AWARDS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gary Stickell is the owner of Law Office of Gary R. Stickell. For decades, Gary has been a strong advocate of consumer rights in Arizona.

Gary has been licensed to practice in Arizona since 1982. A leader in the Arizona bankruptcy community, he co-founded the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Council and was an inaugural Master of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. Gary has spent hundreds of hours growing the organization and educating its members.

Gary speaks regularly on consumer bankruptcy topics. In recognition of his efforts to mentor and educate lawyers new to the practice of consumer bankruptcy, Gary received the 2010 Award of Special Merit from the State Bar of Arizona. He has also been honored as a Member of the Year by the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Counsel in 2011.  He received the Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award from the Arizona State Bar, Bankruptcy Section, for his “extraordinary efforts to establish the Chapter 13 Expert Panel.”

Kelly Lischwe, has been selected as ACBC's 2023 Non-Member of the Year.

April Maxwell is the owner of Maxwell Law Group. April has experience in appeals and civil litigation, but bankruptcy has her heart.

April is the chair of the ACBC Amicus Committee, and drafted several amicus briefs addressing issues of major importance to our members.

April graduated cum laude from the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law at Arizona State University. During law school, April pursued her interest in science and the law by serving as Associate Editor for Jurimetrics, The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology, the Official Journal for the American Bar Association § of Science & Technology Law. April's interest in law and science earned her the school's Law and Science certificate.

Prior to attending law school, April received her degree in Zoology from Brigham Young University. April is also the proud mother of 4 great kids and makes a mean cinnamon roll.

Patty Chan has been selected as ACBC's 2022 Non-Member of the Year.  Patty has been an important resource for ACBC for many years. She is a trial attorney at the US Trustee's office, Department of Justice. Patty is a wonderful and caring person, while also being a fierce advocate for justice. Patty has been instrumental in pursuing several Arizona attorneys who have been, or are being, prosecuted for malpractice, not to mention abuses of Arizona debtors and the Bankruptcy Court system.

Kenn Neeley has been selected as ACBC's 2021 Member of the Year. His award reads: In appreciation of your dedication to ACBC’s commitment to protecting the consumer through good legislature.  Also, for your commitment to helping consumers navigate important appellate challenges.

Before starting Neeley Law Firm, Kenn owned a custom software development company. His experience with explaining complex technology to business executives helped him learn how to take a complicated process and explain it in an understandable way.  He provides that same service for his clients. Kenn is most proud of his two published appellate wins for consumer debtors: In re. Gray, 523 B.R. 170 (9th Cir. BAP 2014) and In re. Neidorf, 534 B.R. 369 (9th Cir. BAP 2015).”

Kenn is a die-hard entrepreneur and loves small businesses.  He has an amazing wife and 5 awesome kids who keep him sharp with their debate skills.

Micah Wimmer has been selected as ACBC's 2021 Non-Member of the Year.  Micah has been ACBC’s unsung hero for years. Behind the scenes, he has been instrumental in solving some technology challenges, and now is involved with legislative issues.

Micah uses knowledge, patience, and compassion to lead residential buyers and sellers through the real estate transaction process. He combines his skills as an educator to timely and effectively communicate all stages of the transaction process with those of a data scientist to create accurate pricing models to aid in negotiations.

Jacqueline Rambo has been selected as ACBC's 2020 Member of the Year. Her award reads: Your tireless work helped establish our website as a well-respected resource. Your commitment has ensured that ACBC is and will remain an important contributor to our profession.

She has been a member since back in the days when we were called Lunch at Pugzies, and she currently serves as ACBC's Website Chair. 

Jacque opened her firm, Rambo Law Offices, in San Diego in 2003, straight out of law school. She expanded with a second location in Phoenix in 2006. Her practice focuses on consumer bankruptcy law, representing debtors in bankruptcy, collections, and foreclosures. She formerly practiced family law for 10 years and still occasionally handles uncontested family matters. She's also a trained mediator and life-coach, an inactive real estate broker, past Adjunct Professor at Arizona Summit Law School, and a former banker and fraud investigator.

She has been volunteering at the Bankruptcy Court's Self-Help Center since its inception 10 years ago. She also frequently volunteers for her other passion - animals. She's a mom to four Rhodesian Ridgeback littermates.

We honor Shawn Stone as Member of the Year. Shawn has been a member of ACBC from back in the days that it was called Lunch at Pugzies. Shawn was our first website chair and struggled for many, many months to get an ACBC website up and running. It is not the website that we use now. Shawn is currently our membership chair. We thank him for the thankless tasks that he has performed for ACBC over the years and honor him as our Member of the Year.

Quote from Shawn's bio: "Shawn Stone, is known for the dedicated, tailored approach he takes when guiding clients through the bankruptcy process. He helps clients understand their options for stopping creditor harassment, wage garnishment and other concerns. As a licensed realtor, he also has extensive experience handling real estate concerns for those facing home foreclosure or considering short sales.

In addition to his legal activities, Mr. Stone does pro bono work for the Community Legal Services Volunteer Lawyers program. He is also a Big Brother in the national Big Brother/Big Sister program."

Brian Spector was selected as the ACBC 2018 Member of the Year. His award reads: Thank you for your extraordinary dedication to ACBC and the legal profession. You are an exemplary role model for all lawyers. 

Quote from Brian's bio: “Through 30 years of practice, my experience has taught me to be a problem solver. I advise clients about the financial and legal issues confronting them, the ways to resolve them and the possible range of outcomes, and to help them focus on the big issues en route to making informed decisions.”

Brian Spector is a business and bankruptcy lawyer and litigator whose practice focuses on the representation of debtors, creditors and others in bankruptcy, workouts, and collection matters.

Andrea has practiced exclusively as debtors’ counsel in consumer chapter 7 and 13 cases for the last 10 years, including 2004 exams, objections to exemptions, stay-relief matters, adversary proceedings, and stay and discharge violations, handling all matters from inception to case closure while also acting as managing attorney for her previous firm, Marco | Wimmer PLLC. At her current firm, she will expand her practice to include chapter 11 debtor work for both individuals and businesses as well as aspects of commercial litigation and bankruptcy appeals.

Andrea has been a speaker at, among other events, ABI’s Southwest Bankruptcy Conference, Norton’s Bankruptcy Institute and the Arizona State Bar Convention. She is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judge’s NextGen Class of 2016, and she received the 2014 Member of the Year Award and a Special Appreciation Award from a local consumer attorney group, as well as a Distinguished Service Award from ABAIC. She has published in NACBA’s Consumer Bankruptcy Journal and the State Bar of Arizona Bankruptcy Section Journal, serves as treasurer of the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Counsel and president of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, and is a member of the Local Rules Committee’s Chapter 13 and Uniformity Subcommittees.

Andrea grew up in Austria and moved to the U.S. by herself after high school with the single goal of becoming an “American lawyer.” Ten years later, she built a firm and established herself as a respected member of the legal community. She is affiliated with the League of Women Voters and Lawyers for Good Government, and she volunteers at local advocacy events and at a local food bank. She has also been a volunteer attorney with the Arizona Bankruptcy Court’s Self-Help Center, which provides assistance to pro se debtors.

Krystal Ahart was selected as the ACBC Member of the Year.  Her award reads: Thanks for your extraordinary dedication to ACBC and the legal profession.  You are an exemplary role model for all lawyers, especially young lawyers.

See below for more about Krystal's contributions to the entire bankruptcy practice, her clients and her commitment to ACBC and its members.

Larry's award reads: Our entire community is enriched by Larry’s commitment to quality education. Everyone, including our clients, benefit by Larry’s willingness to share his vast knowledge.

To quote from Larry's bio: The clients that come to me do so during a difficult time in their lives and need help. Creditor and collection agency harassment can be disturbing and can lead you to make decisions that are not in your best interests. Dealing with financial problems is stressful, so true bankruptcy help can only come from someone who genuinely cares about their client and can guide them through the process painlessly. As an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Arizona, I have helped many clients find the peace of mind they deserve and I have done so with compassion and the one-on-one bankruptcy help and advice required.

Krystal Ahart, is an attorney at the Bankruptcy Legal Center, Law Office James F. Kahn, P.C.  Krystal is also on the Board of Directors for ACBC. Krystal agreed to oversee the entire Bankruptcy Section program for the 2016 State Bar Convention. This obligation is extremely daunting and time consuming, but Krystal successfully produced a wonderful day-long series of bankruptcy programs. She will tell you that there are many unsung heroes who helped with the program. But what she will not mention is the challenge of juggling her own clients, the demands of developing a great convention program and her other numerous obligations. Few know that the week of the Convention, Jim Kahn, the founder of the Bankruptcy Legal Center, suffered a serious fall and was hospitalized for a week. This left Krystal to care for her own clients, Jim's clients, and the Convention programs. Throughout all she never stopped smiling. ACBC wants to thank Krystal for her commitment to our profession and her clients.

Andrea is the co-Executive Director of ACBC. Throughout the last several years Andrea has been very committed to the growth and prosperity of ACBC. She spent a considerable number of hours in coordinating and presenting numerous CLE programs, plus many other projects. Andrea’s engaging personality acts as a lighthouse for all those around her. You cannot help but smile when she walks into the room. Nor can you say no if she asks you to help out. Thank you Andrea for all that you have done for the consumer practitioner, for the bankruptcy practice in general and for the members of ACBC.

We honor Scott Hyder as Member of the Year. Scott has been a member of ACBC since back in the days when it was called Lunch at Pugzies. We thank him for the thankless tasks that he has performed for ACBC over the years and honor him as our Member of the Year.

Quote from Scott's bio:

In addition to his legal activities, Scott also does ----

Gary Stickell and Diane Drain, co-founders of ACBC. Since 2005, Gary and Diane have partnered in presenting meaningful CLE’s to our consumer debtor attorneys and (with Mark Lischwe) monthly lunches. Out of the email list for the monthly lunches grew to be the Lunch at Pugzies listserv (a thanks to Allan Butler and his staff for putting that google group together). Out of their commitment to the consumer bankruptcy attorney community and the integration of the newest members of that community, the group grew from ten to one hundred and fifty. Their efforts included: Diane’s start-up and guidance of the Bankruptcy Court’s Self-Help Center. Gary’s initiation of the Consumer Mentor sessions. The free Consumer Bankruptcy 101 program held at Arizona State University in May 2010. The history of their partnership is the history of our organization and it is right that they receive the initial members of the year awards.