AWESOME ATTORNEYS
INDEPENDENT EDITORIAL · FIRM PROFILES · PHOENIX, ARIZONA
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING NOTICE. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. It was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed prior to publication by the firm profiled. All case results, recoveries, and recognitions described below are attributed to their sources. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter. This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship.
Twenty-One Years Defending Insurance Companies, Then Twenty-Seven Suing Them
Buddy Rake, Jr. spent 21 years representing insurers including Hartford, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, and St. Paul before turning his Phoenix practice primarily to plaintiffs — a “switched sides” career now in its 27th year, alongside decades as a Vietnam-era Navy veteran and a still-active high school basketball coach.
BY THE AWESOME ATTORNEYS EDITORIAL TEAM · PHOENIX, ARIZONA · JULY 2026
RAKE LAW GROUP, P.C. — AT A GLANCE
| LED BY | Buddy Rake, Jr., J.D., Texas Tech University School of Law (1972) |
| FOCUS | Plaintiff-side personal injury, with a specific niche in aviation accident claims |
| EXPERIENCE | Admitted to practice in 1973 — 52 years |
| DISTINCTIVE EDGE | A documented “switched sides” career: 21 years of insurance-defense work for major carriers, followed by 27-plus years focused primarily on plaintiffs |
| RECOGNITION | Selected to Southwest Super Lawyers continuously from 2007 through 2025; National Association of Distinguished Counsel Top 1%; 2016 Client Satisfaction Award, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys |
| BACKGROUND | Vietnam War-era U.S. Navy veteran; former private pilot; Head Basketball Coach, Thunderbird High School, since 1994 |
Sources: Super Lawyers, Distinguished Counsel, Personal Injury Lawyer Search, Texas Bar self-reported profile, Avvo. Compiled July 2026.
ORIGIN
From Insurance Defense to Plaintiffs’ Practice
Buddy Rake, Jr. earned his B.A. from the University of Texas in 1970 and his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1972, and was admitted to practice in 1973. According to his own published biography, Rake spent 21 years of his career representing insurance companies as defense counsel, including Hartford, Liberty Mutual, MICA, State Farm, and St. Paul — direct experience with how major carriers evaluate and defend against injury claims. For the past 27-plus years, per that same account, he has practiced primarily for plaintiffs in personal injury matters, a career arc similar in structure to several other Arizona attorneys who moved from defense to plaintiff’s work, though Rake’s is documented with unusually specific carrier names rather than a general reference to “insurance defense.”
Rake is a Vietnam War-era veteran of the United States Navy and a former private pilot — background that connects directly to his stated practice niche in aviation accident cases. He has served as Head Basketball Coach for the boys’ team at Thunderbird High School in Phoenix since 1994, a three-decade-plus commitment alongside his legal career.
PRACTICE
Personal Injury, With an Aviation Niche
Rake’s listed practice areas include personal injury generally and aviation accident claims specifically — a specialty tied directly to his background as a former private pilot, giving him working familiarity with aviation regulation and crash investigation that a general personal injury attorney would not necessarily have.
TRACK RECORD
The Results Board
Awesome Attorneys did not locate an itemized settlement or verdict table for Rake or Rake Law Group.
| CATEGORY | WHAT’S PUBLICLY DOCUMENTED |
|---|---|
| Case results | Not itemized publicly; no published settlement or verdict table located |
| Super Lawyers tenure | 2007–2025, continuous selection |
| Client satisfaction recognition | 2016 Client Satisfaction Award, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys |
Sources: Super Lawyers, Personal Injury Lawyer Search. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter; every case is unique.
CLIENT VOICE
What Clients Report
Awesome Attorneys located limited first-person client review content specific to Rake at the time of this profile’s research; his Avvo profile shows no published reviews. This is disclosed directly rather than papered over with review content from other sources.
COMMUNITY
Beyond the Courtroom
Rake’s three-decade-plus tenure as Head Basketball Coach at Thunderbird High School represents sustained, verifiable community involvement well outside his legal practice — a level of ongoing, dated commitment (since 1994) that is more specific and checkable than a general claim of “community involvement.”
RECOGNITION
Peer Standing
Rake’s continuous Super Lawyers selection from 2007 through 2025 — nearly two decades without a gap — is a genuine, sustained, peer-nominated distinction. His inclusion in the National Association of Distinguished Counsel’s Top One Percent and a 2016 client-satisfaction award from the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys are membership- or satisfaction-based recognitions rather than blind peer review. Awesome Attorneys did not find a Best Lawyers listing, an AV Preeminent Martindale rating, or a State Bar of Arizona specialist certification for Rake.
THE LAW
The Arizona Backdrop, in Plain English
Readers considering a personal injury claim in Arizona — including an aviation accident claim — should understand a few ground rules. What follows is general information, not legal advice.
The two-year clock. Arizona’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is generally two years from the date of injury (A.R.S. § 12-542).
Suing the government is faster and stricter. Claims against Arizona public entities require a formal notice of claim within 180 days (A.R.S. § 12-821.01) and a lawsuit within one year (A.R.S. § 12-821).
Fault is shared, not all-or-nothing. Arizona follows pure comparative negligence (A.R.S. § 12-2505): an injured person’s recovery is reduced by their percentage of fault, but not eliminated even if they were mostly at fault. Note that aviation accident claims frequently also involve federal aviation law in addition to these state statutes.
Minors get more time. The limitations clock is generally paused for minors and people of unsound mind until the disability ends (A.R.S. § 12-502).
ASSESSMENT
The Awesome Attorneys View
Rake’s nearly two-decade unbroken Super Lawyers streak is a genuine, sustained mark of peer regard, and his documented 21-year insurance-defense career — naming specific major carriers — gives real substance to the “switched sides” narrative that several attorneys in this series invoke more generally. His aviation-accident niche is a credible, background-supported specialty rather than a marketing add-on.
The honest trade-off: Awesome Attorneys located essentially no first-person client review content for Rake specifically, leaving prospective clients without the kind of testimonial record several other attorneys in this series can offer, and no case-results page exists to review either. His recognition profile also leans on membership-style and satisfaction-based awards more than the blind peer-review directories (Best Lawyers, AV Preeminent) some competitors carry.
METHODOLOGY & INDEPENDENCE
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team in July 2026. Primary sources: Super Lawyers, Distinguished Counsel, and Personal Injury Lawyer Search attorney profiles, including Rake’s own self-reported biography. Secondary sources: the Texas Bar’s self-reported attorney directory and Avvo. Buddy Rake, Jr. and Rake Law Group, P.C. did not commission, pay for, or pre-approve this article. All claims are attributed to their sources; past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. This article is general information, not legal advice.
© 2026 Awesome Attorneys. Independent editorial. Sponsored placements on Awesome Attorneys are always clearly labeled; this is not one.
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