Jones, Skelton & Hochuli Elects Six Partners

Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, PLC is pleased to announce Kristin W. Basha, Anne Holmgren, John Lierman, Fernando C. Palomares, Ravi Patel, and Robert E. M. Smith have been elected to the firm’s partnership, effective May 1.

Meet each of the firm’s newest partners below.

Kristin W. Basha (Phoenix)

Kristin is an attorney in the firm’s Medical Malpractice Trial Group with significant defense experience at Valley law firms where she handled matters involving medical malpractice defense, ski litigation, insurance defense, wrongful death and personal injury, premises liability, and professional liability. She has also defended professional liability claims involving the Arizona State Board of Nursing and the Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

She earned her law degree from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and her undergraduate in philosophy from Santa Clara University. Kristin is an active member of both the American Health Lawyers Association and the Arizona Women Lawyers Association.

Anne Holmgren (Phoenix and Albuquerque)

Anne focuses on claims involving alleged medical malpractice, wrongful death, medical negligence, and vicarious liability in state and federal court. She represents physicians, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other healthcare professionals. In her product liability practice, Anne she national product manufacturers in the healthcare industry.

She earned her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and her undergraduate in criminal justice, with a minor in political science, from George Washington University. Anne is proficient in Spanish and sits on the board of directors for the Young Professionals of Albuquerque.

John Lierman (Phoenix)

John focuses his practice in the areas of premises liability, personal injury and general civil litigation. He represents clients primarily in the retail and hospitality, light industry, insurance, and education fields.

He earned his law degree from the University of Arizona College’s James E. Rogers College of Law, his Ph.D. in religion from Cambridge University, and his undergraduate degree in biology from Rice University. Prior to pursuing a legal career, John spent several years teaching in higher education at the University of Sioux Falls.

Fernando C. Palomares (Albuquerque)

Fernando defends clients in the transportation and professional services industries in litigation including wrongful death claims. He has more than 10 years of legal experience, primarily in civil defense, representing clients in New Mexico, including school districts and governmental entities in civil rights and tort matters. He is also a member of the firm’s Transportation & Trucking Rapid Response Team, a dedicated group of experienced attorneys who are on-call to provide counsel and guidance when a trucking or transportation-related accident occurs.

He earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and his undergraduate in accountancy from New Mexico State University. Fernando gained in-house legal experience as an Assistant County Attorney for Doña Ana County in Las Cruces and as Assistant General Counsel at the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Ravi Patel (Phoenix)

Ravi focuses his practice on defending clients in matters involving employment and civil rights issues, governmental liability, and education defense. Before moving from Texas to Arizona in 2013, Ravi worked at an insurance defense law firm where he represented corporations, municipalities and employers in civil rights and employment matters, including Title VII, FMLA, ADA, and wrongful termination. He has also represented clients in FLSA matters and in proceedings before the NLRB.

He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law and his undergraduate in political science from Rice University. Ravi is an active member of the Arizona South Asian Bar Association and the State Bar of Arizona.

Robert E. M. Smith (Phoenix)

Robert focuses his practice in the areas of civil litigation, insurance coverage and third-party liability, premises liability, product liability defense, professional liability, transportation, and wrongful death and personal injury defense.

He earned both his law degree and his L.L.M. in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and received his undergraduate degree in English from Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College. Before pursuing his undergraduate degree, Robert served as an active-duty non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years.

Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, PLC is the largest and most experienced law firm of trial and appellate lawyers in Arizona practicing in the areas of insurance and insurance coverage defense. The firm’s 100 attorneys defend insureds, self-insureds, government entities, corporations, and professional liability insureds throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.