FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Yvette Armendariz Carr, 602-626-8805
TEMPE, Ariz. — Jim Barton, an attorney at Torres Law Group in Tempe, made the 2015 Southwest Rising Stars list, an honor placing him among the top 2.5 percent of his peers.
The list is compiled by Super Lawyers, a service that rates lawyers from more than 70 practice areas. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented selection process that ranks 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.
“It’s no surprise Jim Barton is on the list,” says Israel Torres, managing partner of Torres Law Group. “He’s widely recognized as one of Arizona’s premier legal minds, litigating high-profile, political cases.”
The selection process for the Rising Stars list is the same as that for the Super Lawyers list, except candidates must be either 40 years or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less. While up to five percent of lawyers are named Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent make it to the Rising Stars list.
Barton, 44, focuses his practice in the areas of election law, legislative and government affairs, and labor law. In 2014, Barton successfully represented Alejandro Chavez, grandson of the late labor and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, in a suit to remove Scott Fistler from the ballot for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District. Fistler legally changed his name to “Cesar Chavez,” but was disqualified from the ballot when Barton uncovered numerous deficiencies in his petition signatures.
Barton, a former U.S. Navy officer who served aboard a nuclear submarine, also provides campaign finance advice to the Arizona Democratic Party, the state’s largest trade union political action committees, and a variety of independent expenditure committees.
Before joining Torres Law Group, Barton served as an Arizona assistant attorney general, representing the secretary of state, Citizens Clean Election Commission and the Independent Redistricting Commission. He earned his Juris Doctor from Arizona State University and his Bachelor of Arts in physics and philosophy from Northwestern University.
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