AZ Business Leaders 2024 Magazine Recognizes Six Snell & Wilmer Attorneys

PHOENIX (December 22, 2023) – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that Phoenix Partners Barbara J. Dawson, Matthew P. Feeney, R. Lee Fraley, Daniel McEvers Mahoney, Ryan D. Ricks and Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier have been selected for inclusion in the 2024 issue of AzBusiness Leaders magazine, an annual publication by AZ Big Media that profiles Arizona’s most respected and influential business leaders. AZ Business Leaders are selected by the executive leadership of AZ Big Media in consultation with industry experts in law, medicine, technology, finance, education, energy and government. AZ Business Leaders may also include those who receive the most votes on the publication’s website.

As Snell & Wilmer’s Firm Chair, Dawson supports and advances the growth and development of its practices across the firm’s sixteen office locations. She has served on the firm’s Executive Committee and three-person Compensation Committee for several years. Dawson has also led the firm’s commercial litigation practice group and its international industry group. Dawson’s practice has concentrated on assisting Fortune 500 businesses and boards of directors with internal investigations, complex litigation, and regulatory compliance. She has received broad recognition for both her business and legal skills in handling “bet the business” matters and large portfolios of litigation and investigation issues. Dawson has deep industry experience with several highly regulated business sectors including financial services, energy, education, and technology.

Feeney's practice is concentrated in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, SEC reporting and compliance, and corporate governance matters, including working with public company boards to improve their effectiveness. He served as Firm Chair for eight years until Barb Dawson succeeded him in April 2023. He serves on the board of ALAS, Inc., an insurance company that insures almost half of the largest law firms in the United States; Feeney chaired that board in 2018-2020 and chaired the board’s audit committee from 2010-2015. Feeney is involved in numerous civic and charitable organizations, including serving as board Chair of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy; Chair of the Arizona Equal Justice Foundation; and as a board member of the Phoenix Symphony and Valley of the Sun United Way. He was a founding board member of, and remains actively involved in, St. Joseph the Worker Job Service, which helps homeless and low income individuals find full-time employment. He also served as the President of the Arizona Bar Foundation, which was created by the State Bar of Arizona to promote access to justice for all Arizonans, and as a board member of the Musical Instrument Museum, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

Fraley offers clients a unique blend of intellectual property counseling, IP rights enforcement and defense, and solution-focused negotiation of IP-related transactions and acquisitions. He has counseled clients worldwide, from emerging and growing businesses to middle-market and large cap companies, in the development of patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark portfolios geared toward accomplishing their business goals and objectives, including the licensing and commercial exploitation in the areas of semiconductors, medical devices, software including SaaS/PaaS, telecommunication, IT and cloud-based networking and services, crowd-sourcing applications, gaming, retail/franchising, sports and entertainment, music, renewable energy, unmanned and other autonomous vehicles, cannabis/CBD, and media law.

Mahoney advises businesses and corporate boards in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities, private equity, venture capital, and corporate law. Mahoney’s clients operate in a variety of industries such as biotechnology and life science, software, Internet, technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, and transportation. He regularly represents clients ranging from emerging growth companies, including those seeking venture capital to large publicly held corporations. Mahoney is co-chair of Snell & Wilmer's venture capital and private equity industry group and is a frequent writer on issues related to venture capital, licensing, securities, and corporate law. He also extensively writes about issues facing both entrepreneurs and large corporations. 

Ricks’ practice is concentrated in intellectual property law, including strategic intellectual property counseling, intellectual property transactions, and patent and trademark prosecution, with emphasis on commercialization and licensing, as well as cyber security and data privacy. With a background in industry and University technology transfer experience, he has broad technical capability and professional experience across the physical sciences and information technology sectors, such as semiconductor manufacturing, communications networks, and open source software. Ricks has worked with numerous clients, large and small, including many Fortune 500 companies, to develop and implement global IP protection and enforcement strategies. A significant and growing portion of Ricks’ practice is devoted to protection of crossover technologies blending physical and life science innovations, such as next-generation genomic sequencing, molecular sensors, wearables, and medical imaging. Ricks regularly assists clients with preparation and negotiation of software licenses, development agreements, and related contractual and business matters.

McNeil Staudenmaier is both nationally and internationally recognized in the areas of Native American Law, Gaming Law, and Business Litigation. She represents tribes, tribal entities, and businesses that engage in economic development ventures and other commercial transactions with Native Americans. She is the Secretary of the ABA Business Law Section (ascending to Chair in 2026) and Co-Chair of the Business Law Today Editorial Board. She is a past recipient of the Business Law Section’s prestigious Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award, which is presented annually to a woman who has cut through barriers to attain high accomplishment in business law. She was recognized among The Top 25 Attorneys of Arizona by Attorney Intel and Top 10 Most Influential Native American Lawyers in Arizona. McNeil Staudenmaier is an inductee to the Maricopa County Bar Association Hall of Fame; named to the inaugural class of Arizona Capitol Times’ Women Achievers of Arizona; honored as a Finalist for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s ATHENA Awards; and recipient of the University of Iowa College of Law’s Alumni Service Award. 

Founded in 1938, Snell & Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 500 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the United States and in Mexico, including Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The firm represents clients ranging from large, publicly traded corporations to small businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit swlaw.com.