This candidate chose not to submit a Candidate Statement.

This candidate chose not to submit a Candidate Statement.

This candidate chose not to submit a Candidate Statement.

This candidate chose not to submit a Candidate Statement.

The message below is from a candidate for the State Bar Board of Governors. While the message is posted on the State Bar’s website, the Bar is not responsible for its content.

Please consider supporting me in the Board of Governors election, which begins this week. If re-elected, I will continue working to increase the Bar’s value to all of its members. Among other things, I will work to:

• Keep dues low
• Simplify lawyer reporting requirements
• Protect clients, lawyers, and the courts from the inappropriate use of AI
• Increase free networking and referral opportunities
• Support the independence of the sections and voluntary bar organizations
• Control the Bar’s expenses

With good leadership, the Bar can help improve every member’s practice—without instituting unnecessary regulations. I will push to reform the rules governing our practice to make them more sensible while assuring the public is protected from unscrupulous lawyers as well as non-lawyers. I will also ensure the Bar provides meaningful networking and referral opportunities to its members and affiliate groups. Finally, I will continue to advocate for controlling the Bar’s expenses rather than increasing dues.

I have served the Bar for over twelve years, most recently as a member of the Board of Governors, a member of the Rules Committee, and chair of the Appointments Committee.

Thank you for your consideration.

About Sam Saks

Sam Saks has served the Bar for over twelve years. He has been active in the Maricopa County Bar Association, the Thurgood Marshall Inn of Court, and the Solo and Small Firm section. Sam practices commercial and civil litigation at Guidant Law PLC. Before entering private practice, Sam clerked at the Arizona Court of Appeals for Chief Judge Sheldon Weisberg. Sam believes the Bar should make the lives of attorneys easier so they can focus on practicing law, not Bar regulations.

For more information about Sam, visit www.guidant.law/sam-saks

Sam Saks, Esq.
Guidant Law PLC
Direct: 602-888-0725

The message below is from a candidate for the State Bar Board of Governors. While the message is posted on the State Bar’s website, the Bar is not responsible for its content.

This past year, I served on the Board of Governors (BOG) as the President of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD). Through this position, I was able to provide my fellow Board members with my perspective as a young, female attorney in the public sector. I am running to represent District 6 and to continue to bring this voice to the Board.
The perspective of young attorneys on the BOG is imperative: Every year hundreds of new law school graduates join the ranks of Arizona attorneys; however, the composition of the Board does not reflect the proportion of new and young lawyers in Arizona. Lawyers entering the legal field today face a completely different environment than the legal community of years past. The BOG needs young and new attorney voices to advocate for the novel issues facing the next generations of lawyers.

While we look to the future, we must continue to maintain a Bar that supports all its members. As President of the YLD, I worked with the Senior Lawyers Division to foster cross-generational relationships between members of the Bar through a new mentorship program for law students, young attorneys, and more tenured members of the bar. As a member of the BOG, I served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Panel and the Member Assistance Program Task Force. As a representative for District 6, I will continue to advocate for opportunities that promote wellness, diversity, and mentorship within our Bar.

In addition to being a young attorney, I also bring to the BOG the perspective of a public-sector attorney and life-long Arizonan. I was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, and graduated from the University of Arizona with a double major Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Spanish & Portuguese and Bachelor of Science in Environmental & Water Resource Economics. I then headed to the Pacific Northwest to attend law school at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR. During law school, I was the Editor-in-Chief of Lewis & Clark Law Review, VP of Programming for the Student Bar Association, and a certified law clerk at the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.
After graduation, I came back to Phoenix and worked as a Deputy County Attorney with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office until the summer of 2020, when I moved to my current position as an Enforcement Attorney with the Securities Division of the Arizona Corporation Commission. I have been on the YLD Executive Council since 2020, serving as a District Representative, President-Elect, and my current role as President.

Outside of work, I teach dance and aerial arts to kids and teens at my childhood dance studio and run Ragnar races on a team of fellow female attorneys. Like many millennials, I am obsessed with my dog, Harrison, and spend my free time hiking and exploring with him.

The message below is from a candidate for the State Bar Board of Governors.  While the message is posted on the State Bar’s website, the Bar is not responsible for its content.

Campaign Statement

The message below is from a candidate for the State Bar Board of Governors. While the message is posted on the State Bar’s website, the Bar is not responsible for its content.

Friends and colleagues,

I write to ask for your vote for a seat on the Board of Governors.

Rapid advancements in technology, normalization of previously questionable business practices, and unprecedented world events have all contributed to changing the way each of us practice law and operates our businesses. The State Bar must respond to these changes in a way that benefits the members and the public we serve. In these tumultuous times, I am running for a seat on the Board of Governors to help guide and modernize the Bar by sharing the perspective, knowledge and sense of pragmatism that I have developed over the past twenty-six years of practice.  Since graduating law school, I have been fortunate to have practiced law in varied settings and different roles. I have served the judiciary as a law clerk, been a solo practitioner, worked in established firms, started and managed firms, and devoted time to pro bono work.

It is my intent to share the pragmatism and perspective that my varied career has afforded me to help guide the State Bar to be responsive to developments in technology and business practices.

In the coming weeks, I hope to speak with as many of you as possible to learn how our changing and challenging times have affected you and your practice and learn how our State Bar can react to those changes and support each of us.

Thank you for your consideration and please reach out to me with your concerns, ideas, and issues that you have encountered.

Scott Zwillinger
Scott.Zwillinger@ZWFirm.com
(602) 962-0207
https://www.zwfirm.com/people/scott-h-zwillinger

This candidate chose not to submit a Candidate Statement.