Snell & Wilmer
Encyclopedia
Snell & Wilmer LLP is a law firm
based in Phoenix, Arizona
. The firm is the largest in the state
of Arizona
and the 99th largest in the United States by number of lawyers, according to the National Law Journal's 2007 statistics.
traces its origins to 1938, when Mark Wilmer joined Frank L. Snell, Jr., Riney Salmon, and Charles Strouss, who had practiced together since 1934. Mr. Snell frequently recounted the search that led to his partnership with Mr. Wilmer. Because Mr. Snell was "snowed under" by work and needed help, he consulted the three members of Maricopa County's Superior Court to identify the best trial lawyer in the state. Mr. Snell noted that each judge mentioned Mr. Wilmer, whom he had not yet met.
Both Mr. Snell and Mr. Wilmer recalled their first conversation as a lengthy discussion about their philosophies of the "practice of law". The conversation went so well that the two attorneys decided to become partners without working out financial terms.
After World War II
, Joseph T. Melczer, Jr. and James Walsh joined the firm that became known as Snell, Wilmer, Walsh and Melczer. Shortly after that Edwin Beauchamp arrived, and the firm's name became Snell, Wilmer, Walsh, Melczer & Beauchamp. Recognizing that the firm's letterhead was becoming unwieldy, Mr. Walsh suggested shortening the firm name to Snell & Wilmer.
In the 40s, Mr. Melczer became dean of Arizona's tax and estate planning bar. When famous individuals (like John Wayne
or Barry Goldwater
) were seen in the firm's reception area, people generally assumed that the celebrities had come to see Mr. Melczer. According to the lore of the firm, the "U.S. Senate" once reconvened to fix an error in a recently enacted tax code that was found by Mr. Melczer.
During the 1950s, Snell & Wilmer practiced in the Heard Building. This was a period of moderate growth in attorney numbers and substantial growth in the firm's prominence and contribution to the Bar and the community.
As Mr. Wilmer established his position as one of Arizona's leading trial lawyers, Mr. Snell emerged as a visionary who helped Phoenix and Arizona capitalize on "post-World War II" opportunities. Mr. Snell, who was instrumental in the merger of the state's two largest utilities into "Arizona Public Service Company", also helped find a use for an abandoned World War II flight training facility in Glendale. We now know the institution built there as the Thunderbird School of Global Management
.
Mr. Snell was instrumental in cleaning up the city's crooked political system. He and a small group of community leaders demanded and received the resignation of elected officials whose abuses threatened the city's growth.
During the 1960s, the firm moved from the Heard Building to the Security Building, which could accommodate the growing number of lawyers required to staff the firm's emerging practice areas, including complex business transactions, securities, and utility regulation. The hiring and training of larger groups of young lawyers became a firm priority and a system of committees began to address the challenges that confronted the firm. The firm's summer clerkship program, the first in Arizona, was one of the "innovations" adopted during this decade.
The year 1972 found Snell & Wilmer at an important juncture in its development. Mr. Snell, who had managed the firm, decided to reduce his administrative role. Snell & Wilmer's first Executive Committee was elected consisting of Mr. Wilmer, Mr. Melczer, Don Corbitt, Richard B. Snell and John J. Bouma. The partners agreed to invest in the future and commit partner earnings to building the infrastructure required to become a major law firm. The firm diversified its practice groups, developed non-attorney administrative support, and placed more emphasis on recruiting, continuing legal education and community service.
In 1973, the firm moved from the Security Building to the newly constructed Valley Bank Center (now the Chase Building). As the decade closed, the then nascent national legal press reported storm clouds on the economic horizon for lawyers.
The 1980s marked a period of retrenchment and "shake out" for law firms throughout the country. Rapid growth and economic excesses led to the demise and restructuring of many established firms. As the economics of the marketplace began to penetrate what The American Lawyer
termed "the law business," Snell & Wilmer's conservative fiscal management and lean operations served it well. The firm's market share increased in a period of market contraction. Unencumbered by debt or unwieldy compensation systems, Snell & Wilmer was successful in bringing on exceptionally capable attorneys from other prominent firms and began the firm's geographic expansion. In 1983, John J. Bouma became Chairman, succeeding Mr. Wilmer and Mr. Melczer.
In 1989, the Tucson office was established. Within months, negotiations with Tucson's largest and oldest law firm, Bilby & Shoenhair, led to a combination of the two firms, completed and celebrated at the firm's spring retreat in May 1989.
By the 1990s, Snell & Wilmer's status in the State of Arizona could be called "legendary." The Phoenix Business Journal ran an article describing the firm as one of the "big daddies of Phoenix law firms." Arizona Business magazine rated Snell & Wilmer No. 1 out of the top ten law firms in Arizona, dishing out high marks for "corporate and securities work," "real estate
," "employee benefits," and other categories. However, its growth had just begun.
During the 1990s, the firm moved its Phoenix offices to the Arizona Center
and opened offices in Orange County, California
and Salt Lake City, Utah
. Orange County began as an adjunct to Snell & Wilmer's product liability practice, and quickly grew into one of Orange County's largest law firms. The Salt Lake City office rapidly grew from a small cadre of transactional lawyers into a full-service practice that serves Utah's rapidly growing business community.
The 2000s began with the establishment of new offices in Denver and Las Vegas
, each continuing the firm's tradition of providing quality legal counsel to businesses throughout the region. The firm's first international office, located in Los Cabos, Mexico, opened in October 2008, and its office in downtown Los Angeles
opened in February of 2009. The firm expanded its Nevada practice by opening a Reno
location in early 2010.
, tax law
, labor & employment
, United States environmental law, water law
, real estate
& zoning
, mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property, product liability
, estate planning
, telecommunications law, bankruptcy
& restructuring
, foreclosure
, international law
, and white-collar criminal defense
.
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
based in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. The firm is the largest in the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and the 99th largest in the United States by number of lawyers, according to the National Law Journal's 2007 statistics.
History
Snell & WilmerSnell & Wilmer
Snell & Wilmer LLP is a law firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm is the largest in the state of Arizona and the 99th largest in the United States by number of lawyers, according to the National Law Journal's 2007 statistics.-History:...
traces its origins to 1938, when Mark Wilmer joined Frank L. Snell, Jr., Riney Salmon, and Charles Strouss, who had practiced together since 1934. Mr. Snell frequently recounted the search that led to his partnership with Mr. Wilmer. Because Mr. Snell was "snowed under" by work and needed help, he consulted the three members of Maricopa County's Superior Court to identify the best trial lawyer in the state. Mr. Snell noted that each judge mentioned Mr. Wilmer, whom he had not yet met.
Both Mr. Snell and Mr. Wilmer recalled their first conversation as a lengthy discussion about their philosophies of the "practice of law". The conversation went so well that the two attorneys decided to become partners without working out financial terms.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Joseph T. Melczer, Jr. and James Walsh joined the firm that became known as Snell, Wilmer, Walsh and Melczer. Shortly after that Edwin Beauchamp arrived, and the firm's name became Snell, Wilmer, Walsh, Melczer & Beauchamp. Recognizing that the firm's letterhead was becoming unwieldy, Mr. Walsh suggested shortening the firm name to Snell & Wilmer.
In the 40s, Mr. Melczer became dean of Arizona's tax and estate planning bar. When famous individuals (like John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
or Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
) were seen in the firm's reception area, people generally assumed that the celebrities had come to see Mr. Melczer. According to the lore of the firm, the "U.S. Senate" once reconvened to fix an error in a recently enacted tax code that was found by Mr. Melczer.
During the 1950s, Snell & Wilmer practiced in the Heard Building. This was a period of moderate growth in attorney numbers and substantial growth in the firm's prominence and contribution to the Bar and the community.
As Mr. Wilmer established his position as one of Arizona's leading trial lawyers, Mr. Snell emerged as a visionary who helped Phoenix and Arizona capitalize on "post-World War II" opportunities. Mr. Snell, who was instrumental in the merger of the state's two largest utilities into "Arizona Public Service Company", also helped find a use for an abandoned World War II flight training facility in Glendale. We now know the institution built there as the Thunderbird School of Global Management
Thunderbird School of Global Management
Thunderbird School of Global Management is a private business school whose main campus is located in Glendale, Arizona. Founded in 1946 by retired U.S...
.
Mr. Snell was instrumental in cleaning up the city's crooked political system. He and a small group of community leaders demanded and received the resignation of elected officials whose abuses threatened the city's growth.
During the 1960s, the firm moved from the Heard Building to the Security Building, which could accommodate the growing number of lawyers required to staff the firm's emerging practice areas, including complex business transactions, securities, and utility regulation. The hiring and training of larger groups of young lawyers became a firm priority and a system of committees began to address the challenges that confronted the firm. The firm's summer clerkship program, the first in Arizona, was one of the "innovations" adopted during this decade.
The year 1972 found Snell & Wilmer at an important juncture in its development. Mr. Snell, who had managed the firm, decided to reduce his administrative role. Snell & Wilmer's first Executive Committee was elected consisting of Mr. Wilmer, Mr. Melczer, Don Corbitt, Richard B. Snell and John J. Bouma. The partners agreed to invest in the future and commit partner earnings to building the infrastructure required to become a major law firm. The firm diversified its practice groups, developed non-attorney administrative support, and placed more emphasis on recruiting, continuing legal education and community service.
In 1973, the firm moved from the Security Building to the newly constructed Valley Bank Center (now the Chase Building). As the decade closed, the then nascent national legal press reported storm clouds on the economic horizon for lawyers.
The 1980s marked a period of retrenchment and "shake out" for law firms throughout the country. Rapid growth and economic excesses led to the demise and restructuring of many established firms. As the economics of the marketplace began to penetrate what The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer is a monthly law magazine published by ALM. It was founded in 1979 by Steven Brill. Features include the annual AmLaw 100 Survey and AmLaw 200 Survey , "The View From the Top", their annual poll of law firm chairpersons, and their "Corporate Scorecard"...
termed "the law business," Snell & Wilmer's conservative fiscal management and lean operations served it well. The firm's market share increased in a period of market contraction. Unencumbered by debt or unwieldy compensation systems, Snell & Wilmer was successful in bringing on exceptionally capable attorneys from other prominent firms and began the firm's geographic expansion. In 1983, John J. Bouma became Chairman, succeeding Mr. Wilmer and Mr. Melczer.
In 1989, the Tucson office was established. Within months, negotiations with Tucson's largest and oldest law firm, Bilby & Shoenhair, led to a combination of the two firms, completed and celebrated at the firm's spring retreat in May 1989.
By the 1990s, Snell & Wilmer's status in the State of Arizona could be called "legendary." The Phoenix Business Journal ran an article describing the firm as one of the "big daddies of Phoenix law firms." Arizona Business magazine rated Snell & Wilmer No. 1 out of the top ten law firms in Arizona, dishing out high marks for "corporate and securities work," "real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
," "employee benefits," and other categories. However, its growth had just begun.
During the 1990s, the firm moved its Phoenix offices to the Arizona Center
Arizona Center
Arizona Center's fortunes are expected to revive as a 30-story Sheraton Phoenix Downtown hotel opened in the fall of 2008. Also, several high-end condo projects in the downtown area are either under construction, newly opened, or in the planning stages....
and opened offices in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
and Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. Orange County began as an adjunct to Snell & Wilmer's product liability practice, and quickly grew into one of Orange County's largest law firms. The Salt Lake City office rapidly grew from a small cadre of transactional lawyers into a full-service practice that serves Utah's rapidly growing business community.
The 2000s began with the establishment of new offices in Denver and Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, each continuing the firm's tradition of providing quality legal counsel to businesses throughout the region. The firm's first international office, located in Los Cabos, Mexico, opened in October 2008, and its office in downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
opened in February of 2009. The firm expanded its Nevada practice by opening a Reno
Reno
Reno is the fourth most populous city in Nevada, US.Reno may also refer to:-Places:Italy*The Reno River, in Northern ItalyCanada*Reno No...
location in early 2010.
Practice areas
Snell & Wilmer has a broad range of practice areas, including financial regulationFinancial regulation
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the integrity of the financial system...
, tax law
Tax law
Tax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes.-Major issues:Primary taxation issues facing the governments world over include;* taxes on income and wealth...
, labor & employment
United States labor law
United States labor law is a heterogeneous collection of state and federal laws. Federal law not only sets the standards that govern workers' rights to organize in the private sector, but also overrides most state and local laws that attempt to regulate this area. Federal law also provides more...
, United States environmental law, water law
Water law
Water law is the field of law dealing with the ownership, control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely related to property law, but has also become influenced by environmental law...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
& zoning
Zoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
, mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property, product liability
Product liability
Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause...
, estate planning
Estate planning
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the disposal of an estate. Estate planning typically attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses...
, telecommunications law, bankruptcy
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
& restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
, foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
, international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, and white-collar criminal defense
White-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
.
Locations
- Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
- Tucson, ArizonaTucson, ArizonaTucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
- Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
- Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
- Reno, NevadaReno, NevadaReno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
- Salt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
- Los Cabos, Mexico