Judicial Profile

Specific Comments or Advice for Litigants

Specific Requirements or Preferences

My Judicial Assistant is reachable via (602) 506-8288; my Courtroom Assistant is available at (602) 506-0379 when not in the courtroom.  
 
The Court expects lawyers and all parties to treat each other, opposing parties, court staff, and everyone with respect and professionalism.  
 
Harassment, bias, or prejudice on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, socioeconomic status, or affiliation is strictly prohibited.  
 
Division 47 (Judge Thorson) is a Division holding virtual proceedings on Court Connect at times. The links you receive from my staff, from the automated court calendar notification, from scheduling orders, or from minute entries may look different, but they all lead to my virtual courtroom. Once you click a link to join, please assume you are in the courtroom and on-the-record, so please conduct yourself as if in court and advise others that you may have asked to attend to do the same.  
 
If you intend to request to appear in-person for what is a presumptively remote proceeding, please make such request via email to Division staff, copying all counsel and any self-represented parties, at least seven days in advance of the proceeding. Requests to appear in-person for remote proceedings submitted untimely are subject to summary denial.  
 
Judge Thorson's Division is also one of those using CaseCenter, a state-wide electronic exhibit portal. All exhibits must be submitted through CaseCenter. When the case has been initiated by the Clerk of Court, the attorney or party will receive an email invitation to the case created in CaseCenter. Please access self-guided training and register for an account here: https://www.azcourts.gov/digitalevidence/Training/Attorney-and-Self-Represented-Litigants  
 
Proposed orders of any kind should be lodged in eFile as separate Word documents related to the filing they accompany; there is no need to include the word "Proposed" on the Word-format order. (Local Rule 2.17)  
 
Please know and follow all required exhibit and witness procedures in the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, the local rules, Court orders, and presently in-effect administrative orders.  
 
Judge Thorson does not require courtesy hard copies of any e-filed item, unless you are submitting deposition designations. Only then are paper copies of designated deposition transcripts with objection and response charts/annotations helpful. If you only filed your document in hard copy, please do provide a courtesy copy to the Division, as otherwise we do not get notice of it.  
 
Counsel preparing witnesses for remote hearings should provide them with the Notice to Witness re: Testimony in Remote Hearing. Please request a PDF copy of the Notice to Witness from Division 47 staff should you need it.  

Pre-Trial Practice and Management Issues

Motion Practice

Division 47 can handle most motions via eFile; please lodge a Word format electronic form of order. There is no need to include the word "Proposed" or "[Proposed]" on Word format forms of order; omitting it makes e-filing more efficient for the Division.  
 
The Division adheres to ARCAP 13(f) regarding citation to case law and encourages counsel to save space by omitting parallel citations--citation to the volume and page number(s) of the official Arizona reporter, only, is sufficient. Citation of non-Arizona case law must be to the volume and page number of applicable regional or federal reporters.  
 
If a case is not available in an official Arizona reporter or in an applicable regional or federal reporter, a party may provide a citation to an electronic database or another source, but should also provide a copy of, or working link to, the case. The Division also requires strict compliance with Arizona Supreme Court Rule 111(c) and 111(d) regarding citation to unpublished authorities. Please do not cite unpublished cases from any jurisdiction without complying with those rules.  
 
If agreement on a brief extension of a response or reply deadline is reached, please email, copying all counsel and self-represented parties, Division 47 staff (Jaime.Ferniza@jbazmc.maricopa.gov and Sebastian.Inman@jbazmc.maricopa.gov) to advise of that.

Discovery or Disclosure Disputes and/or Sanctions

This Division requires strict compliance with Ariz. R. Fam. L.P. 51(f) and 9(c), regarding good-faith consultation before filing a discovery or disclosure motion. Ariz. R. Fam. L.P. 9(c)(2) has an exception, however: The parties are not required to personally meet or contact each other if:  
(A) there is a current court order prohibiting contact between the parties, a history of domestic violence between the parties, or an allegation of domestic violence; and  
(B) the alleged victim of the domestic violence is self-represented.  
 
If counsel believe a brief, on-the-record conference with the Court will resolve the issue posed by a discovery or disclosure motion yet to be filed, they may instead file a joint, three-page statement (with each side being entitled to 1.5 pages) and request a discovery dispute conference with the Court. The joint statement must include a Rule 9(c) good-faith consultation certificate.