New Justice Appointed to Arizona Supreme Court by Ted Schmidt

Governor Brewer Chooses Chief Presiding Judge of Yavapai County Superior Court to Sit on Supreme Court

52 years old, lifelong Republican, ASU undergrad Honors in Economics (79), UA Law (82), intercollegiate wrestler at George Wash Univ., intern in D.C. for DeConcini.

After law school he moved to Prescott where he was in private practice with his own firm and for 4 years he worked for Mike Murphy of Murphy, Lutey & Beck. Mike and Bob Schmitt give him very high marks. As you would expect in a smaller community, his practice was fairly diverse, principally focused on Indian law, business and real estate law. He did some litigation including a small amount of tort work for both plaintiffs and defendants.

He has been a Superior Court Judge since 1996 and Chief Presiding Judge for Yavapai County for about half that time. He is very well liked as a trial judge and presiding judge by the local bar and bench. He is reputed to be smart, fair and practical. He was in fact brought in as a mediator of the recent dispute between the Maricopa County Superior Court and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. To everyone's amazement he actually brokered a resolution of the dispute.

Finally, he is well known for his many years as an advocate of improvement to the Juvenile Justice system in Az. He has been responsible for many reforms in Yavapai County and throughout the state. He is the first appointment of someone outside of Maricopa and Pima County to the Az Supreme Court since Yuma's Duke Cameron retired 20 years ago.