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Webinar

State Bar of Arizona Course on Professionalism (Virtual Course) - 08/15/2023



Dates

Description

This course explores professionalism principles and analyzes a series of professionalism hypotheticals pertinent to a lawyer's relationship with clients, judges, and other attorneys. The bulk of the seminar is presented in interactive breakout groups. New admittees to the State Bar of Arizona must complete this course within one year of being admitted to the Bar.  Space is limited for each session. 

 

In a profession that was designed to be adversarial in nature, it's only natural that conflicts with our colleagues, the judiciary and our clients may arise. How we resolve these conflicts reflects upon the profession as a whole. This course is designed to help restore civility and elevate the standards by which we treat all those with whom we come in contact.

 

The mandatory course, for all newly admitted Arizona members, satisfies the requirement under Rule 34(n), Ariz. R. Sup. Ct.

 

Important: Please make sure the email address we have on file for you is current. You will be emailed information about this course as we get closer to the course date. If you have not received information by August 14th, please check your spam folder or contact member services at Registrations@staff.azbar.org or 602-340-7231.

Handouts

Faculty

Renee Bryna Gerstman Related Seminars and Products

Arbitrator | Mediator | Attorney at Law


Renee Gerstman is an attorney, mediator, arbitrator and neutral evaluator with over three decades of experience in business transactions, real estate, construction, corporate, contract, commercial and business litigation. Renee has arbitrated and mediated all types of disputes ranging from small consumer matters to large construction defect claims. Renee is on the American Arbitration Association's Roster of Commercial Neutrals, AAA Construction panel and Merger and Acquisition panel. She is also on the Arizona Association of Realtors roster of mediators, a FINRA mediator, arbitrator and chairperson and an arbitrator and mediator with New Era ADR a virtual mediation and arbitration platform. She has been listed as a Southwest Super Lawyer in alternative dispute resolution since 2017. Renee is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, AV rated by Martindale Hubbel and a senior fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. She has been a member of the State Bar's Fee Arbitration Program since 1991 and chaired the Program from 2012-2014. She currently serves on the State Bar's Ethics Advisory Group and on the Executive Council of the State Bar of Arizona's Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.



Alexis L Pheiffer Related Seminars and Products

Managing Partner, Mediator


Alexis is the Founder and Managing Member of the Law Office of Alexis Pheiffer, where she serves as a mediator and facilitator for employment and commercial disputes. Alexis also conducts neutral workplace investigations as an external investigator. Alexis has been an attorney for over 20 years and has resolved hundreds of disputes, ranging from informal complaints and administrative charges to complex state and federal litigation in a variety of industries, jurisdictions, and subject matter areas.

Before opening her own practice, Alexis spent four years leading the employment and litigation teams at Sprouts Farmers Market, a natural and organic grocery store chain based in Phoenix, Arizona. During her time at Sprouts, Alexis managed a wide variety of litigated matters, ranging from wage and hour class actions and harassment and discrimination cases to general liability claims, securities litigation, false advertising, and contract disputes. Alexis was named 2020’s Large Public Company In-House Counsel of the year by Arizona Business Magazine. Before joining Sprouts, Alexis spent seven years as PetSmart’s senior labor and employment attorney, where she handled employment litigation and advice for PetSmart locations in the United States, Canada, and Asia.

Alexis began her legal career in Madison, Wisconsin, working in the employment law group of a large national law firm. She moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2007 and continued in private practice, first at a full-service law firm and later at an employment law boutique.

After participating in hundreds of mediations as an advocate and client, Alexis knew the difference a good mediation could make to counsel and parties involved. Inspired by her experiences, she began dispute resolution training at Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution in 2017 and served as a Maricopa County Judge Pro Tem in the Civil Division.

Alexis joined the Executive Council for the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section of the State Bar of Arizona in 2020 and is currently Chair Elect of the ADR Section. Her term as ADR Section Chair begins in June 2023. She is also an active member of the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA) and the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI). Alexis is an AAA Affiliate Mediator and is also MC3 certified.

Alexis grew up in central Wisconsin. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., her law degree from University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis, and her Certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.


Laura E Udall Related Seminars and Products


Laura Udall is a criminal defense attorney in private practice in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona. She attended the University of California at Berkeley for her undergraduate degree and received her law degree from the University of Utah. Following law school she clerked for the Honorable Alfredo Marquez for District Court in Arizona. She then went to work at the Pima County Public Defender for 4 years. In 1992 she and Dan Cooper opened their firm, Cooper and Udall PC, and practiced together until 2021 when she opened her solo firm Laura E. Udall PLLC. Laura has tried over 110 cases to jury verdict. She is qualified as learned counsel for capital work in both Federal and State jurisdictions. She has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona teaching trial advocacy since 2010. Laura was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2017.


Tracy P Nuckolls Related Seminars and Products


Tracy P. Nuckolls, Esq. is semi-retired, currently serving as a Professor of Practice of HealthCare Law at the University of Arizona College of Law. He retired as the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for TMC HealthCare in Tucson, Arizona. Before that, he was engaged in private practice, practicing primarily in business law, real estate and healthcare law. During his career he participated in several professional associations such as the American Health Lawyers Association, the Arizona Bar Association, and the Healthcare Roundtable for Corporate Counsel. He has served and continues to serve on several community boards and organizations.


Jeffrey S Silvyn Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel


Jeffrey Silvyn was appointed as the first General Counsel for Pima County Community College District in 2013. Previously, he spent five years as General Counsel for the Morris and Stewart Udall Foundation, a federal agency based in Tucson, devoted to environmental conflict resolution and education. His duties there included serving as the Designated Agency Ethics Official. Jeff began his legal career with fifteen years in private practice, focused on employment law and commercial litigation, including representing Pima College. Jeff served as a Vice-chair for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources and as adjunct faculty for the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona. He is a former Chair of the Arizona State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section and served as a chapter editor for the Arizona Employment Law Handbook. He currently serves on the Continuing Legal Education Committee for the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Jeff grew up in Tucson and then ventured east, receiving a B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and then a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1992. He is admitted to practice in Arizona and California.


Nicholas Klingerman Related Seminars and Products

Office of the Attorney General


is the Training and Post Conviction Division Chief Counsel at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Nick is a career prosecutor who has specialized in appellate litigation, prosecuting notable cases such as State v. Goudeau, 239 Ariz. 421 (2016), and State v. Pandeli, 242 Ariz. 175 (2017). Before joining the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Nick was the Chief Counsel for the Arizona Attorney General's Southern Arizona White Collar and Criminal Enterprise Section in Tucson, where he oversaw prosecutions involving complex economic frauds, illegal enterprises, and racketeering.

Nick received his JD from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of law in 2010, where he was the Case Notes Editor for the Arizona Law Review and graduated summa cum laude and Order of the Coif. He was later a part-time professor of practice at the College of Law from 2018 until 2022, teaching sentencing law and supervising the Attorney General Prosecution Clinic. After graduating from law school, Nick clerked the Honorable Maurice Portley in the Arizona Court of Appeals.


Matthew E McGregor Related Seminars and Products

Intake Bar Counsel

State Bar of Arizona


Matt McGregor is Bar Counsel with the State Bar of Arizona’s Intake department. Born and raised in the far suburbs of Chicago, IL., his first legal job was with the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, where he worked from 2002 – 2007. Matt worked in the Preliminary Hearing, Juvenile, and Family Violence Bureaus. Matt then moved over to the State Bar of Arizona’s Lawyer Regulation department in 2007, where he worked as a Litigation Bar Counsel, and then transitioned into a part of the Intake department. In 2011, Matt returned to the County Attorney’s office, where he worked in Charging / Grand Jury, Family Violence, Gangs, and as a Mentor for newer attorneys in the Preliminary Hearing bureau. Matt then returned to the State Bar’s Intake department in February 2016, and he also assists in conducting in-person law office assessments for the State Bar’s Law Office Management Assistance Program. Matt regularly teaches as part of the State Bar of Arizona’s Professionalism Course and other CLEs.


Robert M Charles Jr Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP


Rob Charles is a partner and leader in the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group, practicing throughout Arizona and Nevada. He represents clients in business bankruptcy cases, commercial lawsuits, and business transactions.

Rob works with secured and unsecured creditors, as well as debtors through complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy issues in all aspects of debtor/creditor relationships, workouts, and litigation. From sophisticated financial transactions through bankruptcy appeals, business leaders from finance and investment, technology, health care, and real estate trust Rob’s in-depth industry knowledge to inform the best bankruptcy strategies.

As fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and University of Arizona College of Law Adjunct Professor teaching bankruptcy reorganization, Rob is recognized by the industry for the highest standards of leadership and experience in bankruptcy law.

Rob also advises clients in matters including the Uniform Commercial Code, with expertise in negotiable instruments, banking law, and secured transactions. He actively represents plaintiffs and defendants in civil and commercial litigation in the state and federal courts.


Laura Lawless Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP


, partner at Squire Patton Boggs, is a trial lawyer who represents employers before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, as well as in arbitration and mediation proceedings, defending employers in matters arising under federal and state employment laws, including claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower retaliation, wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, and breach of contract, as well as in noncompetition, non-solicitation, nondisclosure, trade secret and unfair competition cases. Laura also counsels and collaborates with human resources professionals, including assisting in workplace investigations, auditing wage and hour practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act and analogous state laws, reviewing and advising on leaves of absence, preparing executive employment agreements and separation agreements, drafting employment policies and handbooks, advising on drug and alcohol testing and workplace violence prevention, delivering interactive management and executive training, and advising on reduction-in-force planning and implementation. She is also a frequent contributor and speaker on employment and labor law topics.
In addition to her labor and employment practice, Laura assists private business owners in complying with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and analogous state laws, requiring disability accessibility in places of public accommodation.


Bernardo McGee Velasco Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Mesch Clark Rothschild


(Bern) primarily practices construction and general appeals with Mesch Clark Rothschild in Tucson, where he has been since 2018. Bern clerked with the Honorable Peter J. Eckerstrom of the Arizona Court of Appeals after graduating from the University of Arizona. In his free time, Bern competes around the Southwest with the Bicycle Ranch Tucson Race Team. Although fast for a lawyer, it turns out lawyers are slower than other professionals.



Isaac Daniel Rothschild Related Seminars and Products

Mesch Clark & Rothschild PC


Isaac Rothschild is a shareholder who practices in the Bankruptcy Section of Mesch Clark Rothschild. Since joining MCR in 2009, Isaac has been active in the firm’s bankruptcy section, co-counsel in some of the largest reorganization cases in Arizona, as well as representing Trustees, secured insurance companies, and local banks in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases as well as collection actions. His practice also focuses on asset protection planning and pre-bankruptcy planning. Additionally, Isaac is active in several non-profits including the Chair of the Arts for All Board, the Chair of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, and was one of four founders of the Tucson Jazz Festival.


Wayne E Yehling Related Seminars and Products

Pima County Superior Court


was born in Tucson in 1959 and attended public schools, graduating from Tucson High School in 1978. After graduating from St. John's College Seminary in 1982, he attended the University of Arizona College of Law, graduating in 1985. After clerking one year for the Hon. Thomas C. Kleinschmidt of Division One of the Arizona Count Appeals, he worked in the appellate division of the Pima County Public Defender's Office for three years. From 1989-2010, he was an attorney for the law firm of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, P.C. of which he was managing shareholder from 2000-2009. In March of 2010 he was appointed a Superior Court Commissioner by the Hon. Jan E. Kearney. He became a Judge of the Superior Court on October 16, 2020, after having been appointed by Governor Doug Ducey. Since becoming a judicial officer, he has served on the Probate, Juvenile, Family and Civil benches. He currently serves on the Civil Bench.



Teri Marscovetra Rowe Related Seminars and Products

Attorney


graduated from the University of Arizona with degrees in Physics and Astronomy. She interned for NASA, taught elementary school science, and ultimately worked as a systems engineer at Raytheon in the area of missile design. Teri left the engineering field and attended law school at Arizona State University, during which time she served as an editor on Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology. Following graduation, she spent a decade working in a small firm where she handled primarily personal injury litigation, and also practiced in the areas of criminal defense, family law, and probate. As a partner at Miller Kory Rowe LLP, she has devoted the majority of her time to the firm’s nursing home litigation practice. However, she continues to represent victims of medical malpractice and other catastrophic injuries. Teri also serves on the Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Discipline Commission, where she sits on panels for discipline hearings and regularly serves as a mediator for discipline cases. In addition, she is a member of the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group, as well as a Board Member of the Arizona Association of Justice (AzAJ) and serves on the AzAJ Seminar Committee.


Joshua F Hamilton Related Seminars and Products

Attorney/CO-Owner


has been an Arizona criminal defense attorney in private practice since 2010. His practice focuses on complex felony cases in both state and federal courts. He regularly represents clients all throughout Arizona, and has been admitted pro hac vice to represent clients in federal cases in other districts nationwide. He has also successfully argued several published Arizona and federal appellate cases. He has vast experience in the area of search and seizure litigation, wiretaps, digital forensics and internet investigations, white collar & racketeering matters, grand jury practice, and preindictment representation of the accused. Mr. Hamilton has been professionally recognized by Southwest Super Lawyers, US News & World Report’s Best Law Firms in America, Best Lawyers in America, is AV Preeminent-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has served on the AACJ’s Board of Governors, the State Bar of Arizona’s Criminal Rules Committee, and the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”) Panel Selection Committee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.


Jacki L Ireland Related Seminars and Products


was raised in Prescott, Arizona. She attended Northern Arizona University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. She attended law school at the University of Arizona where she graduated magna cum laude, as well. She then worked at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, prosecuting general crimes, as well as gang and repeat offender cases. She was then hired as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Arizona (Phoenix office), where she prosecuted immigration cases and major drug trafficking cases. She was appointed as a Superior Court Commissioner in Maricopa County in 2007. Since 2015, she has served as a “special assignment” Commissioner which involves rotating to multiple assignments throughout the year. She has rotated through every major department of the court, which includes family, juvenile, probate, criminal and civil. She currently serves on the criminal bench. She is married and has two children. In her free time she loves to travel and spend time with friends and family.


Laura L Roubicek Related Seminars and Products

Deputy County Attorney

Office of the Arizona Attorney General


is a long-time Tucsonan and proud Arizona Wildcat, twice over. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Classical Humanities and from the University of Arizona in 1998 and then her law degree in 2003. She spent more than fifteen years as a prosecutor, first at the City of Tucson and then at Pima County, and has handled all nature of cases from civil traffic offenses to first degree murder before entering civil litigation where she has worked for most of the past four years. In addition to her extensive courtroom experience, with nearly 100 jury trials under her belt, she has also taught CLE’s for the Arizona State Bar, conducted in-house legal trainings on a variety of topics, and instructed law enforcement about various aspects of courtroom testimony, as well as having taught Basic Trial Advocacy at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law for seven years. Ms. Roubicek has been awarded the MADD Southern Arizona Misdemeanor Prosecutor of the Year and the Arizona Narcotics Officers Association Prosecutor of the Year. She currently works for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in the Liability Management Section defending lawsuits against the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry.


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