It’s important
to ensure that
speech about
public officials
and public
matters remains
uninhibited,
robust and wide
open,” says
Bodney.
serious wounding of Congresswoman
Giffords. So the challenge, really, was to
help secure these records and achieve my
clients’ legal objectives, but to do it at a
time and in a way when many hearts had
still not mended.”
Gentle words coming from a First
Amendment pugilist who has, over the
years, fought to obtain access to tightly
sealed documents on behalf of every
major newspaper and TV network affiliate
in Phoenix. Bodney has also defended
national media clients like 60 Minutes, 48
Hours, The Washington Post and the late
John F. Kennedy Jr.’s magazine, George, in
defamation cases. He fights hard, but his
style is softer.
“His basic personality is that of a gentle,
kind soul,” says veteran commercial
litigator Paul Eckstein of Perkins Coie in
Phoenix, who hired Bodney fresh out of the
University of Virginia’s law school in 1979,
when the office was still known as Brown &
Bain. “But when he’s representing a client,
he does whatever is ethical and legitimate
to achieve the client’s goals.”
José Cárdenas, general counsel and
senior vice president of Arizona State
University, agrees. “He’s certainly a
gentleman, but he’s firm, and he’s tough
when he needs to be,” says Cárdenas,
who’s been opposing counsel to Bodney on
a number of occasions. “Because he is so
knowledgeable in the area and carries the
reputation that he has, he makes it clear
that he knows his stuff without hitting you
over the head with it.”
Part of Bodney’s success lies in the fact
that public officials and their counsel prefer
doing business with him rather than the
investigative journalists he often represents.
“Whenever David gets involved, there’s
always a sense of relief,” says Joseph
Kanefield of Ballard Spahr, president of the
State Bar of Arizona and former general
counsel to Gov. Jan Brewer, an official
who endures a sometimes-acrimonious
relationship with the local press. “Often
reporters and others in the media will
throw the public records law around
loosely, and it can be difficult to deal
with these folks, because they may not
understand the complete scope of the law.
With David, we know we’re dealing with a
professional and we can focus on the real
issues of the case, and not get caught up in
personality conflicts with someone being
difficult in the name of advocacy.”
“He’s not difficult just for the sake of
being difficult,” adds Cárdenas. “He’s tough,
in terms of his legal position, but not a jerk.”
That’s because Bodney believes he’s
fighting the good fight.
