Kathy Brody
ATTORNEY
Kathy Brody, a former Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona, handles all types of criminal, regulatory, and administrative matters. Her practice focuses on assisting individuals, corporations, and other entities with special projects and complex matters where criminal law issues intersect with constitutional rights, civil liability, politics, and public relations. Kathy is known for her attention to detail, top-quality work product, and ability to synthesize and simplify complicated matters to find solutions for her clients.
Kathy represents and advises clients in connection with all types of interactions with the government, including defending clients in active criminal and other enforcement proceedings, responding to subpoenas and other requests for information, representing clients in government interviews, and assisting clients with making reports to government agencies. Kathy also has considerable experience in complex compliance matters, including those involving deferred prosecution agreements and corporate monitors.
Kathy litigates and advises her clients in various areas, including consumer fraud, federal and state constitutional rights, False Claims Act, public corruption, Veterans’ Affairs regulations, mandatory-reporter laws, anti-money-laundering compliance, and health-care regulations. Kathy is also experienced and skilled in assisting companies and public entities with conducting internal investigations.
Kathy has particular experience representing lawyers and other licensed professionals during government investigations, discipline proceedings, enforcement actions, and other court proceedings. She has significant expertise in lawyer ethics and professional responsibility. Kathy frequently provides advice to law firms, lawyers, and judges in Arizona on ethical issues and professional obligations and represents lawyers facing bar charges and investigation by the Arizona State Bar, including in formal proceedings and evidentiary hearings. Kathy previously served on the Arizona State Bar Ethics Committee and was the editorial board co-chair for the most recent edition of the Arizona Legal Ethics Handbook.
Kathy also advises and represents public officials and public entities on various criminal and civil law issues. She is an expert on the Arizona Public Records Act, having counseled public entities on their obligations, sought public records on behalf of clients in connection with criminal and civil investigations, and litigated public records issues in Arizona courts.
Kathy frequently appears in courts throughout Arizona on behalf of clients. She is experienced in civil and criminal appeals and has authored numerous briefs in state and federal appellate courts, including the United States and Arizona Supreme Courts. Kathy has argued appeals on behalf of clients in the Arizona Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit.
Kathy also advises clients regarding potential post-conviction claims following state and federal court convictions, including conducting post-conviction investigations and legal evaluations for clients. Kathy litigates post-conviction cases in Arizona state courts and handles matters for clients before the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency.
Kathy speaks frequently on criminal and white-collar issues, civil rights, and constitutional issues. She serves as an adjunct professor at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where she teaches Public Interest Litigation. Since 2015, Kathy has been a leader in Arizona in the fight for criminal justice reform. As President of the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, she led the organization in reinvigorating its legislative and policy committee and making AACJ the go-to organization for Arizona legislators and other policy makers on criminal justice issues. She continues to press for reform on various fronts, including through ongoing constitutional litigation.
As Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona, Kathy directed a large and busy docket of ongoing and developing constitutional litigation, including cases involving the First Amendment, the criminal legal system, and the rights of people in prisons and jails. Kathy was previously a partner at the Phoenix law firm of Osborn Maledon, where her work focused on government and internal investigations, civil and criminal appeals and post-conviction proceedings, and professional discipline.
Kathy has a B.A. in archaeological studies from Yale University. She graduated summa cum laude from the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as the Case Notes Editor for the Arizona Law Review. Following her graduation from law school, Kathy served as a law clerk to Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew D. Hurwitz.
- Chambers, USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
- American Jewish Committee, Judge Learned Hand Emerging Leadership Award, March 15, 2019
- Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Vanguard Leadership Award, January 19, 2018
- The Best Lawyers in America, White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2013 – 2016
- Southwest Super Lawyers, Rising Star, General Litigation, 2012 – 2015
- Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Board Member (2014-present); President (2015); Chair, Legislative/Policy Committee (2014-2021); Chair, Amicus/Rules Committee (2013-2014)
- Arizona Justice Project, Board Member (2014-2016)
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Member (2009 – present)
- Federal Bar Association, Member (2009-present)
- National Lawyers’ Guild, Member (2019-present)
- Phoenix Legal Action Network (PLAN), founding Board Member (2016-2018)
- Arizona State Bar, Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct (Ethics) (2011-2017)
- ABA Section of Litigation, Criminal Litigation Committee: Web Editor (2014-2015); Associate Web Editor (2010-2014)
- Arizona Women’s Lawyers Association, Member (2009-2016)
- Arizona State Bar Leadership Institute (2010-2011)
- American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Legal Director (2016-2019)
- Osborn Maledon, P.A. (October 2008 – August 2016) (Member 2013 – August 2016)
- Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew D. Hurwitz, Law Clerk (2007-2008)
- Legal and Legislative Challenges on the Front Line and the Front Page, presentation with Jared Keenan and Nathan Wade at the Arizona Public Defender Association conference, June 2018
- Proud Legacy, Promising Future – Arizona Law Public Interest Advocacy, presentation to the James E. Rogers College of Law Justice Advocates Coalition, October 27, 2017
- Updates from the Front Lines: Arizona State Legislature, ACLU, and Criminal Justice Battlegrounds, presentation with Marilyn Rodriquez at the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice Fall Seminar, September, 2017
- Zealous, Again?, presentation with John Canby at the Arizona Public Defender Association conference, June, 2017
- Driving While Black or Brown – Racial Profiling Is Illegal . . . Right?, presentation with Lee Phillips at the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice Fall Seminar, September, 2016
- State of Our State: Is Criminal Sentencing Reform Right for Arizona?, conference sponsored by the ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy, panelist discussing “What Is Next for Arizona?”, November, 2015
- 2015 Maricopa County Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference, panelist discussing “Ethical Pitfalls,” October, 2015
- Attorney-Client Privilege in Internal Investigations: Best Practices & Lessons from Recent Cases, The Champion, September/October, 2015 (with Anne Chapman)
- Show Me the Money: Casinos’ Anti-Money-Laundering Obligations and Enforcement, The Federal Lawyer, August, 2015 (with Grace C. Rebling)
- Editorial Board, Arizona Legal Ethics Hand Book (Third Edition), State Bar of Arizona, June, 2015
- Fair Courts: Arizona’s Merit Selection System in Pinal County, conference sponsored by the Arizona Advocacy Network, moderator of panel; discussing the rise of capital litigation in Pinal County and its impact on the courts, April, 2015
- Important Developments in Attorney-Client Privilege: A review of recent cases involving the corporate attorney-client privilege and internal investigations, presentation with Anne Chapman to the Association of Corporate Counsel, Arizona Chapter, October, 2014
- What to Do When the Attorney General, Auditor General, and Other Agencies Start Asking Questions?, presentation with Anne Chapman to Arizona School Boards Association Law Conference, September, 2013
- Deferred Prosecution Agreements in the Financial Services Industry: Trends and Tips, The Champion, June, 2013 (with Anne Chapman)
- Author, Case Note: Arizona State Democratic Party v. State, 47 Ariz. L. Rev. 1065 (2005)
State Board of Arizona (2008)
State Bar of California (inactive) (2008)
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (2008)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2010)
U.S. Supreme Court (2015)