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Gary R. Stickell Phoenix co-founded the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Council and has practiced consumer bankruptcy law in the city since 1982.
A NOTE TO READERS. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. Gary R. Stickell, P.C. did not pay for, request, or review this article prior to publication, and placement on Awesome Attorneys’ editorial pages cannot be purchased. Nothing in this article is legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of any future case.
At a Glance
| Firm | Gary R. Stickell, P.C. |
| Attorney | Gary R. Stickell |
| Admitted | Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, 1981; Arizona, 1982; U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, 1982 |
| Education | B.A., George Washington University, 1978; J.D., Boston University, 1981 |
| Focus | Consumer bankruptcy (Chapter 7 and Chapter 13), with additional family law and divorce practice |
| Office | 301 E. Bethany Home Rd., Ste. B-100, Phoenix, AZ 85012 |
| Contact | (602) 266-2622 |
Sources: Martindale, Avvo, Lawyers.com, attorneyatlaw.com, elitelawyer.com. Compiled August 2026.
Origin
Gary R. Stickell Phoenix: A Career Building the State’s Consumer Bankruptcy Bar
Gary Stickell earned his B.A. from George Washington University in 1978 and his J.D. from Boston University in 1981, the same year he was admitted to the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts bars. He was admitted to the Arizona Bar in 1982 and has practiced consumer bankruptcy in Phoenix ever since. He co-founded the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Council and was an inaugural Master of the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court — both genuine institution-building roles within the state’s bankruptcy bar, not simply memberships.
Practice
Consumer Bankruptcy, With a Teaching Bent
Stickell’s practice centers on representing individuals in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings, alongside a family law and divorce practice. He speaks regularly on consumer bankruptcy topics and has a documented history of mentoring newer attorneys entering the practice, including donating time to train legal-aid staff attorneys in northern Arizona on bankruptcy fundamentals.
Track Record
Awesome Attorneys did not identify an independent, itemized case-results table for this firm, which is typical for a consumer bankruptcy practice given confidentiality and court-record limitations.
Past-Results Disclaimer: Every matter is different, and no past result guarantees a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Avvo reviews describe Stickell as creative in structuring complex bankruptcy solutions, including one client who reported consulting seven different top-rated bankruptcy attorneys before choosing Stickell specifically for a creative approach none of the others proposed. Other reviewers, including a client whose case followed a prior attorney’s suspension from practice, describe Stickell and his staff as knowledgeable and consistently available.
Community
Stickell received the State Bar of Arizona’s 2010 Award of Special Merit specifically for mentoring and educating attorneys new to consumer bankruptcy practice, and was named Member of the Year by the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Counsel in 2011 — both genuine peer-recognition awards tied to community contribution rather than individual case results.
Recognition
Awesome Attorneys did not identify Stickell on the State Bar of Arizona’s current Bankruptcy Law Certified Specialists roster. His strongest independently verifiable credentials are the 2010 State Bar Award of Special Merit and his co-founding role in the Arizona Consumer Bankruptcy Council and the Arizona Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, alongside a 2025 Elite Lawyer award from a legal-marketing recognition service that Awesome Attorneys did not independently verify as an peer-review-based credential.
The Arizona Legal Backdrop
What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.
Consumer bankruptcy in Arizona proceeds primarily under federal law (Title 11 of the U.S. Code), with Chapter 7 liquidation and Chapter 13 wage-earner reorganization the two most common consumer filings. Arizona permits debtors to elect either federal or Arizona-specific property exemptions when filing, a choice that can materially affect what a filer retains. Family law matters, part of Stickell’s practice, proceed under Arizona’s domestic relations statutes, Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Gary R. Stickell Phoenix’s clearest differentiator is genuine institution-building within the Arizona bankruptcy bar — co-founding the state’s Consumer Bankruptcy Council and serving as an inaugural Inn of Court Master — backed by a 2010 State Bar award specifically recognizing his mentorship of newer attorneys.
The honest trade-off: Awesome Attorneys did not find Stickell on the State Bar’s current Bankruptcy Law Certified Specialists roster, and the firm’s more recent “Elite Lawyer” recognition is a marketing-service designation rather than an independent, peer-review-based credential comparable to Best Lawyers or Super Lawyers — clients should weigh Stickell’s genuine institutional contributions against the absence of that specific formal certification.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched in August 2026 from Martindale, Avvo, Lawyers.com, attorneyatlaw.com, and elitelawyer.com. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a competing “Gary Stickell” practicing bankruptcy law elsewhere that could create identity confusion. Gary R. Stickell, P.C. did not commission, review, or pay for this profile.
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
This profile is an independent editorial article published by Awesome Attorneys. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any lawyer or law firm profiled on this site, and inclusion in this series is not paid placement.