CDQ’s Community Involvement
At Cohen Dowd Quigley, the betterment of our community is a priority. We are honored to be involved with many charitable organizations seeking to attain this objective.
CDQ is a longstanding supporter of the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program (JIOP), one of the American Bar Association’s signature initiatives. JIOP provides law students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession with the opportunity to clerk with a sitting judge. It is an amazing program which tangibly and almost immediately changes the lives and trajectory of program participants. Many law firm leaders and judges around the country are JIOP graduates. Through its involvement in the program, CDQ demonstrates its commitment to increasing diverse representation and engagement within the legal community. CDQ attorneys have served as co-chairs at the national and regional levels and are active in conducting screening interviews for prospective interns, mentoring current interns, and financially sponsoring the program each year.
Every year, CDQ adopts a class and hosts a holiday party for children at Children’s First Leadership Academy (formerly known as the Thomas J. Pappas School), a free charter school targeted to helping socially and economically disadvantaged students succeed. CDQ also contributes to and supports many other worthwhile organizations, including the ABA’s Fund for Justice and Education, XICO (the premier cultural institution in Arizona serving Latino and Indigenous artists), Ballet Arizona, the Maricopa County Bar Association’s annual Barrister’s Ball, the FBA’s Holiday Party, Health First Foundation Northern Arizona Golf, Northern Arizona’s Basketball and Football Sports Publications, the Chicano/Latino Law Student Association’s annual Fajita Cookoff, St. Francis Xavier School Glory Days, and Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf, as well as smaller charitable groups such as RSL AZ Soccer, Arcadia Instrument Booster, Positive Coaching Alliance, University Sports Publications and CVV Stars Youth Sports.
Members of our CDQ family also volunteer their time in the legal and larger community
Ronald Jay Cohen has repeatedly been recognized for his leadership in the legal community. He has been honored by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) with the Honorable Robert E. Keeton award, received the Maricopa County Bar Association’s Robert R. Mills Member of the Year award, and served as the President of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation. Ron has also been a Maricopa County Judge Pro Tem, led and taught dozens of Evidence and Trial Advocacy Programs and been a team member of the Judicial Performance Review. Ron was selected as an original Master of the Sandra Day O’Connor Inn of Court and during his membership served on its Executive Committee.
Daniel G. Dowd has been a member of the senior leadership within the Arizona Bar Association Section of Litigation since 2001, and has served as a member of the Section’s governing body, the Council. He has devoted years to developing and supporting the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program, and has served as co-director of Divisions V and VI of the Section of Litigation, where he oversees multiple section committees focused on the legal profession and substantive practice areas such as Corporate Counsel, Antitrust, LGBT Law and Litigator, Minority Trial Lawyer, Solo & Small Firm, Business Torts and Unfair Competition, The Woman Advocate, and the Young Lawyer Leadership Program. Dan is an accomplished speaker, and regularly volunteers his time for speaking engagements for a variety of organizations. He is also the Program Director for NITA’s highly acclaimed, multi-day Arizona and Nevada Deposition Skills Programs.
Daniel P. Quigley is an accomplished speaker who regularly speaks for various organizations, including the Federal Bar Association, and the State Bar of Arizona Professionalism Program. Dan has long served as a faculty member for NITA’s Arizona Deposition Skills Program. He has served on multiple committees serving the legal community, including the State Bar of Arizona’s Appointments Committee and as chair of the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Examinations.
Daniel E. Durchslag has been selected as the Volunteer of the Month for the Maricopa County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Program. Dan assists with the JIOP program by vetting and interviewing candidates for internships. He served as a Regional Brief Judge for the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, and assisted with the newsletter for the ABA Pretrial Practice and Discovery Subcommittee. Dan also coaches youth basketball.
Betsy J. Lamm is a member of the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) in Maricopa County, a citizens’ review board created by Arizona statute to advise Arizona’s juvenile court system on progress toward achieving permanent, safe placements for children in foster care. Members of the FCRB are appointed by the Presiding Juvenile Court Judge in Maricopa County to serve three-year terms. Betsy has served as a member of the FCRB since her initial appointment in 2016, with reappointments in 2019, 2021, and 2024. Betsy has also served as a screening interviewer for JIOP, and as a formal JIOP mentor from 2009 to 2014. Betsy also encourages her children to take action in their community. Finally, time permitting, Betsy enjoys volunteering at her children’s school in the Madison School District.
J. Neil Stuart has served as a volunteer at the Maggie’s Place, which is a non-profit organization devoted to assisting pregnant and parenting women by providing housing and many other programs and services. He also assists with the JIOP program. Neil is also a volunteer youth coach with the Phoenix Rising Soccer Club.
Kevin Moyer serves as a member of the associate board for Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona, a nonprofit that closes the achievement gap and workforce development divide by acting as a bridge to opportunity which spans middle school through college graduation and into career launch.
Kaysey Fung currently serves as a Regional Co-Chair for the ABA Section of Litigation’s JIOP. Prior to that appointment, Kaysey served as a JIOP Working Group Member, a screening interviewer, and a formal JIOP mentor. Kaysey is an active member of the Arizona Asian American Bar Association, a Council Member for her church, a Member of the Xavier College Preparatory Alumnae Board, and the Class Agent for her high school class. She is also the Co-Recording Secretary for the GFWC Desert Jade Women’s Club, a local non-profit volunteer organization that provides community and enrichment that annually awards scholarships to high school seniors of Chinese descent. Kaysey also volunteers as a trial judge for the annual Arizona High School Mock Trial Program. In recognition of Kaysey’s commitment to the community, the ABA Section of Litigation selected Kaysey as the 2021 recipient of the Laurie Miller Public Service Award, an award given to a Section Leader for excellence in advocating for and/or assisting underserved persons or communities for the public good
Julieta Carillo serves as Director of Judicial Appointments for the Latina Mentoring Project (LMP) and as a Board Member of Los Abogados, Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association. In her role with LMP, she supports qualified judicial candidates through the appointments process, drafts and coordinates letters of support, and helps plan events that foster mentorship and professional development for Latina law students, attorneys, and judges in Arizona. As a Board Member of Los Abogados, Julieta actively participates in the organization’s leadership and initiatives, including service on Los Abogados’ Gala Committee, Latina Committee, and Pipeline Committee. She is particularly committed to her work with the Los Abogados Pipeline Program, a fellowship designed to increase access to the legal profession for Latino students. The program provides selected participants with structured mentorship, free LSAT preparation, and law school application guidance. As a mentor, she works one-on-one with fellows to strengthen resumes and personal statements and navigate the law school admissions process.
Jacqueline Iafrate is a member of the Board for Defenders of Children. The Defenders of Children’s mission is to protect children or vulnerable parents from familial abuse and violence. They do so by providing legal representation to the underprivileged and/or vulnerable parent, representing the child and his/her interests, or other forms of legal intervention to protect families from physical or legal abuses.