Member of the Year Award

Established in May 1991, this award is presented to that attorney(s) who has rendered extraordinary contributions to the programs and activities of the State Bar in the prior year. Hundreds, even thousands, of the Bar's members contribute their time and talent to the work of the Bar, but this award is limited to that individual(s) whose contributions are exceptional.

2024 Recipient

Regina L. Nassen has been a Principal Assistant City Attorney in the Tucson City Attorney’s Office since August 2021 after almost 18 years as a Deputy County Attorney in the Civil Division of the Pima County Attorney’s Office (“PCAO”). While at PCAO Regina also served as the Supervising Attorney of the Civil Division’s Business & Transactions Unit and as PCAO’s Chief Ethics Counsel. Prior to becoming a government lawyer, she was in private practice as an Associate with Snell & Wilmer from 1993 to 2000.

Regina is currently a member of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct and previously served on the Arizona Supreme Court’s Ethics Advisory Committee, 2019 through 2023. She is a member of the ABA’s Center for Professional Responsibility CLE Committee, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the governing council of the ABA’s Government & Public Sector Lawyers Division. She is also a past Chair of the State Bar of Arizona’s Public Lawyers Section and the recipient of the Section’s 2015 Distinguished Public Lawyer Award.

Regina graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1992, after which she clerked for Justice Frederick Martone on the Arizona Supreme Court before entering private practice.

Previous Recipients

The award has been presented to:

1991	Ed Hendricks William R. Jones, Jr. Tom Karas Daniel J. McAuliffe Thomas A. Zlaket
1992	Larry W. Suciu
1993	Roxana C. Bacon
1994	Kenneth J. Sherk
1995	Crane McClennen Robert E. Schmitt
1996	Diane L. Drain
1997	Charles T. Stevens
1998	Michael R. Murphy
1999	Denise M. Blommel Mary Mangotich Grier John E. Lundin
2000	Andrew R. Sherwood
2001	Robert W. Browder
2002	Craig Mehrens Ted A. Schmidt
2003	Hon. Michael Owen Miller Steven A. Hirsch
2004	Sarah R. Simmons Aaron Kizer
2005	Michael V. Mulchay Ronald W. Messerly
2006	Jeffrey H. Jacobson
2007	Lynda C. Shely
2008	Jeffrey A. Hursh
2009	Daniel J. McAuliffe
2010	J. Scott Rhodes Jeffrey Messing
2011	James E. McDougall
2012	Todd F. Lang
2013	William G. Klain
2014	Amelia Craig Cramer
2015	George C. Chen
2016	Jodi Knobel Feuerhelm Andrew Jacobs Brian J. Pollack
2017	Jo Ellen McBride
2018	Paul F. Eckstein
2019	Hon. Patricia K. Norris (ret.)
2020	Gregory R. Gautam
2021	Mark I. Harrison
2022	David D. Dodge
2023	Steven M. Guttell
2024	Regina L. Nassen

Member of the Year Award

2024 Recipient

Previous Recipients

State Bar Annual Awards

FOR THE PUBLIC

FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS

ABOUT US