that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message snell & wilmer headquarters phoenix arizona no . of attorneys approximately 400 major practice areas business law firm key people matthew p. feeney chairman date founded 1938 founder frank snell jr. and mark wilmer website swlaw.com founded in 1938 snell & wilmer is a business law firm with more than 400 attorneys practicing in nine locations throughout the western united states and in mexico including phoenix and tucson arizona ; los angeles and orange county california ; denver colorado ; las vegas and reno nevada ; salt lake city utah ; and los cabos mexico . clients include major national and multinational corporations educational and research institutions municipalities and government agencies nonprofits charitable organizations industry executives and high net worth individuals . contents 1 history 2 practice areas 3 locations 4 references history edit snell & wilmer traces its origins to 1938 when mark wilmer joined frank l. snell jr. riney salmon and charles strouss who had practiced together since 1934 . mr. snell frequently recounted the search that led to his partnership with mr. wilmer . because mr. snell was snowed under clarification needed by work and needed help he consulted the three members of maricopa county s superior court to identify the best trial lawyer in the state . mr. snell noted that each judge mentioned mr. wilmer whom he had not yet met . both mr. snell and mr. wilmer recalled their first conversation as a lengthy discussion about their philosophies of the practice of law . the conversation went so well that the two attorneys decided to become partners without working out financial terms . clarification needed after world war ii joseph t. melczer jr. and james walsh joined the firm that became known as snell wilmer walsh and melczer . shortly after that edwin beauchamp arrived and the firm s name became snell wilmer walsh melczer & beauchamp . recognizing that the firm s letterhead was becoming unwieldy mr. walsh suggested shortening the firm name to snell & wilmer . in the 40s mr. melczer became dean of arizona s tax and estate planning bar . clarification needed when famous individuals like john wayne or barry goldwater were seen in the firm s reception area people generally assumed clarification needed that the celebrities had come to see mr. melczer . clarification needed according to the lore of the firm original research the u.s. senate once reconvened to fix an error in a recently enacted tax code citation needed that was found by mr. melczer . citation needed during the 1940s and early fifties snell & wilmer practiced in the heard building . this was a period of moderate growth in attorney numbers and substantial growth in the firm s prominence and contribution to the bar and the community . 1 2 as mr. wilmer established his position as one of arizona s leading trial lawyers mr. snell emerged as a visionary who helped phoenix and arizona capitalize on post world war ii opportunities . mr. snell who was instrumental in the merger of the state s two largest utilities into arizona public service company also helped find a use for an abandoned world war ii flight training facility in glendale . we now know the institution built there as the thunderbird school of global management . mr. snell was instrumental in cleaning up the city s crooked the neutrality of this article is disputed . relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message political system . citation needed he and a small group who of community leaders demanded and received how the resignation of elected officials who whose abuses threatened the city s growth . how during the 1960s the firm moved from the heard building to the security building which could accommodate the growing number of lawyers required to staff the firm s emerging practice areas including complex business transactions securities and utility regulation . the hiring and training of larger groups of young lawyers became a firm priority and a system of committees began to address the challenges that confronted the firm . the firm s summer clerkship program the first in arizona citation needed was one of the innovations adopted during this decade . the year 1972 found snell & wilmer at an important juncture in its development . mr. snell who had managed the firm decided to reduce his administrative role . snell & wilmer s first executive committee was elected consisting of mr. wilmer mr. melczer don corbitt richard b. snell and john j. bouma . the partners agreed to invest in the future and commit partner earnings to building the infrastructure required to become a major clarification needed law firm . the firm diversified its practice groups developed non attorney administrative support and placed more emphasis on recruiting continuing legal education and community service . in 1973 the firm moved from the security building to the newly constructed valley center now chase tower . as the decade closed the then nascent national legal press reported storm clouds on the economic horizon for lawyers . the 1980s marked a period of retrenchment and shake out for law firms throughout the country . rapid growth and economic excesses led to the demise and restructuring of many established firms . as the economics of the marketplace began to penetrate what the american lawyer termed the law business snell & wilmer s conservative fiscal management and lean operations clarification needed served it well . the firm s market share increased in a period of market contraction . citation needed unencumbered by debt or unwieldy compensation systems snell & wilmer was successful in bringing on exceptionally capable citation needed attorneys from other prominent firms and began the firm s geographic expansion . in 1983 john j. bouma became chairman succeeding mr. wilmer and mr. melczer . in 1989 the tucson office was established . within months negotiations with tucson s largest and oldest law firm bilby & shoenhair led to a combination of the two firms completed and celebrated at the firm s spring retreat in may 1989 . by the 1990s snell & wilmer s status in the state of arizona could be this article contains weasel words vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information . such statements should be clarified or removed . september 2016 called legendary . according to whom the phoenix business journal ran an article when describing the firm as one of the big daddies of phoenix law firms . citation needed arizona business magazine rated when snell & wilmer no. 1 out of the top ten law firms in arizona dishing out high marks for corporate and securities work real estate employee benefits and other categories . citation needed however its growth had just begun . during the 1990s the firm moved its phoenix offices to the arizona center and opened offices in orange county california and salt lake city utah . orange county began as an adjunct to snell & wilmer s product liability practice and quickly grew into one of orange county s largest law firms . citation needed the salt lake city office rapidly grew from a small cadre of transactional lawyers into a full service practice that serves utah s rapidly growing business community . the 2000s began with the establishment of new offices in denver and las vegas each continuing the firm s tradition of providing quality legal counsel to businesses throughout the region . the firm s first international office located in los cabos mexico opened in october 2008 and its office in downtown los angeles opened in february 2009 . the firm expanded its nevada practice by opening a reno location in early 2010 . in march 2015 matthew p. feeney became chairman succeeding john bouma . practice areas edit snell & wilmer has a broad range of practice areas including financial regulation tax law labor & employment united states environmental law water law real estate & zoning mergers & acquisitions intellectual property product liability estate planning telecommunications law bankruptcy & restructuring foreclosure international law and white collar criminal defense . locations edit phoenix arizona tucson arizona los angeles california orange county california denver colorado las vegas nevada reno nevada salt lake city utah los cabos mexico references edit legal advertisement yuma weekly sun yuma arizona june 23 1944 page 2 historical league inc. mark wilmer 1903 1994 page 11 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title snell % 26 wilmer & oldid 738991258 categories law firms established in 1938law firms based in phoenix arizonahidden categories articles with a promotional tone from september 2016all articles with a promotional tonearticles needing additional references from march 2016all articles needing additional referenceswikipedia articles needing clarification from september 2016all articles that may contain original researcharticles that may contain original research from september 2016all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2016npov disputes from september 2016all npov disputesall articles with specifically marked weasel worded phrasesarticles with specifically marked weasel worded phrases from september 2016articles with weasel words from september 2016vague or ambiguous time 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