The firm’s new website earned honorable mention from Lawyerist.com 2017 Awards of Top Ten Best Law Firm Websites. The selection criteria included best practices for website design, basic search engine optimization, and website security. Lawyerist began in 2007 as an online blog devoted to searching for better tech tools for […]

The firm was recognized in the September 30th edition of the Phoenix Business Journal. The List is a compilation of the top 28 law practices in the metropolitan Phoenix area practicing labor and employment law.

In Taylor v. Barkes, 135 S. Ct. 2042 (2015), the United States Supreme Court granted qualified immunity to prison officials who allegedly failed to supervise and monitor a private contractor that provided medical treatment to inmates.  The decedent committed suicide a day after mental health screened him at intake and determined […]

In Coleman v. Tollefson, 135 S. Ct. 1759 (2015), the Supreme Court held that a district court’s dismissal of an inmate’s complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)—frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim—counts as a “strike” for purposes of determining an inmate’s eligibility for in forma pauperis (IFP) status, even […]

In Castro v. County of Los Angeles, 785 F.3d 336 (9th Cir. 2015), the Ninth Circuit held that the design of a jail cell constitutes a formal policy for purposes of Monell liability. But because the Eighth Amendment’s deliberate-indifference element is a subjective standard, there must be proof that a policymaker with authority […]

In Cortez v. Skol, 776 F.3d 1046 (9th Cir. 2015), the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment on a § 1983 claim in favor of a prison guard who allegedly failed to protect an inmate from an attack by two other inmates during a prison escort.  The guard had been escorting three […]

In Holt v. Hobbs, 135 S.Ct. 853 (2015), the Supreme Court held that a prison’s grooming policy that prohibited inmates from growing ½-inch beards violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act because it imposed a substantial burden on the inmate’s exercise of his Muslim faith. The court held that […]

In Mullenix v. Luna, No. 14-1143 (U.S. Nov. 9, 2015), the Supreme Court afforded qualified immunity to an officer accused of excessive force when he shot and killed a fleeing, intoxicated suspect from an overpass.  The suspect led officers on an 18-minute chase at speeds of up to 110 miles-per-hour, and […]

In Gallagher v. Tucson Unified School District, No. 2 CA-CV 2014-0124, 2015 WL 2221657 (Ariz. App. May 12, 2015), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that TUSD was entitled to absolute immunity under A.R.S. § 12-820.05.  The court held that the requested damages (“anxiety, reasonable expenses for medical intervention or other […]

In City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan, 135 S. Ct. 1765 (2015), the United States Supreme Court held that two police officers’ re-entry into the residence of an armed, mentally ill suspect (who had threatened officers moments before with a knife) to quickly subdue her—instead of attempting to accommodate […]