Jones, Skelton & Hochuli is pleased to announce that partner Ashley Villaverde Halvorson has been appointed to Maricopa County Superior Court. Ashley is joined by James Drake and Keith Miller to fill vacancies created by the retirements of Judges Roger E. Brodman, Connie Coin Contes, and Karen A. Mullins.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey made the announcement on Friday, October 1. “Ashley’s civil litigation experience and involvement in the community will allow her to be a strong contributor, and I am pleased to appoint her to the Maricopa County Superior Court,” said Governor Ducey.
Ashley has spent her career at JSH, first as a summer law clerk, then joining as an associate in 2009, and as a partner since 2017. She focused her insurance defense practice in the areas of personal injury and wrongful death, complex breach of contract, professional negligence, and bad faith litigation. In 2018, Ashley was appointed as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge pro tem. She has earned an AV-Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by Southwest Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. In 2017, Ashley was named one of the Top Lawyers Under 40 by the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Ashley is dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Since 2010 she has been actively involved in Los Abogados, Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association, including serving as its president (2018). Ashley’s dedication to the advancement of women in the legal profession includes membership and leadership positions within the Latina Mentoring Project, Hispanic National Bar Association’s Latina Commission, Ladder Down, Arizona Women Lawyer’s Association, and State Bar of Arizona’s Committee on Minorities and Women in the Law. In 2020, Ashley received the State Bar of Arizona’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. Ashley has also been involved for many years with JSH’s diversity and inclusion, recruiting, and mentorship committees.
Ashley is an Arizona native. She earned her B.A., cum laude, in Political Science and her J.D. from Arizona State University.
The JSH family is proud of Ashley’s achievement and wishes her well in this next chapter of her legal career.