Most firms in this series use the word “specialist” loosely, if at all. Busby, Bell & Biggs doesn’t have to — its managing partner is one of the relatively few Arizona attorneys actually certified by the State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization in injury and wrongful death law.
AN AWESOME ATTORNEYS EDITORIAL PROFILE
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.
BUSBY, BELL & BIGGS, P.C. — At a Glance
| FOUNDED | 1977, evolving from an earlier partnership (Hayes, Busby & McCracken, P.C.) into today’s Busby, Bell & Biggs |
| NAMED PARTNERS | James “Jim” G. Busby (with the firm since 1972) · Michael “Mike” J. Bell (since 1983) · Richard B. “Moe” Biggs |
| FOCUS | Practice limited exclusively to plaintiffs’ personal injury and wrongful death law (per Martindale-Hubbell’s own classification of the firm) |
| CERTIFICATION | Jim Busby is a Certified Specialist in Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation, Arizona Board of Legal Specialization — an individually-earned credential, not a firm-wide marketing claim |
| COMBINED EXPERIENCE | More than 95 years across the firm’s attorneys (per the firm) |
| PEER RATING | AV Preeminent from Martindale-Hubbell — the organization’s highest rating — with Jim Busby individually holding a 5.0 peer-review score |
| OFFICE | 1241 E. Prince Rd., Tucson, serving Tucson, Phoenix, Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Safford, Nogales, Green Valley, Casa Grande, and Flagstaff |
Sources: busbylaw.com (firm website), Martindale-Hubbell, LawyerDB.org, USAttorneys.com, Yelp, Avvo. Compiled July 2026.
A Tucson Native Who Chose Injury Law After a Decade of Everything Else
Jim Busby was born and raised in Tucson, attended his senior year of high school in Casa Grande, then returned to Tucson to complete his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Arizona, graduating from its College of Law in May 1972 and joining the State Bar of Arizona that September. His first years in practice were a general litigation caseload — family law, criminal defense, business and corporate matters, and personal injury and wrongful death work alongside them. Around 1985, per the firm’s own account, Busby made the decision most defines the practice today: he devoted his caseload exclusively to injury and wrongful death litigation, a focus he has held for four decades since.
Mike Bell joined what was then a firm named Hayes, Busby & McCracken, P.C. in October 1983, working initially across family law, collections, and general civil litigation before he, too, narrowed his focus — around 1988 — to injury and wrongful death litigation, developing a particular interest in insurance-coverage questions that remains part of his practice. The firm’s name has evolved through that period of specialization to its current form, Busby, Bell & Biggs, with Richard “Moe” Biggs rounding out the named partnership.
What “Certified Specialist” Actually Means Here
Arizona restricts the word “specialist” in attorney advertising to lawyers who have earned a genuine certification from the State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization — a credential most firms in this series cannot claim for any of their attorneys. Jim Busby can: independent directory records confirm his designation as a Certified Specialist in Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation through the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization, a credential earned and individually attributed to him, not a description the firm applies loosely across its marketing.
That certification sits alongside Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating — the organization’s highest peer-review distinction — for the firm, and a 5.0 individual peer-review score for Busby specifically. Combined, the firm’s more than 95 years of attorney experience and its exclusively plaintiffs’-side practice classification on Martindale (“Practice Limited To Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury Law”) make this one of the more formally credentialed small firms in this series.
A Wide Southern Arizona Footprint From One Office
The firm’s caseload covers wrongful death, automobile and truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip-and-fall, dog bites, brain injuries, and spinal injuries, handled from a single Tucson office that nonetheless advertises service across a wide swath of Southern and Central Arizona — Tucson, Phoenix, Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Safford, Nogales, Green Valley, Casa Grande, and Flagstaff. That geographic reach from a compact, three-name partnership reflects a referral-and-reputation-driven practice more than an office-expansion strategy.
The Results Board
Busby, Bell & Biggs does not publish an itemized, case-by-case verdicts-and-settlements table on its current site. Consistent with this series’ sourcing standard, this profile does not supply dollar figures or named case results the firm has not itself published, rather than estimating a total.
No itemized public results table was located for this firm as of the research date. The firm’s credentialing — Busby’s Board-certified specialization, the firm’s AV rating, and its Martindale plaintiffs-only classification — is the most concrete, independently verifiable evidence of its standing available for this profile.
As with every firm in this series, any case outcomes discussed above reflect past results only, which do not guarantee or predict the outcome of any future matter.
What Clients Report
Reviews of the firm on Martindale’s client-and-peer network describe attorneys as thorough and empathetic, with one client specifically praising Mike Bell’s honesty and commitment to resolving legal issues with compassion. Notably, one published account comes from a prospective client whom the firm declined to represent: the reviewer wrote that after several other attorneys had turned him away, Busby took the time to review the matter, explained — at no charge — why the case’s slip-and-fall facts made it a difficult one to win, and the reviewer said he wished to commend Busby’s service even though the firm was not representing him.
That pattern — a firm willing to give a frank, unpaid assessment of a case it will not take — is a recurring signal across this series of firms that screen cases seriously rather than accepting every caller.
“Though Busby is not representing me at this time, I wish to commend him on his services to me in my case. He was very thorough when explaining how slip and fall cases work.”
— Client review, published via Martindale-Avvo Legal Network
A Compact Practice, Rooted in Tucson
Busby, Bell & Biggs’ public materials emphasize professional memberships over named community programs: Jim Busby is a member of the Pima County and American Bar Associations, the State Bar of Arizona, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, while Mike Bell holds parallel memberships alongside the St. Thomas More Society of Southern Arizona. Awesome Attorneys did not locate a named charitable initiative or sponsorship comparable to those published by some larger firms in this series; the firm’s community identity rests more on decades of Tucson-based practice and professional-association involvement than on a marketed philanthropic program.
Peer Standing
Jim Busby’s Arizona Board of Legal Specialization certification in Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation is the firm’s standout, individually-earned credential — one of relatively few genuine “specialist” designations documented across this entire series. The firm additionally carries Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating, its highest available peer-review distinction, and Busby holds an individual 5.0 peer-review score on the same platform. Awesome Attorneys did not locate Super Lawyers or Best Lawyers recognition for the firm’s attorneys as of this research pass.
The Arizona Backdrop, in Plain English
Readers weighing a serious injury or wrongful death claim anywhere in Southern Arizona — the wide territory this firm serves from its single Tucson office — should understand the ground rules. What follows is general information, not legal advice.
The two-year clock. Arizona’s statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death claims is generally two years (A.R.S. § 12-542).
Fault is shared, not all-or-nothing. Arizona follows pure comparative negligence (A.R.S. § 12-2505): a claimant’s recovery is reduced by their share of fault but not eliminated.
Premises cases turn on notice. Slip-and-fall and other premises-liability claims generally require showing the property owner knew or should have known of a dangerous condition — the kind of case-specific analysis the firm’s founder is reported to walk prospective clients through candidly, including when he declines a case.
Minors and incapacitated adults get more time. The limitations clock is generally tolled for minors and people of unsound mind until the disability ends (A.R.S. § 12-502).
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Busby, Bell & Biggs’ clearest differentiator in this series is documentary, not marketing: Jim Busby’s Board of Legal Specialization certification is a real, checkable credential of the kind this series’ compliance standard treats as the bar for using the word “specialist” at all — met here by an attorney who pivoted to an injury-exclusive practice four decades ago and never looked back. Combined with the firm’s AV rating and a published account of turning away a case candidly and for free, the record suggests a firm that screens seriously rather than takes everything that calls.
The honest gap is publicity: this is a small, three-name partnership without an itemized results table, national verdict rankings, or the kind of statewide advertising presence some other firms in this series maintain — a caller will need to rely more on the firm’s credentials and reputation than on a public case history. For a Southern Arizona injury or wrongful-death claim where a genuinely certified specialist matters, Busby, Bell & Biggs belongs on the short list.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team in July 2026. Primary source: the firm’s own published website (busbylaw.com), including its attorney-profile pages for Jim Busby and Mike Bell. Secondary sources: Martindale-Hubbell, LawyerDB.org, USAttorneys.com, Yelp, and Avvo. Busby, Bell & Biggs did not commission, pay for, or pre-approve this article. All figures and credentials are attributed to the firm’s own reporting or the cited directory; 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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Facts, figures, and claims in this profile were independently researched from public sources as described in the Methodology & Sourcing section and are current only as of the research date; they are subject to change without notice, and readers should confirm any detail directly with the firm before relying on it. This notice supplements, and does not replace, the Attorney Advertising Notice at the top of this profile.