Jennifer M Perkins

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.