Amy Abdo is widely recognized as a highly accomplished litigator who represents clients in high-stakes, complex disputes. Drawing on substantial courtroom experience, she brings a results-driven, strategic approach to every matter. Pragmatic, organized, and efficient, Amy is known for her tenacity and resilience, earning a reputation as a formidable adversary in sophisticated litigation.

Amy represents leading law firms and attorneys in the defense of professional liability claims. She also advises and defends businesses in complex commercial disputes and frequently litigates covenants not to compete and other restrictive covenants, often in expedited evidentiary proceedings. She defends employers against claims involving discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, wrongful discharge, and other employment-related tort and contract matters. Amy regularly conducts workplace investigations and counsels employers on a wide range of workplace issues.

Adept at leading legal teams, Amy has broad experience across business litigation, professional liability defense, employment law, and public records law. She is also a skilled negotiator, often achieving favorable resolutions in the most contentious matters.

Amy is licensed to practice in Arizona, Nevada, and California and is experienced in numerous states in all phases of litigation, including bench and jury trials, arbitration, mediation, administrative proceedings, and investigations.

A natural leader, she has served on the firm’s management committee, compensation committee, and as litigation section chair.

• J.D., University of San Diego School of Law
• B.S., San Diego State University, with distinction,
• Former Judicial Extern, Court of Appeals, Fourth Appellate District, State of California

OTHER EXPERIENCE

• Business Torts
• Commercial Contingency Litigation
• E-Discovery and Data Management
• Litigation
• Public Records Law
• Tort and Insurance Litigation

• Published Opinions: McAlister v. Loeb & Loeb, L.L.P., 571 P.3d 891 (Ariz. 2025) (lost profits in legal malpractice case); Malcolm v. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company (1992) 4 Cal. App. 4th 296 (life insurance case); and Smith v. Superior Court (1993) 10 Cal. App. 4th 1033 (legal malpractice).
• Secured dismissal of more than a dozen claims, including fraud, interference, abuse of process, breach of fiduciary duty, filed by a third party against a law firm, seeking over a billion dollars in damages (District Court – Clark County, Nevada).
• Secured defense verdict on legal malpractice claims, and a seven-figure award of attorneys’ fees on a counterclaim, following a 12-day jury trial (Maricopa County Superior Court).
• Secured judgment in favor of private entity prohibiting production of records under Arizona’s public records laws.
• Bench trial to enforce restrictive covenants, settled mid-trial, for over $2.5 million in favor of client (U.S. District Court – Nevada).
• Two-week jury trial on claims for sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and interference with contract (U.S. District Court – Tucson) – defense verdict.
• One-week jury trial on harassment and discrimination claims (U.S. District Court – Nevada) – defense verdict.
• One-week jury trial on pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination claims (U.S. District Court – Phoenix) – defense verdict.
• Non-suit of harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims (U.S. District Court – Nevada).
• Secured temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against departing employee and competitor (U.S. District Court – Central District of California, Southern Division).
• Secured preliminary and permanent injunction against departing employee and competitor (U.S. District Court – Nevada).
• Dissolved temporary restraining order and defeated motion for preliminary injunction sought against departing employee (Maricopa County Superior Court).
• Various summary judgments on employment-related and other claims.
• Numerous restraining orders and injunctions secured to enforce restrictive covenants.
• Numerous no-cause findings on charges filed with EEOC, ACRD, NERC and NMHRD.
• Bench trial for plaintiff to enforce commercial contract (U.S. District Court – Central District of California, Southern Division) – judgment for plaintiff in excess of $1,000,000.
• One-week jury trial for plaintiff in equine litigation against an insurance company and insurance broker (U.S. District Court – Central District of California) – plaintiff’s verdict.
• Secured dismissal of defamation action against dentists and professional organization (District Court – Nevada).
• Secured summary judgments for national life insurance companies on disability/ERISA claims (U.S. District Court – Nevada).
• Trial-styled arbitration – defense on defamation and slander claims (Ventura County Superior Court).
• Summary Judgment on abuse of process and malicious prosecution claims (Pima County Superior Court).

• Best Lawyers in America®, Lawyer of the Year, Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants, 2023, 2026
• Best Lawyers in America^®, Commercial Litigation, Employment Law Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants, 2014-2026
• Benchmark Litigation, Benchmark Litigation Star, 2016-2019 and 2025
• Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona, AZ Big Media, 2022, 2025, 2026
• Southwest Super Lawyers^®, Top 25 Women in Arizona, 2020-2024
• Chambers USA, Leading Lawyers for Business, 2020-2024
• AZ Business Leaders, AZ Big Media, 2022
• Southwest Super Lawyers^®, Business Litigation, 2017-2025
• Top 100 Lawyers, AZ Business Magazine, 2020
• Selected, “Most Influential Women in Arizona Business,” AZ Business Magazine, 2015
• bizAZ’s, “Up-And-Coming-Attorneys,” 2005
• AV^® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated (the highest rating available), by Martindale-Hubbell

• Featured, “Top 100 Lawyers,” AZBusiness Magazine, January 2025
• Featured, “Top 10 Most Influential Commercial Litigation Lawyers in Arizona for 2023,” Business Today, July 21, 2023
• Featured, “Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona for 2023,” AZ Big Media, January 19, 2023
• Interview, “Determine What is Important to You and Fully Commit to Making it a Priority,” Fennemore Blog, August 19, 2021
• Co-author, Practical Challenges to Enforcing Confidentiality Agreements, 67 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. 18-1, 2021
• Quoted, “Let’s Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day,” Fennemore Blog, February 18, 2021
• Quoted, “e-Discovery Process Impacted by Covid-19 Crisis?” Legal Reader, June 15 2020
• Co-author, “COVID-19: Health Plan Coverage For Furloughed Employees,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 26, 2020
• Co-author, “Understanding the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act and Emergency Paid Sick Leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 20, 2020
• Co-author, “Frequently Asked Questions About the Coronavirus in the Employment Setting,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 17, 2020
• Quoted, “If I Knew Then,” Crain’s Phoenix, March 2017

• Board of Directors, Christian Family Care Agency
• Member, Labor and Employment Section, American Bar Association
• Former Member, The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 on Electronic Documents Retention and Production
• Member, Arizona Association of Defense Counsel
• Past Chair, Labor and Employment Section, State Bar of Arizona
• Past Chair-Elect, Treasurer and Secretary, Labor and Employment Section, State Bar of Arizona
• Past Chair, Continuing Legal Education Committee, Labor and Employment Section, State Bar of Arizona
• Past Co-Chair, Labor and Employment Section, State Bar of Arizona’s Annual Convention
• Former Arbitrator, Orange County Bar Association Mandatory Fee Arbitration Committee
• Former Barrister, William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court Foundation

• Arizona
• California
• Nevada
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit