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Cristina Perez Hesano: A Former Bankruptcy Court Extern Who Chaired the State Bar’s Bankruptcy Section

Cristina Perez Hesano started her legal career as a judicial extern inside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, then built a Glendale-based practice spanning debtor-side bankruptcy, estate planning and probate, and personal injury — with a documented pro bono record from early in her career.

Cristina Perez Hesano — At a Glance

Sources: perezlawgroup.com (firm website), ABI 40 Under 40, USAttorneys.com, Best Lawyers, LinkedIn. Compiled August 2026.

Origin

From Bankruptcy Court Extern to Firm Founder

Cristina Perez Hesano holds a B.A. in psychology and political science from Hofstra University and both an M.A. in criminal justice and a J.D. from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Her career began as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona, for the Honorable Redfield T. Baum — direct exposure to how bankruptcy cases are actually decided before she ever represented a client. She then practiced consumer bankruptcy at two firms before founding Perez Law Group, PLLC in 2010.

She served as chair of the State Bar of Arizona’s Bankruptcy Section from 2016 to 2017, a leadership role elected by fellow bankruptcy practitioners, and was named one of the Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys in Arizona by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education in 2013 — a documented volunteer-work credential from early in her career, not a recent marketing addition.

Practice

Bankruptcy, Estate Planning, and Personal Injury

Perez Law Group’s practice areas, per the firm’s own site, span four distinct lines: bankruptcy (Chapter 7 and 13, debt settlement), estate planning, probate, and personal injury/wrongful death. On the bankruptcy side, the firm’s marketing frames its work entirely around debtor relief — “fresh start” language throughout, with no creditor-side representation mentioned anywhere in its materials, making this a genuinely debtor-side practice rather than a mixed one. The estate planning and probate practice is listed as a standing, dedicated service line with its own page, not an incidental mention, which is why this profile tags both categories.

Track Record

What’s Documented

Bankruptcy and estate planning matters don’t generate a dollar-figure results table the way litigation does. On the personal injury side of her practice, the firm states Perez has obtained five-, six-, and seven-figure settlements, though specific case figures were not independently verifiable in public sources as of this writing; we’re reporting the firm’s own characterization with that caveat rather than independent confirmation.

Client Voice

A Thin Public Record for This Practice Area

Public reviews specific to Perez’s bankruptcy or estate planning work did not turn up in a targeted search; most available third-party coverage of her practice centers on her personal injury work and media appearances. That’s a gap in the record for this specific category, not a claim about quality, and we’re noting it rather than filling it with reviews from a different practice area.

Community

Early, Documented Pro Bono Work

Perez Hesano’s 2013 Top 50 Pro Bono Attorney recognition from the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education came just three years into running her own firm — a genuine, third-party-conferred credential for actual volunteer casework. She also serves as a court-appointed panel mediator for the Justice Courts of Arizona in Maricopa County and has presented at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Southwest Bankruptcy Conference.

Recognition

Sustained Peer Recognition

Perez Hesano has been named to Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law in the 2023, 2025, and 2026 editions, a peer-survey process. No State Bar of Arizona Board of Legal Specialization certification in bankruptcy or estate planning is documented for her, so this profile does not use the word “specialist” to describe her.

Arizona Legal Backdrop

Two Different Bodies of Law, One Practice

Bankruptcy runs through federal law (11 U.S.C.) with Arizona’s own exemption statutes (A.R.S. § 33-1101 et seq.) determining what a filer keeps. Estate planning and probate, by contrast, are governed almost entirely by Arizona state law — the Arizona Trust Code (A.R.S. § 14-10101 et seq.) and the probate provisions of Title 14, which set the rules for wills, intestate succession, and how an estate moves through (or avoids) the Maricopa County Superior Court’s probate process. None of this is legal advice; someone facing both a debt crisis and a need to plan an estate is dealing with two largely separate legal systems that happen to intersect in how assets are ultimately protected or distributed.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Perez Hesano’s bankruptcy-court externship and years chairing the State Bar’s Bankruptcy Section give her a genuine inside view of the system she now practices in, and her early, documented pro bono recognition suggests real, sustained community commitment rather than a recent marketing add-on. The honest gap: public client reviews specific to her bankruptcy and estate-planning work are thin, with most available third-party coverage focused on her personal injury practice instead. For someone specifically seeking debtor-side bankruptcy help from an attorney who has also sat on the other side of the bench as a court extern, this is a strong credential set — worth asking directly for bankruptcy- and estate-planning-specific references given the limited public review record in those areas.

Methodology & Sourcing

Compiled from Perez Law Group’s website, ABI’s 40 Under 40 profile, USAttorneys.com, Best Lawyers, and LinkedIn. No claim was taken from firm marketing without a second-source check where one existed. Compiled and verified August 2026.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by the firm prior to publication, and inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement of any outcome. Firms are added or excluded based on our own editorial verification process, not advertising relationships.