Sedona, AZ

Richard L. Strohm is an AV-rated trial lawyer with over 45 years of experience in Arizona and Colorado. He has served as a prosecutor and has tried over 40 cases as lead counsel in state and federal courts. His practice focuses on criminal defense, personal injury, and civil litigation, representing clients who have been wronged.

Frederick M. “Fritz” Aspey

Attorney Frederick M. “Fritz” Aspey is a native Arizonan and founding member of ASPEY,WATKINS & DIESEL, PLLC. For a majority of his career, he practiced with an emphasis in business and real estate. Mr. Aspey has been an active member of the State Bar of Arizona and has served on notable boards, task forces, and committees that have shaped the practice of law in Arizona. He is a former president of the State Bar of Arizona and a former judge pro tempore for the Arizona Court of Appeals. In 2022, Mr. Aspey received the State Bar of ArizonaBoard of Governors Special Award of Honor for 50 Years of Service to the LegalProfession and to the Citizenry and Community of the State of Arizona.

Jason Bliss

Jason Bliss practiced law in Phoenix, Arizona for 20 years before moving to Flagstaff and to Aspey, Watkins & Diesel in 2017. As a litigation attorney in Phoenix, Mr. Bliss focused his practice on complex and serious lawsuits, from tire failure cases involving catastrophic injury and death to multi-party construction defect and insurance coverage litigation. He has litigated wrongful death,quadriplegia/paraplegia, amputation and brain injury cases as both a plaintiff and defendant. Mr. Bliss has significant experience litigating construction-related disputes in various contexts, including on behalf of or adverse to design builders, architects, engineers, materials testing consultants, and specialty trade subcontractors in both residential and commercial construction settings. He also has considerable experience litigating other commercial matters including real estate disputes, partnership or corporate disputes, copyright infringement issues, and commercial and residential landlord tenant matters. In his Phoenix practice Mr. Bliss handled insurance coverage matters on behalf of various insurers, including general liability insurers, professional liability insurers, and auto and property insurers. He has authored coverage opinions as well as litigated insurance-coverage related disputes. In addition, Mr. Bliss defended commercial lines and professional insureds in various subject areas focusing on medical malpractice, construction litigation, liquor liability lawsuits, tire defect lawsuits, and other serious personal injury and death litigation. Mr. Bliss is a frequent presenter on personal injury, construction law, and trial practice issues. Mr. Bliss co-authored the chapter entitle “Risk Transfer Through the Tender of Defense” in the most recent edition of the Arizona Construction Law Practice Manual.

Steven C. Dawson

For over 25 years, Steve Dawson has dedicated his practice to suing insurance companies that cheat their policyholders. He has litigated cases involving virtually every kind of insurance coverage, whether medical, disability, auto, homeowners, or commercial liability. Steven C. Dawson has represented individuals, families, and companies in cases against their insurance companies. He has consulted with clients and attorneys throughout the country, has frequently lectured on the topic and has been called upon to act as an expert witness. He is a participant in Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, an invitation only directory of the state’s most prominent and prestigious lawyers. Mr. Dawson was selected in every year since 2007 as one of a few Southwest Super Lawyers, following a selection process that included peer nominations, a blue ribbon panel review and independent research of candidates.

Anita Rosenthal

Ms. Rosenthal has litigated numerous civil cases during the course of her career; many of them resulting in multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. Although she has managed many different types of cases in her career, Anita has concentrated on disability claims. Anita is a native Arizonan, who has been practicing law for nearly 30 years. She spent much of her youth working with her father’s theater company, now known as the Arizona Theater Company. Since graduating from Arizona State University Law School in 1980, Anita practiced with a prominent private criminal defense attorney and then became a public defender in Maricopa County. After successfully defending many cases, she worked for the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, where she became the coordinator for mental health services throughout Arizona. After her work at the public interest law firm, Anita returned to the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office to become a trial group coordinator, responsible for supervising, managing, and training over 25 lawyers in trial skills. Anita joined Steve Dawson at Thur, Dawson and O’Sullivan in 1987, and in 1995, they formed Dawson and Rosenthal. Her trial in the case of Ceimo v. General American resulted in an $87 million verdict; the largest disability verdict in the country that year. The Ceimo case was quickly followed by Leavey v. Unum Provident, which resulted in a 20 million dollar verdict. Another of Anita’s disability cases was featured on NBC’s Dateline in 2002. Anita tried the case of Nardelli v. MetLife, resulting in a $55 million dollar verdict, and most recently, tried a toxic inhalation case against the State of Arizona (Clabough v. State of Arizona) resulting in a $4.3 million dollar judgment. In all, Anita has litigated well over 50 trials successfully, both criminal and civil.

Isabel Humphrey

Isabel Humphrey has practiced law in Arizona for over thirty years, most recently at Hunter, Humphrey & Yavitz in Phoenix, where she often worked closely on cases with attorneys from Aspey, Watkins & Diesel. She joined AWD in 2025 as her partners in HHY were winding down their practices toward retirement. Ms. Humphrey has represented a wide variety of clients in her civil practice, from hospitals, general contractors and charitable organizations to entrepreneurs, injured students and landowners. Currently, she focuses on state and federal appeals and appellate consultation, while continuing to practice civil litigation at the trial court level. Ms. Humphrey enjoys learning foreign languages and playing Irish music, both in traditional seisiún groups and in her Irish punk band, Whiskey Famine. She experienced her fifteen minutes of fame in 2012 when she obtained the computer records showing that Casey Anthony had searched “foolproof suffocation” on the day of her daughter’s disappearance.

Zachary J. Markham

Zachary Markham’s practice primarily focuses on family law. Mr. Markham was a National Appellate Advocacy Competition Finalist and National Moot Court Team Advisor. He received the American Juris Prudence Award in Torts in 1981. Mr. Markham was also an attorney advisor to the Coconino County Superior Court Special Master program. He joined ASPEY, WATKINS & DIESEL, PLLC in 1987.