Total Credits: 4.25 CLE, 4.25 Ethics
The Course on Professionalism is a mandatory course. In order to receive credit and be in compliance with Arizona Supreme Court Rule 34(n), you must attend and participate in the entire course.
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 March 6th, please check your spam folder or contact member services at Registrations@staff.azbar.org or 602-340-7231.
| Course on Professionalism Manual (618.2 KB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| A Brief Overview of Implicit Biases and the Impact They Have on Our Decisions and Actions (465.5 KB) | 12 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| Modest Means Brochure (82.7 KB) | 1 Pages | Download |
| Volunteer with the Bar Foundation Flyer (1.1 MB) | 2 Pages | Download |
Honorable LISA ILKA ABRAMS was appointed to the position of Superior Court Judge in January 2021. Prior to her appointment, she served as a Superior Court Commissioner for 11 years. She currently serves on the family law bench. She has previously served on the juvenile bench and the probate bench. Lisa has been a member of the Pima County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board since 2012 and served two terms on the board of the Arizona Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. She is a former partner of the law firm of Karp & Weiss, P.C. where she practiced in the areas of family, school, and juvenile law. She started her career as a Pima County Public Defender and as in house counsel for TUSD. She earned her BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College, and her JD from the University of Arizona, College of Law. Lisa is actively involved in dog rescue and has five dogs.
Michelle Behan is an Honorably Discharged Veteran from the United States Navy, where she served nearly ten years as a Cryptologist. Michelle also worked as a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation in both South Dakota and Arizona, where she investigated violent crimes on the Indian reservations, crimes against children, and national security crimes. Michelle is a 2013 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. While in law school, Michelle was an active participant in the Veteran’s Advocacy Clinic, where she acted as defense counsel for indigent Veterans charged with criminal misdemeanors. Michelle’s zealous advocacy on behalf of Veterans led to her selection by the Law School Faculty to present an amicus curiae brief (on behalf of the defendant) to the Federal Court of Appeals for the U.S. Armed Forces, the highest military court in the country. She was also awarded the prestigious Darrell K. Soll memorial scholarship, awarded to one student annually who shows great aptitude in the area of criminal defense. Following graduation, Michelle worked as an Assistant Public Defender at the Tucson City Public Defender’s Office. She has tried several cases to juries, and argued numerous evidentiary and legal hearings involving a variety of different legal issues. For her efforts, Michelle was awarded the 2015 Tucson Women’s Commission Rising Star Award. In 2015, Michelle joined Nesci & St. Louis, P.L.L.C., where she was an associate attorney until forming the leading DUI defense firm of The Behan Law Group.
Michelle is a member of the National College for DUI Defense and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As a member of the National College for DUI Defense Amicus Curiae committee, Michelle authored an amicus curiae brief to the Arizona Supreme Court in the matter of the State v. Valenzuela, which argued for and resulted in a change in police procedures throughout the State.
Michelle is a member of the faculty of the National College for DUI Defense, and has co-instructed courses on appellate writing, cross-examination, and defeating field sobriety testing at the nationally attended Summer Session held at Harvard Law School. Michelle is a frequent lecturer on the topics of DUI, DRE, and cross-examination, and has taught courses in Tucson, Phoenix, California, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Chicago. She chaired the State Bar’s bi-annual DUI Update Seminar in 2018, and has presented twice to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, in 2019 and in 2021, as well as the International Association for Chemical Testing in 2019.
Michelle is board certified in DUI defense, only the fourth woman in the United States to receive that honor. She is a certified field sobriety test practitioner, and a field sobriety test instructor. She is a sought-after speaker, published author, and the owner and president of The Behan Law Group.
Robert Erven Brown has been practicing law for over 45 years with a focus in real estate, commercial transactions and charitable organizations. He represented clients in commercial and real estate transactions, ongoing business transactions, with particular expertise in church and para-church ministries and in medical real estate transactions. Through his nonprofit work over the last 20 plus years, he represents secular and faith-based nonprofit entities, including churches, synagogues, gurdwaras, temples, denominations, Christian schools, rescue missions, a seminary, an adoption agency, prison transition ministries, human services organizations, health-related charities, and other faith-based entities.
Working closely with his nonprofit clients, Bob is a frequent seminar speaker and a trusted advisor to executive leaders, board members and committees in identifying risks and implementing appropriate protections for key assets of the organization. He counsels boards and leadership teams on multi-site church development, church mergers, board governance, campus development and construction, entity planning services, real estate asset protection, insurance coverage and other aspects of ongoing operations.
After years of extensive involvement in the nonprofit sector, Bob developed a comprehensive program to guide nonprofit operations. The Campus Preservation Planningtm program protects critical assets of faith-based ministries and secular charities against uninsurable, under-insured, and uninsured unjust claims, while simultaneously improving overall risk management and stewardship performance. This program has been adopted by nonprofit organizations across the country.
Flynn Carey is a founder and member of Mitchell Stein Carey Chapman in Phoenix. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (cum laude) where he was on Law Review, the recipient of the Honorable Rufus C. Coulter Scholarship and President of the Criminal Law Society. Flynn’s practice focuses on the defense of licensed professionals, criminal defense, school discipline, and Title IX litigation. He is one of only two attorneys recognized by the State Bar of Arizona as a Certified Specialist in Administrative Law. Flynn frequently represents and defends students in criminal matters.
Danielle Dancho generally assists clients with all aspects of permitting and compliance under the Clean Air Act. Danielle assists clients in preparing and reviewing applications to obtain air quality permits and permit revisions and preparing and reviewing any other documents required by the permit. Danielle also helps clients to understand and effectively manage their compliance obligations, including compliance certification requirements, and, if problems arise, how to take appropriate corrective action, prepare the proper notifications to the agency, and negotiate settlement agreements. She frequently advises clients on environmental regulatory requirements.
Since her admission to the Arizona Bar in 1998, Dina Dieglio has devoted her practice to criminal defense. During her years with the Pima County Public Defender's Office (1998-2003) Ms. Dieglio earned a reputation as a zealous advocate for her clients. Along with James Charnesky, she is currently a partner in the firm of Law Offices of Charnesky & Dieglio, LLC. (since 2003). Her practice is 100% criminal defense with a focus on DUI related crimes. A Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rated attorney, Ms. Dieglio has handled thousands of cases from misdemeanors to serious felony offenses. Dina has given dozens of CLE presentations on various DUI topics over the last decade. Currently, Ms. Dieglio co-chairs the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice annual DUI seminar along with Lawrence Koplow. She also is the chair of the State Bar DUI Law Update Seminar. She often works with attorney Michael Bloom on serious accident and vehicular homicide cases. She has a vast knowledge of Motor Vehicle Department issues as they relate to DUI and criminal cases and regularly lectures on MVD issues.
While she has received other awards during her career, Ms. Dieglio is most proud of her law firm receiving the Robert J. Hooker Award in 2016 by the Arizona Public Defenders' Association. This award is given to one private law firm in the State of Arizona "In recognition and appreciation of their exceptional commitment of time, effort and expertise to Arizona Public Defenders and their clients." Dina fondly recalls her years as a public defender and values their place in the legal community. Ms. Dieglio recently received the President's Commendation Award from the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice in 2023 for "outstanding service to the cause of criminal justice. She also serves on charitable boards, currently sits on the Tucson City Court Magistrate Merit Selection Committee as well as the Criminal Justice ACT (CJA) Panel Lawyer Screening Selection Committee.
Most importantly, Ms. Dieglio is the proud mother of Kaya (age 13) and Chloe (age 12).
Randy Haddock has 40+ years of experience representing corporations, public securities and financial institutions. Rand began as a corporate counsel with Boise Cascade Corporation. After handling securities and financial matters, he moved to private practice with Winston & Strawn. Then he became the general counsel for Valley National Bank, which was then the largest bank in the Southwest. He transitioned to a regional general counsel position with Bank One, which later consolidated with JP Morgan Chase. After many years of banking and finance, Rand re-entered private practice. He has grown through roles as principal and legal counsel for large and small companies, partnerships and limited liability companies throughout the western U.S. Rand earned his B.S. from Cal State Poly and his J.D. from Utah in 1974.
Mike Jette has been a prosecutor for approximately 18 years who has worked as a Deputy County Attorney in Santa Cruz County, as an Assistant Attorney General in Tucson, and currently as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Tucson. Mr. Jette also has an MBA from Thunderbird and a Masters in International Security from the University of Arizona. He has just finished a 2-year detail overseas for DOJ working in both Pakistan and the Philippines where he taught prosecutors and judges on rule of law initiatives with a focus on anti-money laundering and counterterrorism finance investigations.
Joseph A. Kanefield is a partner at Snell & Wilmer, where he advises clients on election law, campaign finance law, constitutional law, civil and appellate litigation, gaming law, licensure, state and local tax matters, procurement, and public-private partnerships. Joe has extensive experience as a litigator at all levels of federal and state courts. He previously served as Chief Deputy/Chief of Staff under Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Joe was a partner at the national law firm Ballard Spahr, where he was the Practice Leader of the firm’s Political and Election Law Practice Group. Joe also served as General Counsel to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, advising Gov. Brewer and the State of Arizona in litigation involving the state budget, civil rights, immigration, gaming, and health care issues. Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, he served in the Arizona Secretary of State’s office as State Election Director and in-house counsel. He also was an Assistant Attorney General and an attorney with the Arizona Department of Revenue. Joe is a Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona College of Law and has taught election law since 2007. He is a past president of the State Bar of Arizona and currently serves as the Arizona State Delegate to the American Bar Association. Joe received his undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and his J.D. from the University of Arizona College Of Law.
Honorable Nicholas Knauer has served as a Commissioner for the Pima County Superior Court since March 2022. Previously, Comm. Knauer worked for over 10 years on juvenile dependency matters in Pima County with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Pima County Public Defender’s Office, and the Pima County Office of Children’s Counsel. Comm. Knauer is also a recurrent faculty member for the State Bar of Arizona’s Course on Professionalism.
Derek Koltunovich has been an attorney for 14 years and is currently a team leader with the Pima County Public Defender’s Office working with the family defense team, representing parents in child welfare cases, and with the juvenile defender team, representing youth who have been accused of crimes. Derek previously represented children with the Office of Children’s Counsel and served on the board of Edge High School. When he is not working he spends time traveling with his wife and daughter, attending U of A basketball games, and exploring new foods.
Honorable James Marner was appointed to the Pima County Superior Court bench in 2012 by Governor Brewer. He is currently the Presiding Judge of Criminal Bench. Judge Marner also served as the Presiding Judge of the Family Bench for 2 years. Before that he served on the Civil Bench where, among other things, he was the Presiding Arbitration Judge and the Elections Judge. Judge Marner taught Pretrial Civil Litigation as an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona law school. Before taking the bench, he was a trial attorney at the King County Prosecutor's Office in Seattle and then spent 15 years as a civil trial attorney in Pima County.
Karen Nygaard is a retired judicial officer who served on the Pima County Superior Court bench for over 15 years. She currently serves as a judge pro tempore in that court. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was a shareholder in the law firm DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy where she primarily practiced in the area of civil litigation. Before working at the DeConcini firm, she was a trial deputy with the Pima County Attorney’s Office; and associate with the Phoenix firm of O’Connor Cavanaugh Westover Killingsworth and Beshears; and a judicial law clerk for the Arizona Court of Appeals Division II. She has tried approximately 80 jury trials in a variety of cases, both civil and criminal. Prior to law school, she was a mathematics teacher and guidance counsellor for Tucson Unified School District. Her professional activities have included serving as President of the Pima County Bar Association, Chair of the Trial Practice Section of the State Bar of Arizona, President of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, member of the Advisory Board of the Volunteer Lawyers Program, founding member of the Board of Directors of Step Up to Justice, member of the Morris K. Udall Inn of the Court, and editor of The Writ. Since retiring from the bench, she regularly volunteers to assist and represent indigent clients of SU2J in their court cases. Karen obtained a B.S. in Mathematics from The University of Arizona in 1972, an M.Ed. from the University of Arizona in 1976 and a J.D. from the James E. Rogers College of Law in 1982. She is a member of the State Bars of Arizona and Colorado, the U.S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
John M. O’Neal is a commercial litigation partner with Quarles, and has been practicing since 1994. John also serves as Quarles’ general counsel.
Honorable William O'Neil is the former Presiding Disciplinary Judge for Arizona, a position created by the Arizona Supreme Court's adoption of changes to the attorney discipline system in 2010. He has received multiple awards for his judicial work including the Arizona Supreme Court 2007 Improving Trust and Confidence in the Court Award and the 2015 Justice Michael D. Ryan Award for Judicial Excellence. Prior to serving as a Superior Court Judge for 20 years, Judge O'Neil served in private practice for 13 years. He was president of the Pinal County Bar Association in 1989. His one-person firm grew to the largest firm in Pinal County. His practice was busy, rewarding and stressful. He understands the struggle of deadlines, the temptation of compromise and the danger of situational ethics. He is aware of the common frailty of being so busy one doesn't take the time to properly process information and falters ethically. He also knows the keys to avoiding such lapses.
Elizabeth Burton Ortiz has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, a Master of Arts in Political Science, and a Juris Doctor. After graduating from law school, Ms. Ortiz clerked at the Arizona Court of Appeals. Ms. Ortiz then joined the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, in Phoenix, Arizona, where she prosecuted cases for sixteen years. During that time, Ms. Ortiz served as a Bureau Chief in Juvenile, Pretrial, Charging, and Appeals. In 2009, Ms. Ortiz joined the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council (“APAAC”) as the Senior Staff Attorney, and was subsequently named Executive Director. In addition to her APAAC duties, Ms. Ortiz is a sworn special prosecutor in several Arizona counties. Ms. Ortiz is co-chair of the Arizona Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women, chair of the State Bar of Arizona Public Lawyers Executive Council, and chair of the State Bar of Arizona Criminal Justice Executive Council. She serves as a board member for the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators, the National District Attorney’s Association, the Arizona Forensic Science Academy, the Arizona Supreme Court’s Commission of Victims in Court, the State Bar of Arizona Board of Legal Specialization, and the State Bar Professionalism Advisory Council. Ms. Ortiz she serves as a facilitator for the Lessons From the Holocaust: What You Do Matters course, and has taught extensively on a variety of ethics and trial advocacy topics in Arizona, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Montana, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas, South Carolina, California, Idaho, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Michigan, and Oregon. In 2022, Ms. Ortiz was recognized by the State Bar of Arizona with the Michael Cudahy Criminal Justice Award.
Lauren Talkington is an attorney with Snell & Wilmer. Her practice is concentrated in private client services, specifically estate planning, probate, as well as estate and trust litigation. She has extensive experience in preparing estate planning documents to fit clients’ needs, including wills, revocable or irrevocable trusts, as well as incapacity planning documents such as financial and health care powers of attorney. Lauren also provides advice regarding income, gift, and estate tax issues with experience in preparing taxable estate tax returns and gift tax returns. She has widespread knowledge of fiduciary service matters, including matters of complex estate and trust administration. Lauren is a Certified Estate and Trust Law Specialist through the State Bar of Arizona. She received her Bachelors from Northern Arizona University (Business Economics and International Affairs) and her JD from the University of Arizona.
S Jon Trachta is a specialist in dispute resolution with 50 years of experience as a trial lawyer, arbitrator and mediator resolving cases dealing with national and international contracts, professional responsibility and product liability. He is affiliated with the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, and the Arizona Dispute Resolution Association. He has served as Chairman of the Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Arizona/Sonora Project. He has worked in Mexico, Europe, Saudi Arabia and various countries of the Far East. He is trained as a mediator and has participated in hundreds of cases as an arbitrator, mediator, or representative of a client. Jon has also designed and conducted the first arbitration and mediation trainings to be conducted in Mexico at the Monterrey Technological Institute (ITESM). Further, he has been designated a Judge Pro Tem of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, for the County of Pima and is certified as a mediator by the National Association of Securities Dealers. In the past he has also been professor in the Arizona College of Trial Advocacy and adjunct professor in the U of A College of Law. Jon has claimed Tucson, Arizona as his home since he attended third grade at Peter Howell Elementary. He graduated from Rincon High School and then graduated from Stanford University and the University of Arizona Law School. Between law school and undergraduate school, he served five years in the United States Marine Corps where he was a fighter pilot in Viet Nam. He still flies his own airplane and handles aviation cases. He has two daughters and five grandchildren. For recreation, he enjoys hiking, riding horses, fly fishing and international travel.
D. Burr Udall For over 65 years, Burr has represented insurance companies and their insureds in all aspects of insurance litigation, including first party, third party and bad faith litigation. Mr. Udall is frequently called upon to serve as an arbitrator, mediator, and special master, and has testified as an expert in insurance law. Burr is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and is a member of the Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.