David J. Bodney

Partner

• dbodney@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Phoenix Office

David J. Bodney is a partner in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.  Mr. Bodney’s practice areas include media and constitutional law, civil litigation, civil rights, American Indian law and government affairs.  He is listed in the current editions of Who’s Who in American Law, The Best Lawyers in America, and Southwest Super Lawyers.

Media and Constitutional Law
Over the years, Mr. Bodney has successfully defended print, broadcast and electronic media in defamation, privacy and related lawsuits in numerous federal and state courts.  He serves as adjunct faculty at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, where he teaches media law.  Mr. Bodney has served as the co-author of the Arizona sections of the Media Law Resource Center’s 50-State Surveys on privacy and employment privacy law since their inception.  He has lectured on media law and litigation at conferences internationally, including presentations on extreme speech, libel and mass media law in Cambridge, London and Moscow, respectively.   Mr. Bodney’s practice covers a wide range of constitutional law issues, including prosecuting actions to secure open government, blocking prior restraints and subpoenas of reporters by government and third parties, handling copyright, trademark and other intellectual property law issues and litigating civil rights claims.  For over 25 years, he has worked to secure open government legislation on behalf of the publishing industry.  In 1999, together with The Arizona Republic, he earned the Arizona Newspapers Association’s Freedom of Information Award for his work in federal court on behalf of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.  He recently co-authored a monograph on freedom-of-information laws for the ABA’s Central and East European Law Initiative to assist emerging democracies in the former Soviet Union with the enactment of FOI laws.  Mr. Bodney is a former legislative aid to U.S. Sen. John V. Tunney.

Civil Litigation
Mr. Bodney has litigated a variety of complex cases, including commercial disputes in the banking, education, publishing, retail and high-technology industries, in courts around the country.  He has handled securities, trademark, trade secrets, copyright and contract actions, including AAA and other arbitrations.  In addition, Mr. Bodney has argued a wide variety of appellate cases, both state and federal, and briefed several high-profile cases in the United States Supreme Court.

American Indian Law
Mr. Bodney’s practice of constitutional law extends to Indian and gaming law matters, and he advises clients on a wide range of such issues, including tribal governance, membership, sovereignty, taxation, voting and water rights.  On behalf of one Arizona tribe, he worked with Senator John McCain to secure passage of a landmark Indian water rights settlement act.  His work on Indian law involves a host of legal services, from government relations to litigation in federal, state and tribal courts. 

Pro Bono
For the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mr. Bodney serves as a member of the Board of Directors and oversees its “Election Protection” efforts in Arizona.  He is a member of the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League, the past Chairman of the Board of the ADL's Arizona Region, the past Chairman of the Board of the Children's Action Alliance and past President of the Board of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest.  He also serves on the Endowment Board of ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication. On behalf of the City of Phoenix, Mr. Bodney negotiated the City's acquisition of an historic school building in downtown Phoenix to house the Children's Museum of Phoenix.  Over the years, he has served on the Training Committee of the Arizona Town Hall and as faculty at the ABA's annual Media Advocacy Workshop.  In 2008, for his community service, Mr. Bodney received the prestigious Judge Learned Hand Award.

Noteworthy

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2010 for First Amendment Law (listed annually since 1996)
• Listed in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel July 2009 and 2010 for First Amendment Law
• Recommended by Legal 500 US 2007 for Media and Entertainment: Defamation and Libel
• Listed in Southwest Super Lawyers 2007 - 2010 for Media and Constitutional Law
• Listed in Who's Who in American Law (listed since 1995)
• Listed in Who's Who in America (listed since 1995)
• Steptoe Wins Immigration Pro Bono Case in Phoenix
• Arizona Supreme Court Rules Letter to Editor Still Covered by First Amendment

Select News & Events

• Southwest Super Lawyers Honors 14 Steptoe Attorneys
• Society of Professional Journalists Honors David Bodney and Aaron Lockwood
• David Bodney Quoted in ABA Journal on "Maricopa Courthouse War"
• ABA Elects David Bodney to Governing Committee of Forum on Communications Law
• The Arizona Republic Quotes David Bodney on Public Records Law
• The Associated Press Quotes David Bodney on Phoenix Racial Profiling Case
• Free Press: The First Amendment in the Digital Age (in connection with the 25th Anniversary of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, Phoenix, Arizona, November 18, 2008)
• International Conference on Extreme Speech and Democracy at Cambridge University (Cambridge, UK; April 22, 2007) (“Extreme Speech and American Press Freedoms”)
• Key Employees in Transition Workshop, February 8, 2006, (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
• Fire Inside the Firewall: Liability for Information Security Breaches: A Data Security Seminar (New York, N.Y., May 13, 2005) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)

Selected Publications

• Extreme Speech and Democracy, Oxford University Press 2009 (co-author)
• A Persuasive Colloquy: A Review of Making Your Case (Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner) (Arizona Attorney)
  July/August 2008
• War, Wisdom, and Freedom of the Press (Communications Lawyer)
  December 1, 2002

Professional Affiliations

• ABA Editorial Board of Communications Lawyer, member
• American Bar Association, Arizona Bar Association
• Arizona Chief Justice’s Commission on Juvenile Justice, former member
• Arizona Judicial Council’s Committee to Study Public Access to Electronic Records, former member
• Civil Liberties Adviser to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (appointed by Vice President Al Gore, 1997)
• Governing Committee of ABA's Forum on Communications Law, member-elect
• State Bar of Arizona Committee on the Rules of Professional Responsibility, former member