Super Lawyers^® Selects Three Aiken Schenk Attorneys

Aiken, Gerry and Schenk ranked in top 5% of Arizona lawyers

Three Aiken Schenk attorneys – Shawn Aiken (Business Litigation), Richard Gerry (Personal Injury Litigation) and Joe Schenk (Business Litigation) – have been selected for the 2009 edition of Southwest Super Lawyers.

Recognition by that publication is limited to the top 5% of attorneys in Arizona. Schenk's selection is his first, while Aiken and Gerry were named for the third straight year.

Shawn Aiken, ranked among Southwest Super Lawyers’ Top 50 Arizona Lawyers for 2009, is a fellow and state delegation co-chair of the Litigation Counsel of America, a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Balancing his practice between litigation and ADR, Shawn is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has conducted hundreds of arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences and trials.

Richard Gerry’s $36 million jury verdict (including $25 million in punitive damages) in a wrongful death suit, Graham v. ValueOptions, reverberated nationally through the plaintiff and defense bars, for both the amount of the verdict and the emphasis on public protection. The Graham verdict focused attention on the needs of the mentally ill and the public risk when those needs are not met. In a time of jury skepticism about plaintiffs’ lawyers and excessive damages, Richard consistently produces multimillion-dollar jury verdicts. Juries respond to Richard’s emphasis on liability and to his trust in the jury’s judgment on damages.

With his 2009 Super Lawyers’ selection, Joe Schenk receives well-earned recognition as one of Arizona’s top commercial litigators. A judge pro tem and a member of Litigation Counsel of America, Joe recently won a Court of Appeals victory in Webb v. Omni Block, Inc. that established that experts may not testify on the division of fault among multiple parties. Beyond his litigation skill and his appellate experience in three federal jurisdictions, Joe advises physicians on matters related to employment agreements, legal entities, Stark compliance, practice sales, and covenants not to compete.