Administrative Law

CDQ has extensive experience in the practice of administrative law, encompassing our representation of clients in the interpretation and enforcement of the administrative rules and regulations of both state and federal government agencies. CDQ’s lawyers have represented or assisted clients (both public and non-public) in administrative proceedings involving zoning and land use issues, disputes under the jurisdiction of the Registrar of Contractors, AHCCCS, the City of Phoenix, the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Arizona Department of Insurance, Arizona Department of Transportation, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, as well as alleged violations of the policies and procedures promulgated by the Arizona Board of Regents and the three universities it governs. CDQ’s work in this area extends to all stages of the administrative dispute resolution process, from informal investigation to formal administrative grievance to full-scale administrative hearings/trials to judicial review of final administrative decisions. CDQ has represented parties in actions governed by the Administrative Procedures Act, A.R.S. §§ 41-1001, et seq., and pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12-901, et seq., involving judicial review of final administrative decisions.

Appellate Proceedings

CDQ does not believe its clients should have to pay a second set of attorneys who have to learn the case for the purposes of an appeal.  Accordingly, CDQ’s litigation teams are well-prepared to brief and argue any appeal that might be filed against or on behalf of its clients.  CDQ’s team includes multiple attorneys who clerked in federal and state courts, and who ensure that the briefing is accurate and persuasive, both legally and factually, and complies with the ever-evolving technical requirements in the appellate courts both in Arizona and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Appellate courts have ruled in favor of CDQ’s clients in multiple recent decisions, including:

Shooter v. Arizona, 4 F.4th 955 (9th Cir. 2021);
State of the Netherlands v. MD Helicopters, Inc., 250 Ariz. 235, 478 P.3d 230 (2020);
DRH Enterprises LLC v. Ryan, 2020 WL 7024313 (Ariz. Ct. App. Nov. 24, 2020);
Bamford Realty, Inc. v. Toll Bros., Inc., 2020 WL 4007051 (Ariz. Ct. App. July 16, 2020), review denied (Feb. 2, 2021);
Goldwater Bank NA v. Mattson, 2020 WL 3056332 (Ariz. Ct. App. June 9, 2020), review denied (Nov. 20, 2020);
Dreem Green Inc v. City of Phoenix, 2019 WL 1959618 (Ariz. Ct. App. May 2, 2019).

Business Litigation

Business Litigation, primarily of commercial disputes, is the primary focus of CDQ’s practice. Our lawyers, all of whom are litigators, have vast experience in the resolution of civil disputes. CDQ has represented clients in disputes involving nearly every type of civil dispute, including breach of contract, commercial transactions, securities, construction-related matters, antitrust, insurance (defense, coverage and bad faith), labor and employment issues, products liability, commercial torts (fraud, tortious interference, negligent misrepresentation, aiding and abetting, etc.), defamation and invasion of privacy, racketeering, professional liability, business dissolution, personal injury, creditors’ rights, principal/agent, fraud, civil rights, constitutional disputes, environmental, special actions (statutory and discretionary), licensing/technology disputes, software design and implementation, copyright and trademark actions, judgment enforcement and nearly every type of real estate matter (including foreclosure, fraudulent conveyance, brokerage disputes, zoning, inverse condemnation/regulatory taking, nuisance, waste, trespass, landlord/tenant, specific performance and rescission/constructive trust). CDQ also handles appeals involving these matters. CDQ is intensely active in counseling its clients on the implementation of internal dispute avoidance procedures and safeguards to reduce the potential for litigation and to minimize any potential exposure. Further, we are firmly committed to the use of early and strategic ADR procedures (e.g. mediation) to resolve disputes efficiently and before they take on a life of their own.

Civil Rights

Legal disputes, especially those involving state actors, often involve an analysis of whether a particular statute, rule or action comports with the requirements of the Arizona Constitution and the United States Constitution and whether the conduct at issue infringes upon a constitutionally protected right. CDQ has frequently represented clients in such disputes. For example, Ron Cohen led a CDQ team in a dispute regarding whether the Maricopa Association of Governments engaged in an unconstitutional taking of property through its handling of an application for approval of a water reclamation facility. CDQ attorneys have also successfully represented clients against allegations of unconstitutional conduct such as discrimination, retaliation, and the infringement of due process rights, arising from a variety of situations, including an arrest for the violation of a protective order, the termination of employment, and expulsion from a public university. CDQ lawyers have also represented clients in real property disputes involving assertions of regulatory and de facto takings by governmental actors.

Contract

CDQ has handled hundreds of contract disputes involving a wide variety of substantive issues, including the drafting, interpretation, enforcement, breach, rescission, and reformation of both public and private contracts. CDQ has a deep bench of attorneys experienced in interpreting and enforcing all types of contracts through litigation, arbitration, and/or mediation, and in investigating allegations of fraud, false claims and other contract-related misconduct. Contract disputes are central to a large majority of the commercial litigation in which CDQ specializes.

Employment & Labor

CDQ has experience in a wide variety of employment issues in both the public and private sectors. CDQ lawyers have handled numerous employment-related disputes and have expertise in advising and representing clients in, among others, the following areas: breach of employment contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in connection with employment issues, age discrimination, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, misappropriation of trade secrets, misappropriation of corporate opportunities, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, OSHA, wage and hour, alleged violations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, whistle-blower claims, administrative grievances, non-competition and non-solicitation covenants, defamation, and formal and informal employment grievances. One CDQ team recently obtained a multi-million dollar judgment, including an award of treble damages and attorneys’ fees, on behalf of two individuals whose former employer withheld wages owed and falsely accused them of misappropriating confidential information and stealing customers. CDQ has also successfully defended multiple employers in disputes with former employees, frequently through early dispositions short of trial. CDQ attorneys have also served as independent investigators in connection with claims of discrimination, harassment and mismanagement within a state university.

Higher Education Law

CDQ is proud and grateful to have provided guidance to the Arizona Board of Regents and its three public universities for over twenty-five years on a wide variety of issues relating to higher education. These issues have included, as just a few examples, tenure, student privacy rights, first amendment and free speech rights, public records, sponsored research, invention ownership, allocation of faculty space, technology issues, student housing, plagiarism, student/athlete rights to play, academic freedom, discrimination and anti-harassment, Title IX, student discipline, shared governance, promulgation of internal policies and bylaws, and issues relating to allegedly deficient programs of study. CDQ both works with the universities to resolve issues before a lawsuit is filed, and represents the Board of Regents when litigation is unavoidable.

Intellectual Property

CDQ has extensive experience in litigating intellectual property matters involving copyright, trademarks, trade names, patents, trade secrets, and confidential and proprietary information. Disputes in which CDQ has successfully represented its clients have included a former university student’s demand for materials relating to technology that she claimed to have developed and was seeking to patent, multi-million dollar litigation involving the development and licensing of gas sensor technology, the protection of trade secrets and defense of patent claims, and ownership claims over intellectual property, including a pending patent application and resulting patent.

Real Property Litigation

CDQ has ample experience in a wide variety of real property disputes, including eminent domain proceedings, inverse condemnation, zoning, use permits, special permits and site plans, quiet title claims, easements and licenses, nuisance, trespass, and covenants. CDQ has represented both landowners and developers in multiple, complex, property-related disputes involving real property all over Arizona. It is well versed in the issues that can arise in connection with negotiating, documenting, and enforcing large-scale real estate transactions. Recent cases have involved, for example, the City of Scottsdale’s Downtown Infill Incentive Program, the City of Tempe’s Government Property Lease Excise Tax and master developer agreements. CDQ’s Dan Quigley has repeatedly been honored for his work in real estate litigation by Best Lawyers, and was named Lawyer of the Year for Litigation – Real Estate for 2022.

Tort Law

CDQ attorneys have experience in all types of tort claims, from business and commercial torts such as fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and intentional interference with contract and business expectancy, to real property-related claims such as trespass and nuisance, to personal torts such as negligence, infliction of emotional distress, defamation, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, and assault. CDQ has represented with equal tenacity a wide variety of clients on these issues, from large corporations to state agencies to individuals. In addition, multiple CDQ lawyers have served as arbitrators in actions involving a variety of tort claims. CDQ also has ample experience dealing with the insurers who often fund the defense of tort claims.