Firm News

Snell & Wilmer Attorneys Named 2025 “Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona” by AzBusiness Magazine

Jan 13, 2025

PHOENIX – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that attorneys Barbara J. Dawson and Patricia Lee Refo were selected for inclusion in AzBusiness Magazine’s annual “Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona” list for 2025. As shared by the publication, the list comprises professionals who drive industry standards, help shape key decisions that help benefit clients and communities across the state, and provide trusted counsel. Selections were made based on each lawyer’s professional success, client reviews, as well as their impact on the legal profession and communities they serve.

Barbara J. Dawson serves as the Firm’s Chair, supporting and advancing the growth and development of the firm’s 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, focusing on 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. Nationally, Barb served as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation. Internationally, she served as Chair of the board of directors of Lex Mundi, a global affiliation of 160+ independent law firms located in 100+ countries.

Patricia Lee Refo is the former President of the American Bar Association and is recognized nationally and internationally in complex commercial litigation and internal investigations, with extensive experience in professional malpractice defense, class actions, trade secret litigation, financial institutions litigation, and commercial and business torts. The National Law Journal named her one of the 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America. She is a sought-after speaker and author on litigation, civil procedure and evidence, access to justice, and innovations in the legal system. She was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence by appointment of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arizona Rules of Evidence. She currently serves on the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation.

About Snell & Wilmer

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.

Media Contact

Olivia Nguyen-Quang

Associate Director of Communications
media@swlaw.com 714.427.7490