Practices

Michael C. Manning

Partner

DIRECT CONTACT
602.212.8503
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PHOENIX, AZ
1850 North Central Avenue, Suite 2100
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Mike has lead a number of ground-breaking cases, locally and nationally. He was recognized by the National Law Journal in its triennial selection of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” For over 25 years, Mike has been considered one of our country’s leading lawyers. In the mid-1980’s, the FDIC selected Manning to head its litigation against New York, mob-related money broker, Mario Renda. In 1989, Manning was lead counsel in MDL-834 – the Lincoln Savings/Charles Keating case. At the time, MDL-834 was the largest commercial litigation in U.S. history. In 2000, Manning obtained an $8.25 million settlement against Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, one of the largest wrongful death and civil rights settlements in Arizona history. In early 2006, Manning obtained a $9 million verdict against the MCSO and Maricopa County in another historic wrongful death case.

The May 2007 edition of Arizona Attorney magazine listed one of Manning’s jury verdicts as the third largest jury award in Arizona for 2006. Previously, the May 2005 edition featured the Top 10 Verdicts of 2004, Manning was lead trial counsel in two of those 10 cases, most notably the largest and the sixth largest jury awards in Arizona that year.

The Arizona Republic’s Arizona statehood centennial edition identified the top 10 scandals of Arizona’s first 100 years. Manning was intricately involved in discovering and resolving three of those 10, including the #1 scandal.

Manning is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Commercial Litigation). He was also selected by Southwest Super Lawyers in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 for Business Litigation. In 2005, he was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the Valley’s legal community by the Business Journal’s editorial board in its “Best of the Bar” edition – one of only four Arizona attorneys to receive that honor. He was listed as a “Local Litigation Star” in the 2011 edition of Benchmark Litigation. Manning is also listed in Arizona Business Magazine’s 2012 Top Lawyers list. In the May 2012 edition of AZ Magazine, Manning was listed as one of the "Top 50 Attorneys of Arizona."

Representative Experience

In 1995, Mike was retained to pursue Arizona's then current Governor, J. Fife Symington, III, for fraud in connection with a real estate loan. A few months after his fraud complaint was filed, the governor was indicted on 23 counts of fraud which paralleled Mike’s allegations. Mike successfully tried that fraud/bankruptcy case.
In 2001, Mike achieved the second largest commercial punitive damages verdict in Arizona history. The jury awarded Mike’s client a defense verdict on claims made against his clients and then awarded over $26 million in punitive damages.
In the summer of 2004, Mike tried back-to-back three-week jury trials. Manning won both trials with unanimous jury verdicts. His clients in these commercial fraud and breach of contract trials were awarded more than $20 million in damages.
In 2009, Manning successfully concluded a large case against an international union that had threatened to destroy one of Arizona’s legacy businesses if that business did not allow unionization of its employees.

Education

Washburn University, J.D., cum laude, 1977
Editor-in-Chief, Washburn Law Journal, 1976-1977

Emporia State University, B.A., Political Science and Psychology, 1971

Of Note

In addition to his regional and national litigation successes, Mike has significant international experience in connection with construction contracts, technology exchange contracts, royalty agreements, distributor agreements and sales agreements in Norway, Great Britain, France, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Community Involvement

In 1972, Mike ran in the general election for secretary of state for the state of Kansas. He was only 21 years old. After losing to the incumbent in a tight race, Mike worked for the governor for two years before enrolling in law school.
Mike is a Board member and past president of the FBI Citizens Academy.
Mike is an active participant and significant fund-raiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona.
Mike is also active on the Board of ASU Gammage Theatre

Bar Admissions

Arizona, 1995
Kansas, 1978
Missouri, 1977
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1988

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of Arizona
Kansas Bar Association
The Missouri Bar
Bar Association of DC