Justin S. Pierce

Justin is a founding member of Pierce Coleman PLLC. He represents private and public employers in wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination claims before various government agencies charged with investigating and prosecuting employment claims, such as the EEOC, U.S. Department of Labor, and the Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, as well as in courts of various jurisdiction. He has litigated cases in the Arizona Superior Court, the Arizona Court of Appeals, and Arizona Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. He has also briefed and personally argued multiple cases at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and is admitted to practice before, and has filed briefs in, the United States Supreme Court.

Justin has significant trial experience, having served as the lead trial attorney in dozens of cases before county, community college, and municipal personnel appeals boards, as well as private arbitrations, court trials, and as the lead trial attorney in a labor arbitration on behalf of a Fortune 500 company. He also represents the Maricopa County Employee and Law Enforcement Merit System Commission as the Commission’s attorney.

Justin is a frequent speaker before business and employer associations and served on the faculty of the Defense Research Institute for its 2015 national conference for Governmental Tort and Civil Rights Liability.

Justin is admitted to practice in all Arizona state courts, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, District of Colorado, Western District of Michigan and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Justin received his B.S. in Accountancy in 2000 from Arizona State University and his J.D. in 2003 from the Georgetown University Law Center where he graduated with Honors, and was the Executive Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Charles E. Jones, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

While maintaining his law practice, Justin also served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2011 through 2014, where he was the Chairman of the Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs Committee. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Government Committee, and Technology and Infrastructure Committee. He also served as a member of the Education Committee, and an ad hoc House Committee on International Trade and Commerce.

Justin is a certified Rescue Diver by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).