A dated record of honors, appointments, speaking, media, and case results. Where an issuing organization publishes the record, it is linked. For what the leadership record means, see Leadership.
Conference presentations, media coverage, legislative testimony, and trial outcomes.
Chair of two programs on consecutive days at the State Bar of Arizona’s CLE by the Sea in Coronado, California: scientific developments in traumatic brain injury cases (July 14) and handling experts and discovery in catastrophic injury cases (July 15). Both are offered by the State Bar as on-demand CLE with Personal Injury and Wrongful Death specialization credit.
Moderator for the American Board of Trial Advocates continuing legal education program on jury selection. Phoenix, Arizona.
Presenter on summary jury trials at the State Bar of Arizona’s Elevated Advocacy: An Advanced Personal Injury Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Faculty member at the Arizona College of Trial Advocacy, delivering exemplar closing arguments for attorneys in the advanced litigation training program.
This is the work that now serves the other side of the room. The cross-examination that dismantled this claim, the read on what a jury would credit, the discipline to try a case to verdict rather than settle. It is the same craft Jennifer brings to the families she represents today, pointed in the opposite direction.
Won a defense verdict in a civil jury trial in Maricopa County on behalf of an apartment complex client. The plaintiff alleged necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) and other significant injuries with over $400,000 in medical specials, claiming a closet rod fell on her in her apartment. The plaintiff sought $4 million in damages. Jennifer’s cross-examination and closing argument focused on the plaintiff’s own conduct as the cause of injury and on inconsistencies between the medical records and the plaintiff’s testimony. The jury deliberated less than three hours, found the plaintiff 90 percent at fault, and limited damages to $15,000, netting a verdict of just $1,500 against the client. Because the verdict was a fraction of the pre-trial offer of judgment, the client was entitled to a monetary judgment against the plaintiff.
Testified before the Arizona House Judiciary Committee in opposition to a bill that would have eliminated the mandatory State Bar membership requirement for Arizona attorneys. Appearing as State Bar President, Jennifer argued that the Arizona Supreme Court’s authority to require bar membership should be respected as a matter of separation of powers. The bill had passed the Senate along party lines; Jennifer’s testimony was covered by AZ Free News.
Jennifer’s January 2022 President’s Message column in Arizona Attorney Magazine, on the persistent issue of women being interrupted in professional settings, was picked up by Mondaq, an international legal news aggregator. Wilson Elser highlighted the column in a news brief.
Knowing exactly how a premises case is taken apart before trial is knowing exactly how to build one that holds. That is what eighteen years on the defense side bought, and what Jennifer’s clients inherit now.
Successfully defended against a plaintiff’s appeal, obtaining a complete dismissal of all claims against both the property management company and apartment complex owner. The case involved a worker who fell through a carport roof he was cleaning; Jennifer and her team proved the claims were not proper in pretrial motions. The dismissal was upheld on appeal.
Wilson Elser, an AmLaw 200 firm, published a news brief highlighting Arizona Attorney Magazine’s cover profile of Jennifer as the new State Bar president.
Cover story in the July/August 2021 edition of Arizona Attorney Magazine. The profile, titled “Ever Forward: New Bar President Jennifer Rebholz,” covered her career from college rugby to trial experience to State Bar leadership, and her priorities for access to justice.
Interviewed by Law360, a national legal industry publication, on taking office as President of the State Bar of Arizona.
I welcome conversations with fellow trial lawyers, those entering the profession, event organizers,
and members of the press on the practice of law, leadership, and what it means to do this work well.
If you’re looking for representation, my profile at Zwillinger Wulkan is the best place to start. It’s the fastest way to make sure you get to the right conversation.