Professional Leadership

Jennifer Rebholz, State Bar of Arizona President & Legal Leadership

Jennifer Rebholz has served in elected, appointed, and invited leadership roles across three of Arizona's principal legal institutions: the State Bar of Arizona, the Board of Legal Specialization, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

State Bar President 2021–22 Legal Specialization Task Force Chair ABOTA Leadership Track

Institutional Service

A Record of Institutional Service

"The law is a wonderful profession, and lawyers are in a position to advocate, right the wrong, and serve the public good."

Arizona Rule of Law Day 'Oath of Admission' · February 2026

Jennifer's involvement in Arizona's legal institutions has followed a consistent pattern: active participation, committee and volunteer work, and over time, election or appointment to leadership. That progression has occurred at the State Bar of Arizona, within the Board of Legal Specialization, and inside ABOTA, three distinct organizations with different membership structures and purposes.

Each role was conferred by peers or appointing authorities based on demonstrated involvement and professional standing, not sought through application or self-nomination. The State Bar presidency was an elected position. The Board of Legal Specialization task force was a gubernatorial appointment by the sitting Bar President. ABOTA membership is extended by invitation only.

Taken together, the record reflects sustained engagement with the institutions that set standards for the profession in Arizona, standards for licensing, for specialization, and for trial practice.

State Bar of Arizona

Governance of the State Bar

The State Bar of Arizona governs attorney licensing, discipline, and professional regulation statewide, balancing public protection, professional standards, and legislative oversight for more than 20,000 members.

Jennifer's service began in the Young Lawyers Division, progressed through election to the Board of Governors, and culminated in her presidency in 2021–2022, built on years of sustained involvement and statewide peer confidence.

Her presidential year coincided with a pivotal moment. As COVID restrictions eased, she traveled to affiliate and county bars across Arizona to meet members in person, hear concerns, and strengthen the Bar's connection to practitioners statewide. Investiture ceremonies for judges and swearing-in ceremonies for new attorneys resumed. The work of reconnection was as much a part of the role as the governance itself.

What those travels revealed was striking: Arizona's legal professionals had stepped up during the pandemic, not back. Jennifer made it a priority to recognize that publicly and to ensure members understood the full range of Bar resources available to them, from free legal research and CLE to the Ethics Hotline and fee arbitration.

As President, she also testified before the House Judiciary Committee in March 2022 on proposed changes affecting bar admissions and professional regulation, representing the profession directly to the legislature.

President’s Column During her presidency, Ms. Rebholz contributed a monthly column to Arizona Attorney Magazine on topics including mentorship, civility, racial equity, and access to justice. Read the columns ↗

In Her Own Words

“When I see the difference that we as lawyers make in people’s lives, helping them through what is for many the hardest time in their life, I know I chose the correct profession. On those stressful, not-so-very-good days, I strive to appreciate and be grateful that I am a member of the State Bar of Arizona.”

Jennifer Rebholz — Arizona Attorney Magazine, 2022

Board-Certified Specialization Program

Modernizing Professional Standards

Board certification in Arizona reflects rigorous peer evaluation, demonstrated experience, and advanced standards within a specific practice area. Jennifer earned certification in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, a distinction requiring substantial trial experience and peer endorsement from both sides of the bar.

Having earned it, she was asked to do something harder: examine whether the system conferring it was still working. State Bar President Ted Schmidt created a Working Group to modernize the framework established in 1989 and asked Jennifer to chair it.

The scope of the problem was clear: of Arizona's thousands of licensed attorneys, only 416 hold certification across ten specialization areas. The credential existed. Public understanding of what it meant largely did not.

The Working Group developed public education initiatives explaining what attorneys must do to earn and maintain certification, enhanced the certified specialist designation with updated digital tools and a streamlined application process, and launched targeted outreach across social media, video, and Arizona Attorney Magazine.

Internally, the review examined certification criteria, peer review processes, examination structure, and continuing education requirements. The recommendations that emerged continue to guide reform of the framework. For this work, Jennifer received the 2025 State Bar President's Award.

American Board of Trial Advocates

Preserving the Civil Jury System

ABOTA membership is extended by invitation only, reflecting trial experience that cannot be claimed, only demonstrated. Jennifer joined the Phoenix Chapter in 2017 following nomination by colleagues who had seen her inside a courtroom.

The organization's mission goes beyond its members. ABOTA works to protect the constitutional right to civil jury trial and invests in the values that define practice at this level: civility, integrity, and commitment to the system itself, not just the outcome of any particular case.

One of its most consequential priorities is getting trial experience into the hands of younger lawyers. Cases settle. Clients are risk-averse. Opportunities to stand before a jury are increasingly rare, and without deliberate effort from experienced practitioners, entire cohorts can pass through their careers without ever doing it. ABOTA addresses this through mock trial programs, advocacy training, and direct mentorship pairing emerging lawyers with those who have logged the courtroom hours.

Within the Phoenix Chapter, Jennifer has served on the Executive Board, focused on membership engagement, extending the organization's reach to lawyers earlier in their careers, and driving its values into the broader legal community.

She also attended ABOTA's Women's Leadership Conference, which brought together trial lawyers from across the country alongside judges and barrier-breaking leaders including the former First Lady of Iceland. The program centered on candor, community, and shared investment in one another's success.

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jennifer.rebholz@zwfirm.com (602) 962-5546

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