Ep 122: Supreme Court Justice Ann Timmer on Arizona’s Sweeping Regulatory Reforms

Last August, Arizona became the first state to eliminate the ban on non-lawyer ownership of law firms. In ordering that change, as well as a package of additional reforms, the Arizona Supreme Court acted on the recommendations of a task force that had called for fundamental changes in the regulation of legal services, all with the goal of enhancing access to justice,  On today’s episode of LawNext, we are joined by Arizona Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer, who was not only among the justices who approved the changes, but who chaired the task force that recommended them. Justice Timmer discusses why the task force recommended such sweeping changes, why the court adopted them, the status of their implementation, and the implications for access to justice.  Justice Timmer was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court in 2012. Previously, she served on the Arizona Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2012, serving three years as its chief judge, and where she chaired the court’s Legal Services Task Force. She is chair of the Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee, a member of the National Conference of Bar Examiners board of trustees and has been elected as a member of The American Law Institute.  Among her many honors, Justice Timmer was named 2020 Woman of the Year by the Arizona Capitol Times and she was recognized as one of the Most Influential Business Women in Arizona in 2020.  Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out.  Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, and MerusCase, and e-payments platform Headnote. Everlaw, the cloud-based ediscovery platform for law firms, corporations, and government agencies.  Law Insider, producer of the show Contract Teardown, where they analyze the contracts that others are talking about.  A reminder that we are on Patreon. Subscribe to our page to be able to access show transcripts, or to submit a question for our guests.