Marc C Cavness

Marc C. Cavness, PLLCPLLC

Marc C. Cavness. I am a 79 year old lawyer, fourth generation Arizonan who grew up in Phoenix, attended NAU and U of A law school (my grades at Brophy were good enough to get me 120 miles away from home).

I practiced for seven years with a small firm headed by my dad Jack Cavness, then ran away from home. Since then, I have engaged in solo practice, and have had a diverse mix of clients and practice areas.

I represented (and named) the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they were under the leadership of Rulon Jeffs, whose son Warren drove that bus off the cliff, representing the town Marshall whose police officer certification was to be revoked because he had three wives and thirty six children; the court ruled that for a fundamentalist Mormon polygamy was constitutionally protected religious conduct with which the state could interfere only for a compelling reason. (I told the then Prophet Rulon Jeffs that while the stale did not have a compelling interest to deny a polygamist town a polygamist police officer, it did have a compelling interest to protect 14 year old girls. That summer Rulon announced at assembly that there would be no underage marriages except for compelling reasons).

Working with Chicago and Detroit lawyers, I represented the Pavilions Shopping Center in Scottsdale and won a three year refund of property taxes
on the ground that improvements constructed on leased ground were exempt from taxation as Indian owned property, and represented Hilton to obtain property tax reductions after 911 clobbered the hotel industry.

My practice now involves probate and estate planning, probate litigation involving will contests and claims against executors for mismanagement, an office practice involving contracts, transactions, and commerce, and limited family law (mainly involving the adult children of other clients).