Archive: May 2018

1. Kathleen Wieneke receives Lifetime Achievement award

   May 30, 2018 10:39 am Leave a Comment

   America’s Top 100 Attorneys® announces the Lifetime Achievement selection of Kathleen Wieneke.  Lifetime Achievement selection to America’s Top 100 Attorneys® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional attorneys whose accomplishments and impact on the legal profession merit a Lifetime Achievement award.

   Selection is not achieved based on a single accomplishment or a single great year of success, but rather on a lifetime of hard work, ethical standards, and community enriching accomplishments that are inspiring among the legal profession.  To help ensure that all attorneys selected for membership meet the very high standards expected for selection, candidates for lifetime membership are carefully screened through comprehensive Qualitative Comparative Analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, lifetime achievements, significant case

   results, peer reputation, and community impact.  With these extremely high standards for selection to America’s Top 100 Attorneys®, less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of attorneys in the community.

   

2. WLG attorneys present on “Defending the Roadway Case”

   May 25, 2018 4:00 pm Leave a Comment

   On May 17, 2018, Kathleen Wieneke and Tara Zoellner presented at the Twenty-First Annual Public Practice Legal Seminar/HR Summit in Prescott, Arizona, presented by the Arizona Counties Insurance Pool.  Their session, “Defending the Roadway Case” focused on pertinent case law, immunities, and statutory affirmative defenses.

   Kathy Wieneke has spent over 30 years litigating road cases, amassing extensive experience and expertise, particularly, in highway median barrier cases.  In recognition of her accomplishments, professionalism, and legal skills, Kathy received numerous distinctions and honors, including being named an Arizona Super Lawyer by Arizona Super Lawyers Magazine, achieving AV® Preeminent™ Rating by Martindale-Hubbell, and being accepted as an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates for her extensive trial experience.  She is a Member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and was selected to the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© for her accomplishments over the past 31 years.

   From case inception through appeal, Tara Zoellner has spent the past eight years defending public and private entities and their employees against a variety of claims, including excessive force, wrongful death, sexual assault, deliberate indifference to medical needs, and retaliation.  She has been recognized as a Rising Star by Southwest Super Lawyers Magazine.

3. WLG attorneys volunteer with Wills for Heroes

   May 21, 2018 9:36 pm Leave a Comment

   

   Over the weekend, Wieneke Law Group attorneys were honored to volunteer with Wills for Heroes, and assist with providing – at not cost – wills and powers of attorney to first responders.

   The Wills for Heroes program provides free estate planning legal services to first responder personnel in Arizona. The Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education, in partnership with the State Bar of Arizona, oversees the program and is an affiliate of the Wills for Heroes Foundation, a charitable 501(c)(3) entity.

4. Arizona Supreme Court addresses duty

   May 11, 2018 7:33 pm Leave a Comment

   In a highly-anticipated decision, Quiroz v. Alcoa, the Arizona Supreme Court held that an employer had no duty to protect the public from off-site contact with employees who may have been carrying asbestos fibers on their work clothes.  In a detailed analysis of Arizona’s duty framework, the Court determined there was no common-law special relationship requiring an employer to protect the public from secondary asbestos exposure and no public policy giving rise to such duty.  The Court rejected the Third Restatement approach to duty and affirmed:

   1. Duty is not presumed.  In every negligence case a plaintiff must prove that a duty exists.
   2. Foreseeability is not a factor in determining duty and cannot be used to expand an alleged tortfeasor’s duty.
   3. Arizona bases duty solely on whether a special relationships exist under the common law or are statutorily-created.
   4. State and federal statutes are the primary sources for identifying whether public policy creates a duty.