“I come from a family of union people,”he says. His father and grandfather wereeach president of their Chicago union ofschool engineers: “They’re the ones whostart the boilers at 4 in the morning, if a kidthrows up they throw sawdust on it, andthen they’re home by noon.”But it is his more distant family history

that taught him lessons.

Still driving, Hanna surprises a visitor byturning into a driveway. “This is where mymom lives.” His mother is also surprised,but graciously opens her home and speaksabout her family.Hanna’s father, now deceased, was an

only child, but his mother Haydee (pro-nounced EYE-day), with her twin sister, wasthe youngest of 16. “I have cousins inMexicoI’ve never met,” Ray Hanna says. “I havemore relatives in Mexico than I do here.”Haydee’s family lived in Douglas, and

her grandfather was from Andalusia, Spain.“He had been sent to the New World tosell tractors, and he married an Indian. Butto do that, he had to get an annulmentfrom his first wife, through the papalauthority.” It was granted.Eventually, though, Hanna says, “He

wanted to go back, but his first wife would-n’t take him. The local mestizo didn’t real-ly want him either.”“How you treat people is really how

they’re going to treat you.”He is eager to talk about family and

immigration.“There are Hannas in Lebanon, Syria,

funded school in the state at the time,rather than the more cash-strapped schoolin Nogales. Before college, he also learnedto fly airplanes and helicopters.Education is an abiding concern for

Hanna, who has three sons with his wife,Lanette.“Arizona is first in a lot of things,” he

says, “but 49th in education. You can’tattract a good labor force unless you canoffer their kids a place to go to a decentschool.”Before college at ASU, Hanna got an

education of another kind on his first stintwith the U.S. Navy, which began in 1979.He served on the U.S.S. Forrestal, and

then on the U.S.S. Coronado, the flagshipin the Persian Gulf.“It’s essentially a branch of the embassy

in Bahrain,” Hanna says. After two cruises,he was offered an embassy position.“The three embassies open to me were

Sri Lanka—where they’ve had a civil warfor 40 years—El Salvador and Lebanon.But I wanted to go to Colorado Springs, toNORAD.” He went there for a year.After earning his political science under-

graduate degree at ASU, he attended lawschool at the University of Arizona. Helater graduated from the Naval JusticeSchool in Newport, Rhode Island, andcompleted the Naval War CollegeInternational Law program. The Navy tookhim to Spain, the Middle East and Africa.That is a long path from Rancho Santa

Cruz, where Hanna was raised, and evenfarther from his family background.

he brown tower is almostinvisible as the car rounds thebend. Instead, one is struckby the shape and colors of

Thumb Butte, bouldering overa Prescott neighborhood. The for-

mation is one of Arizona’s most beautiful,even in a state with more than its share ofgeology. It is so imposing, the surround-ing neighborhood took the name as itsown.Driving a visitor through the winding

streets is Ray Hanna, 50, soon to be ele-vated to State Bar President. Proud of his“town on the mountain,” he points outthe unique and noteworthy.

That is what takes him to the corner ofRockcliff and Skyline. Sleuthing into viewis what Hanna delightedly reports is the“tallest single-family residence in theworld.” The 11-story building is paintedto complement the mountain it bounds.But it still is more traffic-control towerthan bungalow.Hanna’s custom tour—and the story

behind the heavenward home—revealsmuch about what he admires and aspirestoward: In the face of challenges, be notjust present but committed. When a jobmust be done, don’t spectate, act.

When he was a boy in a small townnear Nogales, Hanna’s family had todecide early what school would serve theirchildren best.Ray Hanna ultimately went to

Sahuarita High School, the second-best-

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Tradition ChangeNew Bar President Ray Hanna

BY TIM EIGOPHOTOGRAPHS BYCHRISTOPHER MARCHETTI

17J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 A R I Z O N A AT T O R N E Yw w w. m y a z b a r. o r g / A Z A t t o r n e y

New Bar President Ray Hanna

Japan, Hawaii. But my people are buried ina little cornfield in Austria. I’ve beenthere—Odenberg. There are threeOdenbergs in Austria. So I look at theArmy maps, I find one Odenberg in theBlack Forest, with beautiful, tall pine treesin the hub of Bavaria—not my people.Then we drive to the next Odenberg, onthe Rhine River, where the factories are400 years old—not my people. The thirdOdenberg looks like Chino Valley—thoseare my people. Farmers in the middle ofAustria.”“So when people talk about the ‘immi-

grant dilemma,’ I understand it. The dilem-ma is we’ve been letting immigration occurfor more than 40 years, and now we wantto stop it.”

The soon-to-be new president stands insuperior court and addresses the judge inquiet tones. Hanna’s solo practice is in per-sonal injury and criminal law, and he knowsvirtually everyone in the room. Amidst theother lawyers and court personnel, manydress in a more relaxed style—chambrayshirts and bollo ties, for example.Hanna stands out. He wears a blue dou-

ble-breasted pinstriped suit and graychecked tie. What takes a seated visitor amoment to spot, though, are his black-and-white dress shoes—called spectator or,more pertinently, co-respondent shoes(never call them spats).Among his clients are some independent

funeral homes, and he says you must bepresent and committed to their needs.“The independents don’t want to go to

a big-firm lawyer. What they’d rather haveis someone they can call every once inawhile. You need to make yourself avail-able.”He also gets high marks for “being

there” for lawyers in his district. JudgeRobert Brutinel says, “The great thingabout Ray as our member on the Board ofGovernors is that he’s always beenapproachable and available anytime we’veneeded something.”“Ray has always been available to

explain the mys-teries of the work-ings of the Bar.”Being pre-

pared to helpmakes Hannahappy. “Without

question, I always knew I would be a solo,I knew I would be in a rural county, and Iknew I would do some criminal law.”“I’m doing exactly what I thought I

would be doing in law school.”Yavapai County Public Defender Dean

Trebesch says Hanna’s experience will ben-efit the presidency.“One of the beauties of his background

is that he’s been involved in two areas thatsome state bar presidents haven’t been—asolo practice, and indigent criminal jus-tice.”“Because of that, I think he has a sensi-

bility and openness to where people comefrom, their perspectives and concerns. Ithink people will appreciate that.”

Hanna shares with other children ofimmigrants a respect for tradition—and adislike of unnecessary obstacles.The first impulse led to his decision to

serve in the military and select law as acareer.Hanna says, “State Bar President is an

important position, but my service to themilitary—it’s far more important to me asa legacy, if you will, than my work at theState Bar. Having served in the UnitedStates Navy is pretty important to me. Ireally value that time.”For him, the Navy and law are entwined

in another tradition: the swearing-in cere-mony. Held in a gymnasium on a RhodeIsland naval base, he recalls the event fond-ly.“It’s a memorial experience—signing

the same book all of your brothers- andsister-in-law have signed for decades.”Lawyers note Hanna’s penchant for

collegiality.Hue T. Le, a Yavapai Deputy County

Attorney, says, “He is a great mentor forboth sides in the criminal practice. He’s astraight shooter, honest and forthright;you know where you stand with him.”Yavapai Deputy County Attorney

Cynthia Spitler agrees: “We’ve had trialstogether that we both fought pretty hardfor, but as soon as we walked out of the

courtroom, there were no feelings of ani-mosity. It was friendly and respectful.”His fondness for tradition is paired

with an impetus for change. “Whateveryou do, you should do with gusto, zest,pleasure,” says Hanna.

A lighthearted example of Hanna’s drivefor action sits in Haydee’s garage. Recently,the highly accomplished attorney—andself-professed “car nut”—spent a weekendmaking his mother’s car shine like new.Her turquoise retro Thunderbird

gleamed—after Hanna’s family teased himfor spending hours washing and waxing.“Why not pay one of the kids to do it?”they asked.Hanna’s answer was simple, and con-

fessed quietly: “My mother asked me to doit.”“She just turned 80, so I spent six hours

Saturday cleaning and waxing her car twice,then I went over Sunday and put anothercoat on.”“She asked me to do it,” he repeated.With two brothers and two sisters,

Hanna laughs as he says, convincingly, “I’mthe least-favorite child.” He and his twinbrother are the youngest, and he insists histwin is the favored child.Haydee doesn’t disagree, “especially

with you dropping by unannounced withguests.” She smiles as she indicates a sliverof unremoved wax near the trunk, but hugsher son before he drives away.

A more serious example of Hanna’s admi-ration for those who roll up their sleevescomes as he discusses the tower next toThumb Butte—and the zoning process.Owned by a surgeon–architect couple,

the home was opposed by some neighbors.Because the project did not require arezoning, though, the family’s vision couldbe constructed—with attorney assistance—despite dissent. He admires the couple’sdetermination in the face of opposition.More recently, Hanna himself sought a

rezoning for a pie-shaped parcel, on whichhe wanted to build a home office. At anApril hearing, many neighbors spoke inopposition, some raising the inflammatoryrisk that criminal clients would be visitingtheir street.Hanna says he was shocked at what peo-

ple would say at a rezoning.“It was like being under felony indict-

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Having served in the UnitedStates Navy is pretty importantto me. I really value that time.”

“

New Bar President Ray Hanna

ment and having done nothing wrong. Itchanged my life forever.”The man whose livelihood is defined by

rule and statute decries what he calls “therule of the mob.” He withdrew the rezon-ing application, and hasn’t decided what hewill do with the land.This was a blow to a man many call a

straight shooter.Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk

says, “His word is golden. There was nevera need to get things in writing with Ray; ifhe said it, it would happen. We knew wecould count on it.”“He operates with integrity at all times.”

The new president speaks often about step-ping up to responsibilities, including build-ing community.In that regard, he and his wife have host-

ed in their home an annual reception for thenorthern chapter of the Arizona WomenLawyers Association for about three years.And he has urged others to support thegroup.To Hanna, an important element of

commitment is to know one’s limits. He isproud that the Bar governors have “run asolvent ship.” And he speaks about the dan-gers of too much law school debt. But asBar commitments crowd out his billablehours, he describes Bar work as a gooddebt, one that must be paid.“Making more money is really not

important. I’m on a pretty even keel; Idon’t spend more than I can. Things that Idesire that I can’t afford I probably don’tneed.”In court later that day, he chuckles as he

tells the judge, “The secret to happiness ishaving one wife and one credit card.”But the new president believes people

must be committed, not merely involved—and that may mean incurring a debt or pay-ing a price. He quotes another Bar leader,dismayed at a proposed fee increase for theMember Assistance Program, who asked,“Why are we charging these people a dime?You’re telling me this is the organizationthat saves people’s lives and careers, and

we’re charging them for it?”Hanna respects that view, but adds what

he knows about human nature: “The otherside is, to be committed and tied to a pro-gram, you’ve got to have some skin in it.”

His commitment to community extends tohis work as a Shriner, an arm of theFreemasons.The group’s primary good works center

around 22 hospitals for children, providingorthopedic and burn care.Perhaps as well known as the hospital

work, Shriners are most often seen weavingabout in small vehicles in local parades;Hanna has driven the car (and worn thefez). And in an assignment that captures hispersonality, Hanna is the head of his unit—the Greeters. Their task is, not surprisingly,to welcome others and make them com-fortable.Never off-duty, apparently, the Prescott

booster pauses in conversation at the PalaceSaloon to point down the bar toward astranger and ask the barkeep, “May I get aspare for him whenever he’s ready?” Thevisitor accepts the beer happily. Even inPrescott, that doesn’t happen every day.Within the Shriners, Hanna was invited

to join the Royal Order of Jesters. In a larg-er organization devoted to good works, theJesters’ motto is “Mirth Is King.” Theorder prefers to avoid attention, but theyare dedicated to laughter and happiness. Itwas formed in 1911, in the captain’s cabinaboard the S.S. Wilhelmina—just right fora former Navy man. As a Jester might,Hanna quotes Ben Franklin: “Beer is proofthat God loves us and wants us to behappy.”Fellow Shriner (and Jester) Leon Bess

says Hanna is “a warm and caring individ-ual who will add a lot of empathy. The barneeds that, because we all want to makemoney, but Ray is also interested in helpingpeople.” The former Bess Kunz attorneyadds that Hanna brings a refreshing “lackof stuffiness” to his new position.

Asked about his Bar goals, Hanna says,

“Discipline is the theme next year.”He says the process should be simpli-

fied, and some of it should be made moreinformal, with the possibility of unpub-lished discipline results for minor infrac-tions. There could even be an “early dispo-sition court” for lawyers: If you come to anagreement up front, you get a guaranteedresult. Hanna says the Bar is studying theapproach used by Colorado.“It will be an attempt to streamline the

process. The analogy that could be made isthis: You have more avenues for appeal in alawyer discipline case than you do in adeath-penalty case.”But would lawyers’ procedural rights be

diminished? “It is a license, not a humanbeing,” replies Hanna, adding, “We’re nottrying to take away rights. We’re trying tomake it a little more predictable, fast andfair.”That, he says, would address lawyers’

main gripe with discipline. “Lawyers aren’treally worried about being held account-able; what we’re worried about is the stressand anguish of waiting.” He says a caseshould be resolved in no more than a year,rather than years.He mentions one other change he

would like to see on the Board ofGovernors.“When I came on the board, it was

heavily dominated by big-firm lawyers. Butdo you know what we need now more thananything? Big-firm lawyers.”He says they bring assets with them,

many non-monetary. They often havediverse and complex practices, appellateexperience, and skill managing hundreds ofpeople.Those lawyers, too, he says, should

commit themselves to Bar service.

Finally, the Prescott attorney is regarded asbeing comfortable with complexity.Reid Pixler, an Assistant United States

Attorney, says, “He has an immediate graspof complex issues. He is so aware and sogiving in so many ways.”“He is a tremendously engaging person-

ality. Empathetic may be an overused term,but he listens; he really has the ability tofind a way to aid any kind of situation. He’sone of the fellows you want to keep as afriend,” says Pixler.“He will be a stellar representative for

the Bar association.”

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As Bar commitments crowd out his billablehours, Hanna describes Bar work as a gooddebt, one that must be paid.