Bruce E. Meyerson Lecture

This lecture series is the result of a gift to the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University from retired Judge Bruce E. Meyerson and his wife Mary Ellen Simonson, a graduate of ASU Law. The purpose of the lecture series is to bring leading practitioners and scholars in the field of dispute resolution to ASU Law.

Judge Meyerson moved to Arizona with his family in 1958 and, after receiving his undergraduate degree from Arizona State University, he graduated law school from the Georgetown University Law Center where he was an Editor of the Law Journal. Upon his return to Arizona, he represented the United Farm Workers of America, then led by Cesar Chavez. In 1974, with the help of many local attorneys, he founded and became the first Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, which continues its successful public interest work today. For his distinguished and landmark work there, Judge Meyerson was honored by the Arizona Consumers Council, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Community Action Association and the journalism society, Sigma Delta Chi.

In 1982, Judge Meyerson became the youngest appointee to the Arizona Court of Appeals, where he served with distinction for almost five years. During his tenure, he wrote numerous decisions that remain good law today, including an important decision establishing the procedure for the determination of attorney’s fee awards in contract cases. After leaving the bench, Judge Meyerson became the General Counsel of Arizona State University and later joined two prestigious Phoenix law firms, before focusing his practice on dispute resolution.

Judge Meyerson is a nationally acclaimed practitioner and instructor in the field of dispute resolution. He has resolved nearly 3,000 mediations over his career and has been the Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution and the Chair of the Arizona Bar’s Section of Dispute Resolution. He also has served as an arbitrator in over 250 cases. For over 30 years, Judge Meyerson has served as an Adjunct Professor at the College of Law, teaching courses in arbitration and mediation.

Judge Meyerson’s wife, Mary Ellen Simonson, is a partner in the powerhouse firm Womble Bond Dickinson in Phoenix, AZ. They have two children, Julia and Meghan, a son-in-law, Peter Keane, and grandchildren, Greer and William.