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Donald Wilson Jr.

Shareholder

dwj@bowwlaw.com
602-271-7717
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Overview

Assistant: Shari Swartz
602-271-7717sls@bowwlaw.com

Don joined the firm on the date of its third anniversary and became a shareholder soon after. His practice is limited to defending lawyers in legal malpractice actions and Bar disciplinary matters. Don is panel counsel to a number of lawyer professional liability insurers and is also directly engaged by lawyers and firm, privately. He has first chair trial experience in both legal malpractice defense and discipline proceedings. He also acts as general counsel to his firm and to multiple lawyers and firms, offering risk management, claim prevention and advice on ethics issues and law office management. Don regularly speaks at seminars regarding legal malpractice and ethics issues, for insurance companies, the State Bar and the Arizona State University School of Law.

Don has been recognized by his peers in Southwest Super Lawyers (including the top 50 in the Southwest), Arizona’s Finest Lawyers and Best Lawyers for Legal Malpractice Defense, for multiple years running. He spent 20 years as a judge pro tempore on the Maricopa County Superior Court bench. He is appointed to the Phoenix Police Department Community Hiring Review Board, which screens applicants for positions in the Department once they have undergone a rigorous first round of testing and screening.  In his spare time, Don enjoys baseball and archery hunting.  In 2020, Don was nominated and accepted to the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, a professional trade association of vetted and premier defense attorneys and industry executives.

Education/Admissions

Education

  • Arizona State University, College of Law, J.D., 1977
  • Arizona State University, B.S., with distinction, 1974

Bar Admissions 

  • State Bar of Arizona, 1978
  • U.S. District Court of Arizona
  • Ninth Circuit, Court of Appeals 
Professional Recognition
  • Arizona’s Finest Lawyers (2010-Present)
  • Best Lawyers for Legal Malpractice Defense (2011-2018)
  • Phoenix Lawyer of the Year for legal malpractice defense (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
  • Best Lawyers in America (2014-Present)
  • Top 50 Lawyers in the Southwest by peer-reviewed Southwest Super Lawyers (2015-Present)
  • AZ Business Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona (2016)
  • American Bar Association
  • Defense Research institute
  • Maricopa County Bar Association
  • Arizona Association of Defense Counsel (Board member 2000-2006, President 2005)
  • Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
  • American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys
  • Professional Liability Defense Federation
  • Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
  • Association of Defense Trial Attorneys
  • State Bar’s Ethics Advisory Group