Mr. Thomson was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona, United States District Court, District of Arizona in 1986.  A native of Rockland, Maine, Mr. Thomson received his Bachelors of Science Degree in Political Science from Ohio State University in 1979 and his Juris Doctorate Degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, in 1985, where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team, a Regional Moot Team Court finalist and served as the Notes Editor of the Capital University Law Review.  Mr. Thomson was also Student Bar, Association President for the Capital University Law School, and a member of its Dean's List.

Mr. Thomson's practice focuses upon corporate and business transactions, including corporate governance matters, mergers/acquisitions and commercial transactions.  Mr. Thomson has represented clients in a wide variety of complex corporate transactional matters ranging from private security offerings, buy/sell agreements, shareholders agreements and joint venture agreements.  Mr. Thomson also has extensive experience in the area of commercial real estate development, including acquisition, entitlement, zoning and land use regulation. 

Mr. Thomson is a member of the Maricopa County and American Bar Association and the State Bar of Arizona.  Mr. Thomson has been selected for the "Best Lawyers in America" for 2001 - 2007 for business and commercial attorneys and has long been "AV" rated in Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Conant is a member of the Thomson Conant PLC law firm in Phoenix, Arizona.  He has practiced exclusively in the areas of business, commercial and securities litigation since his admission to the State Bar of Arizona in 1989.

After undergraduate study at Western Michigan University, foreign study at Exeter College, Oxford University, and law school at the University of Michigan, Mr. Conant joined the Phoenix firm of Streich, Lang, Weeks & Cardon, P.A. as a member of one of the firm's litigation teams. Thereafter, for eleven years he was with the Galbut & Conant law firm and then, in 2002, formed Thomson Conant PLC with Neil Thomson.

Mr. Conant is AV rated by his peers under the Martindale-Hubbell rating system, indicating that he has achieved the highest ability levels and best reputations for ethical practice possible.

Mr. Conant is a trial lawyer, handling trials, arbitration matters and mediations for clients in Arizona in both state and federal court.  He is experienced in matters involving injunctive relief, as well as both jury and bench trials.  He has handled arbitration matters before the American Arbitration Association (including its Center for International Dispute Resolution), the American Health Lawyers Association, JAMS, the NASD, FINRA, and the NYSE.

As part of his securities litigation practice, Mr. Conant has represented clients in regulatory matters before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Stock Exchange, FINRA and the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Mr. Conant is a past Arizona Bar Convention speaker and has been a speaker to lawyers and other professionals on topics such as ethics, legal privileges, and various substantive legal issues within his practice areas.  His clients range from individuals to entrepreneurial businesses to large firms depending on the matter involved.

ATTORNEY

Ms. Emmel attended Arizona State University, graduating Cum Laude from the College of Business in 1997, and graduated from the ASU College of Law in 2004 with a Certificate in Law, Science and Technology with a Specialization in Intellectual Property Law. Ms. Emmel was an active participant in the Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology, earning the designation of Center Scholar and published an article entitled "GPS: Saving Lives or Invading Them?" available by clicking here. She was also a Member of Entrepreneur 2004: Student Legal Team, Legal Alchemy, co-authoring the Legal Alchemy Primer on Intellectual Property, available by clicking here; and was awarded second prize in the Nathan Burkan Memorial Writing Competition sponsored by (ASCAP) for her paper on Copyright and the Sovereign Nation of the Native American.  While earning her degree from Arizona State University's College of Law, Ms. Emmel also earned various scholarships and the designation of Pedrick Scholar.

Ms. Emmel represents clients in both the state and federal court systems as well as arbitration forums regarding matters of officer/director liability, business contract disputes as well as intellectual property ownership rights, licensing, and infringement claims.  She is also experienced in intellectual property licensing, transfer and registration, representing clients in matters such as licensing and transfer of copyright, patent, trademark, publicity/persona rights, and trade secrets. 

REAL ESTATE PARALEGAL

Mr. Hardin joined Thomson Conant PLC, a law firm in Phoenix, Arizona, in July of 2008 as a mortgage paralegal specializing in residential and commercial mortgage workouts including but not limited to loss mitigation, short refinance, short sale and foreclosure dispute.

Mr. Hardin served in the Air Force from 1983 to 1987 and then attended New Mexico State University with a B.S. in 1991. Mr. Hardin specialized in affordable housing mortgages focusing on FHA insured mortgages receiving awards in 1997 and 1998 from the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers as Loan Officer of the Year. Mr. Hardin served on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers from 1994 to 2000 and was formerly President of the AAMB East Valley Chapter in 1999.

During Mr. Hardin's 16 year mortgage career he has received the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Certified Mortgage Consultant (CMC) from the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) designation from the CMPS Society representing the three highest educational designations in the mortgage industry. Mr. Hardin is a subject matter expert on mortgage origination, processing, underwriting, closing, funding, servicing and securitization. Mr. Hardin is invited regularly to speak and teach real estate classes at the ASU polytechnic campus. Mr. Hardin is a member of the Gerson Lehrman Group Council and Consultant on Broker to Banker migration.

ADMINISTRATOR / PARALEGAL

Ms. Naughton is the firm’s Office Administrator and on-site IT professional. In addition to those responsibilities, she also works as a Litigation Paralegal on select matters in the state and federal court systems, and in arbitration matters. Ms. Naughton began her legal career in 1995 after obtaining her degree from the American Institute. Afterwards, she co-owned and operated a locally-recognized mediation firm specializing in domestic relations matters. During her legal career, she has also pursued a course of study in the IT field at both the University of Phoenix and DeVryUniversity. In 2001, she began working for Mr. Conant in business and commercial litigation matters. She joined Thomson Conant in 2002 when it was formed and has worked continuously for the firm since that time. Before beginning her legal career, Ms. Naughton worked for GMAC mortgage as an office manager and loan closer.

PARALEGAL

Mr. Miller is a litigation paralegal. He joined the firm in 2005 after graduating from the ABA-approved Paralegal Program at Phoenix College. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern University at New Orleans in 1998 in Criminal Justice. Mr. Miller previously worked as a Deputy for the Orleans Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Office in various capacities, and as an on-campus security officer for a New Orleans area hospital. Mr. Miller is also a United States Navy veteran. During his naval career, he served on active duty during Desert Storm and earned the Federal Firefighter certification. Mr. Miller is licensed in the State of Arizona as a Certified Legal Document Preparer.