Mr. Whitaker enjoys a broad commercial practice with an emphasis on trial and arbitration work.  His litigation practice includes trials, injunctions, arbitrations, and mediation involving a wide spectrum of business related issues.  He has won jury trials representing plaintiffs and defendants.  He handles appeals in both the state and federal courts.

He has substantial experience in lawsuits regarding contracts of all kinds of matters, from the sale of businesses to the sale of goods, and in commercial tort cases, such as fraud, embezzlement, and breach of fiduciary duty.  Mr. Whitaker also routinely represents employers and employees in connection with covenants not to compete, and anti-piracy or non-solicitation covenants, trade secrets, and confidentiality issues.  He has substantial experience in shareholder and partner disputes (business divorces) and in protective order and defamation matters.

Mr. Whitaker routinely counsels business clients, including negotiating and drafting contracts and leases, and corporate governance documents, including Shareholder Agreements, Operating Agreements, Employment, and Independent Contractor Agreements.

Mr. Whitaker is proud of his problem solving abilities, both as a counselor to clients in helping them address and prevent issues in their business, and in litigation. He is effective when representing clients and understands that quite often, how a dispute is approached often is just as, if not, more important, than what the technical legal aspects involved in the dispute may be.

Mr. Whitaker is highly rated. He is a member of Arizona’s Finest Lawyers (http://AZFinestLawyers.org), which seeks to nominate the top 6-10% of lawyers in Arizona.  Mr. Whitaker also enjoys the highest  ranking, “AV,” by Martindale-Hubbell (judicial edition), and is rated five out of five stars on AVVO.  He routinely is selected as a Top Rated Lawyer in Arizona and a Top Rated Lawyer in Business and Commercial Litigation in Arizona.

Mr. Whitaker serves on the Board of Directors for the Central Arizona Dental Society Foundation which runs the Mission of Mercy each year, and is past-District Governor for District 21-A of Lions Club International.  He is a member of the North Phoenix Lions Club.  He also serves on the Litigation Committee for the Maricopa County Bar Association.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

• Business litigation, arbitration, and trial
• Shareholder, partner, and employment disputes, arbitration, and litigation
• Real estate and commercial lease litigation
• Business counseling and business contracts
• Company formation and Operating Agreements and Bylaws

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Arizona, 1987
• U.S. District Court District of Arizona, 1987
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1989
• Supreme Court of the United States of America, 1999

EDUCATION

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California J.D. – 1987 Honors: Top 16%; Moot Court Board

• University of California, Riverside, California A.B. (Magna Cum Laude) – 1984 Major: History

PUBLISHED WORKS

• Contributing Editor and Author, Arizona Litigation Guide (5^th 2015, Maricopa County Bar Association)
• Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements (Contributing Author) American Bar Association Franchise Forum, 1992

PUBLISHED CASES

• TWE Retirement Fund Trust, 198 Ariz. 268, 8 P. 3d 1182 (Arizona Appellate 2000)
• Lloyd v. AMC , 195 Ariz. 144, 985 P. 2d 679 (Arizona Appellate 1999)
• Cho v. American Bonding Co., 190 Ariz. 593, 591 P. 2d 468 (Arizona Appellate 1997)
• A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. v. McCollough, 967 F. 2d 1401 (9th Cir. (Ariz.) 1992)
• Rent-A-Center, Inc. v. Canyon Television and Appliance Rental, Inc., 944 F. 2d 597 (9th Cir. (Ariz.) 1991)

CLASSES/SEMINARS

• Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations, Maricopa County Bar
• Enforcement of Trade Secrets and Covenants to Compete, AZ Licensor and Franchisor Association
• The New Arizona LLC Act

HONORS AND AWARDS

• American Jurisprudence Award, Federal Government Contracts
• Moot Court Board
• Selected to Arizona’s Finest Lawyers (www.azfinestlawyers.org)
• Best Brief, Moot Court
• Rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Maricopa County Bar Association, Member
• Arizona Bar Association, Member
• org, Member
• Scottsdale Leadership, Member

COMMUNITY INTERESTS

• Central Arizona Dental Society Foundation, Board Member
• Lions Club International, North Phoenix Lions Club
• Institutional Review Board, Banner Good Samaritan Hospital