Rusing Lopez & Lizardi $50,000 Gift Supports Courtroom Rebuild at University of Arizona Law

Arizona business law firm Rusing Lopez & Lizardi, PLLC has contributed $50,000 to the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in support of the college’s "A New Day in Court" initiative to transform its Advocacy program.  

The firm’s gift will go toward remodeling University of Arizona Law’s existing courtrooms to create two modern, flexible, dual-purpose practice courtrooms and classrooms, one of which will house the Rusing Lopez & Lizardi Judge’s Bench.  

The $6 million “A New Day in Court” initiative is raising funds for capital projects, faculty expansion and student experiential learning. The initiative also includes renaming the program to the Thomas Mauet Advocacy Program, in honor of Professor Emeritus and renowned trial expert Thomas Mauet, who stepped down as advocacy program director in 2016. 

The Rusing Lopez & Lizardi gift brings the total amount raised for “A New Day in Court” to $2.25 million.

“To have a premiere firm like Rusing Lopez & Lizardi join us as supporters speaks to the importance of creating top-of-the-line advocacy spaces for students here at the University of Arizona,” said Barbara Bergman, director of the advocacy program. “Our students have long benefitted from having Rusing Lopez & Lizardi right in our own backyard here in Tucson, and this generous contribution ensures students will continue to benefit for years to come.”  

Mick Rusing and University of Arizona alumnus Pat Lopez founded Rusing & Lopez, PLLC in Tucson in 1992. Oscar Lizardi, a 1995 graduate of University of Arizona Law, joined the firm in 2000. The firm has grown to 24 attorneys, including fellow equity partners Timothy Reckart and double Wildcat Jonathan Saffer, and added a Scottsdale office in 2018. 

"We contributed to this project because we believe in the power that legal education has to transform students’ lives and the lives of the clients and communities they will serve," said Oscar Lizardi. "We have confidence that the projects and faculty expansion being funded by this initiative will continue to bring the best and brightest students to Tucson."  

In addition to the $4 million needed for building reconstruction, the "A New Day in Court" initiative is raising $2 million for an endowed chair of advocacy, an endowed professorship, and an endowment fund to support student experiential advocacy activities, such as travel to trial competitions. 

For more information, including fundraising goals and how to donate, visit law.arizona.edu/court or contact Senior Director of Development Megan O’Leary.