News

Sandy Forbes contributed pro bono legal services in connection with the development of the book. For Tucson Citizen article click here.

Sandy Forbes has hit a home run in Aguilar v. Asarco, a case where a jury returned a verdict with $300,000 of punitive damages but only nominal compensatory damages. Sandy petitioned the U.S. District Court for attorneys’ fees and costs totaling $350,902.75. After reading many pages and lots of argument from A-team counsel on behalf of ASARCO, the Court ordered attorneys’ fees with costs totaling -- $350,902.75.

This opinion has breakthrough language helpful to defeating nit-picking against block billing, confirmation of the integrity with which Forbes handled every aspect of the case, and generally is a testimonial to the magnificent job done by Forbes and her team of lawyers and paralegals who assisted in this difficult case. One two sentence passage reads: “To the contrary, I am able to ascertain that none of the hours objected to by ASARCO are duplicative. Therefore, after a careful review of the time records for Aguilar’s attorneys, I am left with a firm and abiding conviction that the challenged entries are detailed enough for me to find the hours billed to be completely reasonable.�

The nominal (non-punitive) damages also makes the ruling of this case even more impressive. Forbes has already managed to sustain the jury’s punitive damages ruling in defeating ASARCO’s lengthy Motion for New Trial. Congratulations to Sandy Forbes.

Barry Kirschner

Corey Larson was elected “President Elect” of the Executive Council of the Real Property Section and will serve as president next year.

John Escher was elected to the Executive Council of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Arizona.

The new law raises several issues that employers will need to address and they may have to reevaluate their drug testing policies, said Sandy Forbes, a local employment attorney who recently spoke to the Oro Valley Business Club.

To read the full article Click here.

Congratulations to Michael Mandig for recognition of your seminar. Click on Presidential Award to read the PDF.

Eight lawyers from Waterfall Economidis were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2011 (Copyright 2010 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Congratulations to:

Gordon Waterfall, listed in Best Lawyers for Trust and Estate, Tax Law, and Corporate Law;

Peter Economidis, listed in Best Lawyers for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Law, and Family Law Mediation;

Russell Jones, listed in Best Lawyers for Corporate Law;

W. Patrick Traynor, listed in Best Lawyers for Family Law;

James Stuehringer, listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar and Criminal Defense: White-Collar;

Cary Sandman, listed in Best Lawyers for Commercial Litigation and Bet-the-Company Litigation;

John Kendall, listed in Best Lawyers for Trust and Estates;

D. Michael Mandig, listed in Best Lawyers for Commercial Litigation and International Trade and Finance Law.

Gordon Waterfall and Peter Economidis have been chosen each year since 1983 and Russell Jones has been chosen each year since 1989.

For more information on The Best Lawyers in America® please see www.BestLawyers.com.

Several firm attorneys have been elected to serve their areas of practice in 2010-11.

Shareholder Patricia Green shall serve as President of the State Bar of Arizona Family Law Executive Council. Likewise, shareholder Michael Mandig is incoming Chairman of the State Bar of Arizona International Section. In each of their roles, Ms. Green and Mr. Mandig shall lead the governing body of their respective areas of practice.

Mr. Mandig also serves as Vice-President of Flying Samaritans, Inc., and President of the local Tucson Chapter of Flying Samaritans Inc.

Associate Corey Larson was recently elected to the State Bar of Arizona Real Property Executive Council and was appointed as the CLE coordinator for Tucson. In addition, Mr. Larson continues to serve as board member and CLE coordinator of the Pima County Bar Association Young Lawyer�s Division.

Shareholder Cary Sandman continues to serve as a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, which is responsible for reviewing applicants seeking admission with to the State Bar of Arizona.

Managing shareholder Jill D. Wiley was appointed by the State Bar of Arizona�s Board of Governors to the State Bar of Arizona Estate and Trust Advisory Commission in June, 2010. The Commission is responsible, in part, for reviewing attorney applicants requesting specialization in the field of estates and trusts.

Read about us BizTucson Magazine.

Every month, Southern Arizona Legal Aid's Volunteer Lawyers Program recognizes an attorney for his or her efforts and contributions to the program.
Please click here to read about Pat Green's award.

Steven Itkin will be a guest on PrimeTalk, a call in radio program, discussing Today’s Real Estate Market-A Lender’s Perspective. The show will air live on Monday, May 10, 2010, 5:00-6:00 pm on The Jolt, 1330 am, with streaming audio at www.tucsonsjolt.com

Bowl for Kids' Sake 2010 is being held at the Bedroxx Family Fun Center on March 5 from 4 to 9 p.m. and March 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and teams will bowl in two-hour increments.

For more information click here to read the Arizona Daily Star article or for a PDF version click here.

We begin 2010 with a great deal of uncertainty with respect to the status of the federal estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

Read full article

Waterfall Economidis is pleased to announce that several of its lawyers have been listed in the 2010 Edition of Best Lawyers in America. Congratulations to:
Peter Economidis, listed in Best Lawyers in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Law and Family Law Mediation;
Russell Jones, listed in Best Lawyers in Corporate Law;
John Kendall, listed in Best Lawyers in Trusts and Estates;
D. Michael Mandig, listed in Best Lawyers in Commercial Litigation, International Trade and Finance Law;
Cary Sandman, listed in Best Lawyers in Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation;
James Stuehringer, listed in Best Lawyers in Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar and Criminal Defense: White-Collar;
Patrick Traynor listed in Best Lawyers in Family Law;
Gordon Waterfall, listed in Best Lawyers in Corporate Law, Taxation and Trusts and Estates;

On July 1, 2009, Corey Larson was selected by the members of the Executive Council of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Arizona to join the Executive Council. This body consists of nine members selected from members of the Real Property Section from around the State. The Real Property section considers all matters of legal significance related to interest in real property, title thereto and transactions therein. The section participates in and comments on improvements and reforms in real property and related legislation and regulation, title and recording practices and standards and other matters of interest to attorneys involved in real estate matters in Arizona. The Real Property section is also responsible for distributing the Real Property Section Journal to its more than 1,000 members.

Corey is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Business Sections and his practice focuses on a wide range of real property issues from representing builders, contractors and developers to representing parties involved in real estate transactions. His election to the Executive Council will further his experience and knowledge of issues affecting real property and also provide an avenue for shaping efforts of regulatory and legislative reform.

Pat Traynor and Michael Mandig were voted into “Southwest Superlawyers 2009,” Pat in Family Law and Michael in Business Litigation. Only 5% of Arizona attorneys are included in this list, and selections are made through a process of peer nominations and independent research.

On June 17-21, Michael Mandig traveled to Mexico City, where he spoke at the National Autnomous University of Mexico (UNAM) as part of a post-graduate lecture series on the Rule of Law. His two-part lecture analyzed the purpose and effect of criminal procedure reforms throughout Latin America, including the widespread adoption of oral trials as the model for criminal prosecutions in the region. The lecture series is sponsored by three institutions: UNAM's Instituto de Investigaciones Juridicas, the Latin American Center of the University of Heidelberg, in Santiago, Chile, and the California Western School of Law in San Diego, California.

Their incentive to deny benefits

Click here to read the article in Explorer.

Cleaning up subprime lending mess

Click here to download the Tucson Citizen column.

Waterfall Economidis is proud to announce that two of its lawyers, Barry Kirschner and Steve Itkin, have been selected to receive an award from the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education in recognition of their being among the Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys in Arizona. The award is given ?to recognize attorneys who have given tirelessly of their time and expertise to ensure access to justice for all Arizonans.? They will receive their awards on June 19, 2008, during a reception being held from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., at the annual State Bar Convention.

Congratulations to Waterfall Economidis' shareholder Pat Green. Pat was selected by the University of Arizona Foundation for inclusion in the Woman's Plaza of Honor, on the arch titled "Woman Lawyers- Women Leaders". The Women's Plaza of Honor was established to publicly and permanently celebrate women leaders who have enriched the lives of others. The Plaza is located on the University of Arizona Campus just west of Centennial Hall.

Steven J. Itkin was elected to serve as President of the board of directors for United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona, Inc. for the year 2010.