Talk:Snell & Wilmer

"Snowed Under" With Work?

Supposedly, Mr. Snell was "snowed under" with work. Why was he not able to call on his existing partners, Messrs. Salmon and Strouss, for assistance? Who attended to Mr. Snell's work while he engaged in inquiries among the judges, searching for the "best lawyer" in the state? Further, if Mr. Snell was indeed looking for the best lawyer in the state, why did he limit his inquiries to the judges in Maricopa County? Maricopa County was and is the largest of the state's counties, but Arizona had fourteen counties at the time, including Pima, which contains the major city of Tucson.

Nature of Partnership

The article states that Messrs. Snell and Wilmer decided to become partners without addressing financial terms. How did that impact Messrs. Salmon and Strouss? Was there actually a partnership between Messrs. Snell, Salmon & Strouss prior to Mr. Wilmer's joining the firm?

People Generally Assumed?

When people saw John Wayne and Barry Goldwater, they only "assumed" they were there to see Mr. Melczer? This raises some interesting questions.

• Did John Wayne and Barry Goldwater have such notorious tax problems that the mere act of consulting a law firm would lead people to believe they were seeking a tax lawyer? John Wayne was a movie actor, and Barry Goldwater was involved in a department store, and doubtless there could have been other reasons that either or both of them might have been consulting a lawyer.

• Did Messrs. Wayne and Goldwater just drop in unannounced?

• Did they not make an appointment before coming into the firm's offices?

• If so, would they not have informed someone of the name of the lawyer they desired to see?

• If by chance, they dropped in, or made an appointment without specifying the name of the lawyer they desired to see, could not the receptionist have asked them the name of the lawyer they wished to see, rather than just "assuming" that it might be Mr. Melczer?

Oh, wait, in a later portion of the article, we are informed that it was not until 1972 that the firm developed "non-attorney administrative support." Maybe it was only then that the firm trained employees to ask people calling in for an appointment or who merely showed up in the reception area to give the name of the lawyer they wished to see and not to rely on assumptions?

Goldwater's Status as a Celebrity

Was Barry Goldwater "famous" in the 1940's? He did not run for Phoenix City Council until 1949.

Reconvening of the Senate

The firm's "lore" is not an adequate citation. If the United States Senate actually reconvened on account of an error found by Mr. Melczer, we should be provided with the name of the Act in question, and the citation to the affected provision, the nature of the error, and how the error was remedied. Further, the Senate, acting alone, would have no power to fix an error in duly enacted legislation, so what action, if any, was taken by the House of Representatives? When was the corrections bill submitted to the President and what action did he take?

Demanded and Received Resignations?

To describe the government of the City of Phoenix as "crooked" without a description of the alleged illegality, and without citing any authority for the statement, is not sufficient. Also, what governmental authority did a firm have, that it could not only "demand" but also "receive" resignations of city officials? A citation to the city's charter, or other appropriate documentation, seems to be necessary at this point in the article.