Judge Daniel
A. Barker
Daniel A. Barker was appointed by
Governor Jane Dee Hull to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, in July
of 2001. As an appellate judge he has authored over 100 published opinions and
over 700 memorandum decisions. They span
the range of tax, family and domestic, civil and criminal matters.
Judge Barker received an
Honors B.A. in economics from Stanford University in 1977, and was a Rhodes
Scholar at the University of Oxford in 1977-78. He earned his J.D. from Brigham
Young University in 1981. Judge Barker
also earned an LL.M. (Judicial Process) from the University of Virginia in
2004.
Prior to joining the
appellate court in 2001, Judge Barker served as a superior court judge for the
State of Arizona, Maricopa County, from 1992 to 2001. While at the trial court,
Judge Barker served in the criminal, civil, special assignment, and family
court departments. He presided over approximately 250 jury trials, and hundreds
of other proceedings. He was Presiding Judge for the Southeast Judicial
District from 1997 to 2000.
From 1981 to 1992,
before his appointment to the bench, Judge Barker was an attorney in private
practice. He was a Shareholder and Associate at Gallagher & Kennedy and Of
Counsel to Bonnett, Fairbourn & Friedman, P.C. His legal practice focused
on complex civil litigation. He represented clients in professional malpractice
cases, products liability matters, contract disputes, vehicular and trucking
accidents, environmental litigation, insurance coverage disputes, and wrongful
death actions.
Outside the courtroom,
Judge Barker has been involved with the following: Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance
Review, City of Mesa Judicial Advisory Board, the Executive Council for the
State Bar’s Appellate Practice Section, Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association,
the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, and founding chair of Division One’s
Connecting with the Community effort. As
part of this effort, Division One reaches out to the community by holding live
oral argument before students in various area high schools. Other community activities have included
working with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and participating in church and
youth organizations.
In 2011 Judge Barker was
awarded the Arizona State Bar’s Award of Special Merit for “significant
contributions . . . to the furtherance of the public understanding of the legal
system.” He was also given the Mark
Santana Law-Related Education Award by the Arizona Foundation for Legal
Services and Education for “exceptional contributions . . . in furthering
education and understanding of the role of the law in our democratic society.”