2023, he received the James A. Walsh Outstanding Jurist Award from the State Bar of Arizona and, in 2021, he was named the Judge of the Year by the Arizona Supreme Court. Sam co-teaches evidence at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He has presented at more than 500 law-related programs in more than 20 states and published 18 law review articles, six book chapters and nearly 70 other law-related articles. Sam served as a Judge on the Maricopa County Superior Court for five years; a partner at Perkins Coie Brown & Bain, P.A., Phoenix, and an associate at Arnold & Porter, Washington, D.C. He clerked for Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Stanley G. Feldman and Federal Judge David R. Hansen, Northern District of Iowa. Sam received a Master of Laws, Duke University School of Law (2020); J.D., Order of the Coif, University of Iowa College of Law (1988), and B.S., Iowa State University (1984), where he was a Truman Scholar.

Randall M Howe Related Seminars and Products

Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One

was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals on May 2012. Before his appointment, he served for nineteen years with the Arizona Attorney General's Office and three years with the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. The State Bar awarded him the Distinguished Public Lawyer Award in 2007 and the Michael C. Cudahy Criminal Justice Award in 2013. Judge Howe graduated from Arizona State University College of Business, Summa Cum Laude, in 1985 and Arizona State University College of Law, Cum Laude, in 1988. In 2002, he received the Young Alumnus Award from the Arizona State University Alumni Association. Judge Howe has also been involved in the disability community. He has served as Chair of the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, President of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Center for Disability Law, and Chair of the Board of Directors of Arizona Bridge to Independent Living. He is currently on the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona and Daring Adventures.

Amy Wood Related Seminars and Products

retired from the Court of Appeals in March of 2025. She had been the Clerk of the Court since August of 2016. During her time with the court she focused on improving processes and introducing more automation as well as an increased use of electronic documents in internal processes. Prior to working with the Court of Appeals, Amy worked for the Administrative Office of the Courts managing statewide projects for the judicial branch of Arizona. Amy holds a Master’s degree in Human and Animal Cognition and is a Fellow of the Institute of Court Management.

Matthew Martin Related Seminars and Products

is the new Clerk of Court for the Court of Appeals, Division One. Although he is very new to his position, Matt has spent over ten years at the Superior Court in Maricopa County in the Jury and Criminal administrative departments and was the Special Projects Manager for the Superior Court Clerk’s Office. Matt holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and an MBA from the University of Arizona.

Jennifer M Perkins Related Seminars and Products

Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One

Hon. Jennifer M. Perkins began service on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, on October
30, 2017. At the time of her appointment by Governor Douglas Ducey, Judge Perkins was Assistant
Solicitor General for the State of Arizona.
Judge Perkins was born in Portales, New Mexico, and primarily raised in Albuquerque. She attended the
prestigious Albuquerque Academy from 1988-1995, before moving to Washington D.C. to attend the
Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University as a National Merit Scholar.
Therafter, she relocated again to Dallas, Texas, and earned her juris doctor from the SMU Dedman
School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2002.
Judge Perkins started her career at the law firm of Browning & Peifer (now Peifer, Hanson, & Mullins)
in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While there, she litigated complex commercial matters including class
action plaintiff and defense work, and assisted with employment and contract litigation. In 2003, the
judge accompanied the Honorable James O. Browning in transitioning to the federal district court bench,
serving as his first law clerk.
After her clerkship, Judge Perkins moved to Arizona to work for the Institute for Justice, Arizona
Chapter, a public interest law firm. She spent five years with IJ-AZ litigating civil rights cases in
Arizona and across the country. In 2009, the judge became Disciplinary Counsel for the Arizona
Commission on Judicial Conduct, where she reviewed and prosecuted ethics complaints against state
court judges throughout Arizona. After five years serving the state in this capacity, Judge Perkins
entered private practice by joining Mandel Young, an appellate law firm in Phoenix. While there, she
worked on state and federal appeals involving a wide range of legal subjects, including complex
business disputes, property rights, judicial ethics, and personal injury matters.
In January 2015, Judge Perkins joined the Office of the Arizona Attorney General to serve as the first
Assistant Solicitor General; in that capacity, she was responsible for oversight of Attorney General
Opinions and served as ethics counsel to the entire office. In addition to these two primary roles, the
judge assisted on a variety of matters including trial and appellate litigation of election-related matters;
federal appellate litigation with the Federalism Unit; state criminal appeals; and drafting amicus briefs
on behalf of Arizona in state and federal courts.

Michael J Brown Related Seminars and Products

court of appeals

was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2007. He served as the Chief Judge of Division One from 2015 to 2017, after serving the prior two years as the Vice Chief Judge. Judge Brown graduated from Brigham Young University in 1989 and received his J.D. from Arizona State University in 1992. Following graduation from law school, he worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas C. Kleinschmidt. From 1993 to 2006, Judge Brown worked as an attorney with Brown & Brown Law Offices, P.C. in northeastern Arizona. His primary areas of practice included municipal law, civil litigation, real estate law, general business matters, and water law. Throughout his legal career, Judge Brown has been actively involved in professional, religious, and community organizations.

Daniel J Kiley Related Seminars and Products

Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One

has been a Maricopa County Superior Court judge since 2010. He has served Civil, Criminal, and Family Court assignments, and is currently the Associate Civil Presiding Judge. He began his legal career as a prosecutor with the Arizona Attorney General's Office, after which he practiced in the area of commercial litigation with Mohr, Hackett, Pederson, Blakley & Randolph, P.C., and, subsequently, Sherman & Howard, LLC. He received his undergraduate degree cum laude from Harvard University and his law degree cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law (now the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law).

David D Weinzweig Related Seminars and Products

sits on the Arizona Court of Appeals. Born and educated in Arizona, Judge Weinzweig worked for over two decades in private and public practice before joining the court in December 2017. He serves on the Commission of Judicial Performance Review and the City of Phoenix Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. Judge Weinzweig has authored and co-authored full chapters in treatises on antitrust law, consumer protection and in-house legal departments. His first book, Zen in the Art of Legal Writing, is expected in early 2024.

James B Morse Related Seminars and Products

Hon. James B. Morse Jr. was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One by Governor
Douglas Ducey and began service on the Court of Appeals on November 6, 2017. Prior to his
appointment, Judge Morse spent nearly 10 years with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District
of Arizona, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Organized Crime and Drug
Enforcement Task Force, a Deputy Section Chief and Section Chief in the Southwest Border Crimes
Unit, and as the Government Ethics Advisor. Judge Morse also worked in the Maricopa County
Attorney’s Office where he served as a Deputy County Attorney and as an Assistant Bureau
Chief. Judge Morse previously worked as a Law Clerk for United States District Judge James A.
Teilborg, and as an associate at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix, and Baker & Botts in Dallas.
Judge Morse graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in Political Science from
Arizona State University in 1991. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia in
1995.

Russell Yurk Related Seminars and Products

National Football League

is a graduate of Northwestern University and ASU College of Law. He was an AV-rated attorney, practicing for nearly 20 years in the Phoenix area, most recently as a partner with Jennings Haug Keleher McLeod Waterfall LLP (then known as Jennings, Haug & Cunningham, LLP). While practicing, Mr. Yurk was a longtime member of the State Bar’s Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, served on the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, taught Professional Responsibility at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and served as a Judge Pro Tempore on the Maricopa County Superior Court. In 2017, the NFL hired him as its Vice President of Officiating, Instant Replay after working seven seasons as a replay official. Mr. Yurk retired from the NFL in 2023 and joined the Big Ten Conference as its Centralized Replay Supervisor. In 2024, Mr. Yurk accepted a position as the NFL rules analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast and will return in that role for the 2025 season.

Paul J McMurdie Related Seminars and Products

Arizona Court of Appeals - Division One

was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, by Governor Doug Ducey in 2016. Previously, Judge McMurdie spent eleven years on the Maricopa County Superior Court having been appointed to the superior court bench by Governor Janet Napolitano in 2005. While serving as a superior court judge, Judge McMurdie presided over civil, criminal, and family cases. Prior to being appointed to the Court of Appeals, Judge McMurdie was the Presiding Family Court Judge.
Judge McMurdie graduated with a B.A. degree in Political Science from Utah State University in 1982. He received his J.D. from Arizona State University in 1985. While in law school, he was selected for the Truman Young Fellowship as the outstanding criminal law student.
After graduating from ASU, Judge McMurdie worked for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in the Criminal Appeals Section. In 1991, he was appointed as the Section Chief for Criminal Appeals. In 2001, Judge McMurdie began working for the Maricopa Attorney’s Office as the Division Chief for Appeals and Research.
As a lawyer for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Judge McMurdie received the following awards: Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisory Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2004); Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Division Attorney of the Year Award (2005 and 2003); Arizona Attorney Generals’ Criminal Division Attorney of the Year Award (1991); Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council Prosecutor of the Year Award (1990), Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation Board of Director’s Award (2005); and United States Department of Labor Special Recognition Award (1990).
Judge McMurdie served in the following capacity as a lawyer: Family Law Executive Counsel for the State Bar (2015 to 2016); Chair, State Bar Criminal Jury Instructions Committee; Secretary-Treasurer Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation; Co-Chair Joint Legislative/Judicial Study Committee on Post-Conviction Relief; Co-Chair Arizona Supreme Court committee on Reducing Appellate Delay; and the Ninth Circuit Task Force on Capital Cases.