DONN KESSLER
EDUCATION
B.A., University of Virginia (with High Distinction), 1972
J.D., Yale Law School, 1975
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Kessler was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of Hawaii (1975-1977) and an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia (1978-79). He was an appellate attorney and litigator at Christian Barton Epps Brent & Chappell in Richmond, Virginia (1979-1982), Jennings Strouss & Salmon in Phoenix (1982-1990), and Ulrich, Kessler & Anger in Phoenix (1991-2000). Judge Kessler became a staff attorney at the Arizona Supreme Court in 2000 and joined Jones Skelton & Hochuli in Phoenix in 2002. Judge Kessler retired from the Court of Appeals in 2017.
PUBLIC SERVICE
First chair of the State Bar Appellate Practice Section, chair of the State Bar Antitrust Section, President of the Arizona Association of Healthcare Lawyers, and member of the State Bar Civil Practice and Procedure Committee. Judge Kessler also served for four years as a judge pro tempore for Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals. While he was in private practice, the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Judge Kessler to chair the Rules Working Group of the Appellate Case Processing Implementation Task Force, which took the lead in proposing amendments to most of the rules governing civil and criminal appeals in Arizona. He also served as co-chair of the Appellate Mediation Committee for Division One of the Court of Appeals. That committee drafted the rules for the Court of Appeals' appellate mediation program. Judge Kessler has also acted as a mentor for elementary school children through the Oasis Program.
Judge Kessler is the co-author of Arizona Healthcare Professional Liability Handbook (1992 and 1994 Supp.). He is also the co-author of Federal Appellate Practice: Ninth Circuit Second Edition (West Group 1999 and 2000 Supp.)