< Back to Previous Page
Areas of Practice
Education
  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1979; M.A., Foreign Affairs,1979; Senior Editor, Virginia Journal of International Law
  • Yale University, B.A., Political Science, cum laude,1976
Bar & Court Admissions
  • Arizona
  • U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
  • United States Supreme Court

David J. Bodney

Partner

Collier Center
201 East Washington Street
16th Floor
Phoenix AZ 85004
TEL: 602.257.5212
FAX: 602.257.5299

David Bodney is a partner in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.  Mr. Bodney’s practice areas include media and constitutional law, civil litigation, 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 and broadcast 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 civil rights and 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. 

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 Trustees 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 and the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the Children's Action Alliance. On behalf of the City of Phoenix, Mr. Bodney negotiated the City's acquisition of an historical 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. For his community service, he received from the American Jewish Committee the 2008 Judge Learned Hand Award.

Noteworthy

Select News & Events

Selected Publications

Professional Affiliations

  • Governing Board of ABA's Forum on Communications Law, member
  • American Bar Association, Arizona Bar Association
  • Named by Vice President Al Gore as Civil Liberties Adviser to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, 1997
  • Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, past President of the Board
  • Arizona State Bar’s Committee on the Rules of Professional Responsibility, former member
  • Arizona Chief Justice’s Commission on Juvenile Justice, former member
  • Arizona Judicial Council’s Committee to Study Public Access to Electronic Records, former member
  • Children’s Action Alliance, immediate past Chairman of the Board of Directors
  • Anti-Defamation League (Arizona Region), former Chairman of the Board
  • Advisory Board to ThinkAZ, member
  • ABA Editorial Board of Communications Lawyers, member
CONTACT US | PRIVACY | TERMS OF USE | © 2010 STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | ATTORNEY ADVERTISING | SITE BY FIRMSEEK
Washington | New York | Chicago | Phoenix | Los Angeles | Century City | Brussels | London