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Wilenchik & Bartness wins bench trial involving
issue of first impression in Federal Court.

Dennis Wilenchik and Kathleen Rapp, representing the Elections Officials from 12 of the 15 Arizona Counties, worked hand-in-hand with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to defeat a challenge to the Arizona Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship laws. The complex litigation included three consolidated cases brought by individuals and special interests groups seeking to overturn Arizona's election integrity laws. After more than two years of litigation driven by MALDEF and other out-of-state Plaintiff's organizations, Judge Silver of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued a 49-page order finding that the State and Counties had properly upheld the will of the people, rejecting all constitutional challenges to the laws.

 

 

Wilenchik & Bartness wins jury trial on a directed verdict.
Dennis Wilenchik and Kathleen Rapp successfully defended Sheriff Arpaio from a meritless lawsuit brought by a former inmate who had been sentenced to serve 24 hours in Tent City for a DUI.  Patricia Dougherty brought suit after she fell while attempting to exit a 4 foot 7 inch bunk bed in the dark and alleged that the Sheriff was negligent in assigning her to a top bunk. Dennis Wilenchik moved for judgment at the close of trial and the Court ruled that there was no evidence of unreasonable action or inaction on the part of the Sheriff or his deputies and, as such, the matter could not go to the jury on the sole count of negligence. Judgment was awarded for Sheriff Arpaio as a matter of law.

Wilenchik & Bartness wins jury trial against master developer.
Dennis Wilenchik and Amy Urness, representing Randall Martin Home, recently prevailed against Evergreen Communities, L.L.C. in a lawsuit for breach of contract and conversion. Randall Martin Homes entered into a contract with Evergreen Communities in 2006 to purchase a piece of raw land in Buckeye, Arizona, and Randall Martin Homes was seeking the return of its earnest money deposit.
The jury awarded Randall Martin Homes $700,000, the entire amount of the deposit.

Wilenchik & Bartness wins three week jury trial against Dan Saban
.
Dennis I. Wilenchik, William P. French, Tyler Q. Swensen, and M. Rob Somers, representing Defendants Maricopa County, Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Chief David Hendershott, Steve Bailey, and Ray Jones, recently won a three week jury trial on all claims by Dan Saban. This case involved an allegation by Saban, a candidate for Sheriff of Maricopa County in 2004, that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Chief Deputy, David Hendershott, abused their positions by beginning an investigation into whether Saban raped his adoptive mother, Ruby Norman, approximately 32 years earlier. Saban sued the Sheriff and several deputies alleging that they conspired to violate several laws and, in the process, defamed Saban and invaded his privacy.

Dennis I. Wilenchik has been named in Marquis Who's Who in American Law for 2007-2008.

Dennis I. Wilenchik was recently included in the 2007 list of Super Lawyers. Only 5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers. Over 800,000 lawyers were asked to nominate attorneys in the candidate screening process. After the initial screening, a committee considered several factors including Dennis Wilenchik's verdicts and settlements, transactions, representative clients, and experience. Next, Dennis Wilenchik was grouped by his practice area and evaluated by his peers. Finally, Dennis Wilenchik was screened according to firm size, and selected to this prestigious list based upon his points in the aforementioned categories. For more information, see www.superlawyers.com.
  

On June 19, 2007, the La Paz County Attorney appointed Dennis I. Wilenchik as a Special Deputy County Attorney to serve as a public prosecutor for La Paz County concerning allegations relating to public offenses, if any, concerning Tricia Lynn Groe within La Paz County.  

AZ Supreme Court accepts unprecedented Amicus Brief relating to judicial conduct.
Wilenchik and Bartness has had the pleasure of assisting the Maricopa County Justice Courts on a variety of issues, including helping them create professional standards to clarify and illuminate the Code of Judicial Conduct for the Justice Court Bench. At the same time that the Bench as a whole was undertaking this monumental effort, the Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Arizona Supreme Court began investigating the actions of a single Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. After the Commission made its recommendation to the Court, the Bench as a whole felt the need to present the Supreme Court with the direction in which the Justice Court Bench was trying to move, including the professional standards that it was creating. As such, the Bench requested that Wilenchik and Bartness assist them in writing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on the topic of the Commission's recommendation of discipline. This unprecedented brief was accepted by the Supreme Court and, in the following opinion, the Supreme Court ultimately remanded the case back to the Commission on Judicial Conduct with instructions to change the manner in which they analyzed the case. The Supreme Court's opinion can be found at http://www.supreme.state.az.us/opin/pdf2007/JC060002.pdf 

Wilenchik & Bartness wins at the U.S. Supreme Court.  
In 2004 Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, an initiative measure that, among other things, changed the election law to require:  (1) proof of citizenship to register to vote; and (2) proof of identification when one votes at the polling place on election day. Several Plaintiffs, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Intertribal Counsel of Arizona and the Navajo Nation filed suits challenging the new election law. The District Court of Arizona consolidated the actions and denied a motion by consolidated Plaintiffs to enjoin Arizona's election law for the November 2006 national elections. 
The 9th Circuit overturned the District Court's ruling, granting Plaintiffs an Emergency Temporary Injunction. County and State Defendants applied to Justice Kennedy for a stay of the 9th Circuit decision.  On October 20, 2006 the High Court issued a per curium decision overturning the 9th Circuit's decision and preserving the status quo for Arizona's elections. The litigation continues on the merits in District Court. A copy of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision can be found at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/06A375.pdf


For a complete list of seminars and publications by Dennis I. Wilenchik, click here.

 
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