Fennemore Craig Celebrates 125 Years of Legal Service

As Mr. Sloan stood alone on that train platform in 1884, only 5,500 people lived in Phoenix and the city covered one and a half square miles. Today, the city covers 519 square miles and is home to approximately 1.6 million people. Equally as remarkable, considering what Mr. Sloan encountered in 1884, is the state of Arizona's 21st-century economy, driven by high-tech manufacturing, mining, construction, tourism and agriculture industries.

Fennemore Craig celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2010. Through the firm's involvement in Arizona's water law, tax policy, telecommunications services, and mining and transportation industries, Fennemore Craig has played an instrumental role in moving Arizona's economy forward.

Fennemore Craig originated with two lawyers in January 1885 when Richard Sloan and Louis Chalmers arrived in Phoenix, after having graduated from law school in Ohio, and presented their credentials to the Territorial Supreme Court. Sloan & Chalmers subsequently opened in downtown Phoenix at what is now the intersection of Washington and First Avenue.

One of the firm's first clients was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The firm still represents the successor railroad company today, which is the second largest in the nation. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway line continues to serve as a vital link between Los Angeles and Chicago, one of the most important mainlines in the United States.

When Arizona became a state in 1912, Edward Kent joined Mr. Chalmers after serving on the Territorial Supreme Court. Mr. Kent authored the "Kents Decree," which established water rights for nearly all of the Salt and Verde River systems. The "Kent's Decree" stood the test of time and governed water rights in Central Arizona for seven decades.

Harry Fennemore joined the firm, then called Chalmers, Kent & Stahl, in 1912. Mr. Fennemore drafted Arizona's workmen's compensation law and sales tax act. Mr. Fennemore also brought with him as a client the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, the successor of which the firm represents to this day. For nearly a century, Fennemore Craig has been involved in the development of Arizona's telecommunications system through legislative advocacy and shaping administrative regulation of telephone companies.

Jubal Early Craig and Virgil Bledsoe joined Chalmers, Fennemore & Nairn in 1927. Mr. Craig's accomplishments in the legal profession cannot be overstated. He helped organize the State Bar of Arizona, contributed to the writing of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and helped form the Maricopa County Legal Aid Society.

Virgil Bledsoe served as counsel to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Phillip Von Ammon subsequently came to Fennemore, Craig, Allen & Bledsoe as counsel to the railroad as well. Mr. Von Ammon was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and during his career, was widely regarded as one of the premier trial lawyers in Arizona. Mr. Von Ammon also embodies the firm's commitment to community service. While with the firm, Mr. Von Ammon served as president of the Arizona Bar Association, as a member of the Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission, as councilman for the Town of Paradise Valley, and as a magistrate judge for the Town of Paradise Valley.

Jubal Craig's son Walter Craig joined Fennemore, Craig, Allen & McClellan in 1936. While with the firm, Walter served as the president of the Arizona Bar Association and, in 1963, became president of the American Bar Association, a rare accomplishment for an attorney from a small western state like Arizona. Walter also served as special counsel to the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, following his service to the Warren Commission, Walter served as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona until his death in 1986.

Between 1954 and 1962, Calvin Udall served as the attorney for Arizona in the titanic legal and political battle between Arizona and California for control of Colorado River water. Mr. Udall was part of Arizona's legal team in 1963 when the United States Supreme Court allocated the rights to Colorado River water. Without Colorado River water, growth of Arizona's major cities, particularly Phoenix, would never have materialized. Mr. Udall also was a tireless supporter of diversity in the legal profession, chairing the American Bar Association Task Force on Minorities in the Legal Profession, which issued its report in 1986, highlighting the lack of opportunities for minorities as lawyers and judges. He later served with a small group of legislators, judges and lawyers as the Ad Hoc Committee for Minority Opportunities in the Arizona Judiciary, which subsequently became the Commission on Minority Opportunities in the Arizona Judiciary through an Administrative Order of the Arizona Supreme Court in 1990.

Continuing the firm's enduring presence on water issues facing the Southwest, Fennemore, Craig, Von Ammon & Udall attorney Jim Johnson was the principal negotiator and drafter of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act, which was vital to balancing the growth in Arizona with the available water supply. Without the sustainable water supply that resulted from the state's Groundwater Management Act, growth in Arizona would have slowed decades ago.

In 1957, John O'Connor joined Fennemore, Craig, Allen & McClellan. Mr. O'Connor served his clients not only as a legal counselor, but as a business counselor. John O'Connor met his future wife, Sandra Day, while they served as editors of the Stanford Law Review. Sandra Day O'Connor went on to serve as the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court.

When Justice O'Connor was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1981, she relied on attorneys from Fennemore, Craig, Von Ammon & Udall to help her prepare for her confirmation hearings. When Justice O'Connor joined the Supreme Court in September 1981, she hired Ruth McGregor, a partner at the firm, as her first law clerk. In 1980, Ruth McGregor had become one of the first women partners in a major Arizona Law firm.

Later, Ruth McGregor served 11 years as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Justice McGregor served as an associate justice until 2005, when she became the court's second female chief justice. In total, eight Fennemore Craig attorneys have gone on to serve as judges in Arizona.

Today, Fennemore Craig has five offices spread throughout the Southwest. The firm expanded into Tucson in October 1989 and then into Nogales in September 1999. Fennemore Craig opened a Las Vegas office in September 2006. John Mowbray, the Managing Director of Fennemore Craig's Las Vegas office, is a former president of the State Bar of Nevada. Fennemore Craig's most recent expansion was in Colorado, where the firm opened an office in Denver in December 2006.

Many of the issues and clients with which Fennemore Craig has been involved have shaped the Southwest. Now among the largest 250 law firms in the nation, Fennemore Craig continues to help entrepreneurs and businesses move the economy forward.

For additional information about Fennemore Craig, please contact Tim Berg, Managing Partner, at tberg@fclaw.com.