Abbott, B. J.

David L. Abney specializes in civil litigation and in significant civil appeals. He clerked for three years for Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Stanley G. Feldman, has argued scores of state and federal appeals, has written hundreds of appellate briefs, and has authored over 50 legal articles. Mr. Abney has been instrumental in winning many landmark appeals. Some of those are:

Estate of DeSela v. Prescott Unified School Dist. No. 1, 224 Ariz. 202, 228 P.3d 938 (App. 2010) (establishing the right of a child to recover for the cost of collision-related medical expenses).

Quintero v. Rodgers, 221 Ariz. 536, 212 P.3d 874 (App. 2009), review denied (Sept. 22, 2009) (establishing the right to recover punitive damages against a reckless driver).

Carbajal v. Industrial Commission, 221 Ariz. 1, 219 P.3d 211(2009) (establishing the right of a wife to government payments for providing essential services for her disabled husband).

Bailey-Null v. ValueOptions, 221 Ariz. 63, 209 P.3d 1059 (App. 2009) (confirming the right of an abused patient to recover damages for that abuse through a trial-court action).

Backus v. State, 220 Ariz. 101, 203 P.3d 499 (2009) (setting proper methods for claiming damages against a public entity).

City of Phoenix v. Fields, 219 Ariz. 568, 201 P.2d 529 (2009) (providing for the right to make a class-action claim against a public entity).

Havasupai Tribe of Havasupai Reservation v. Arizona Board of Regents, 220 Ariz. 214, 204 P.3d 1063 (App. 2008), review denied (April 20, 2009) (vindicating the right of the Havasupai Tribe to sue for harm inflicted against tribal members by Arizona State University).

Lee v. State, 218 Ariz. 235, 182 P.3d 1169 (2008) (establishing ways to serve a notice of claim on a public entity).

Sonoran Desert Investigations, Inc. v. Miller, 213 Ariz. 274, 141 P.3d 754 (App. 2006) (establishing the right to sue for a wrongful death caused by a private security company).

Phelps v. Firebird Raceway, Inc., 210 Ariz. 403, 111 P.3d 1003 (2005) (establishing that the validity of a release or a waiver will always be a question for the jury and not for the judge).

Petersen v. City of Mesa, 207 Ariz. 35, 63 P.3d 35 (2004), cert. denied, 543 U.S. 814 (2004) (requiring a fire department to prove a need for a random urinalysis program).

Arizona Department of Revenue v. Dougherty, 200 Ariz. 515, 29 P.3d 862 (2001) (winning an appeal resulting in tax refunds of several hundred million dollars for Arizona military veterans).

Valencia Energy Co. v. Arizona Department of Revenue, 191 Ariz. 565, 959 P.2d 1256 (1998) (overturning sixty years of precedent that had given immunity to tax officials for their misstatements to taxpayers).

Mr. Abney has a Bachelor of Arts degree (double major, History and Russian) and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona, a Master of Laws degree in Federal Claims Litigation from the University of San Diego School of Law, a Master of Science in Forensic Sciences degree from National University, and an Master of Arts in Southwestern History degree and doctorate in American History from Arizona State University. 

Mr. Abney was born in Orlando, Florida and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He served as a Russian linguist and intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy and later as a lawyer in the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps.  He has litigated hundreds of personal-injury and wrongful-death cases. 

Litigation Percentage:
100% of practice devoted to civil litigation and to significant appeals arising from civil litigation.