Before Matt Riggs argued two cases that reshaped how Arizona insurers must treat consumers, he drove a UPS package car at 2:30 in the morning because a law firm wouldn’t hire him. Three decades later, his firm runs seven offices across the East Valley under a name that says exactly who it’s for.
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.
EAST VALLEY INJURY LAW — At a Glance
| FOUNDED BY | Matthew L. “Matt” Riggs, who began practicing law in 1995; the firm previously operated as Riggs Ellsworth & Porter before rebranding |
| TODAY’S ATTORNEYS | Matthew L. Riggs · Wesland J. Wright · Gary A. Porter · Keith R. Nelson · Robert L. Greer, among nine attorneys firmwide |
| OFFICES | Mesa (headquarters), Chandler, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, Scottsdale, Gilbert, and San Tan Valley — seven East Valley locations |
| SIGNATURE RESULT | Riggs argued State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Connolly (Arizona Court of Appeals, 2006) and Webb v. Gittlen (Arizona Supreme Court, 2008), both resulting in consumer-favorable Arizona insurance law |
| COMBINED EXPERIENCE | More than 100 years across the firm’s attorneys (per the firm) |
| FEE MODEL | Contingency — clients pay nothing unless the firm recovers (per the firm) |
| FOUNDER BACKGROUND | ASU undergraduate (B.S., Business, 1990) and ASU law degree (J.D., 1993); grew up in Mesa, raised six children in Gilbert |
Sources: eastvalleyinjurylaw.com (firm website), riggslaw.com (legacy firm materials), Avvo, AllUsInjuryLawyers.com. Compiled July 2026.
A UPS Package Car, Then Two Wins Against State Farm
Matt Riggs grew up in Mesa and studied business and law at Arizona State University, earning his B.S. in 1990 and his J.D. in 1993 before beginning to practice in 1995. His path there was unconventional by his own account: during law school, he worked the early-morning shift at UPS — roughly 2:30 to 8:00 a.m., five days a week — hoping the job would lead to a position in UPS’s corporate legal department. After passing the bar, he learned UPS only hired attorneys with specific prior experience the company needed, not new graduates, and continued driving a package car for another year rather than give up on the plan. A family friend eventually persuaded him that running his own law firm, not chasing a corporate legal job, was where his skills belonged — advice that led directly to the practice that has grown into today’s East Valley Injury Law.
That practice, then operating as Riggs Ellsworth & Porter, produced Riggs’s two most significant results, both against the same defendant. In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Connolly, decided by the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2006, Riggs’s advocacy helped establish Arizona law more favorable to consumers — and less favorable to insurers — in a fight State Farm carried all the way up before losing. Two years later, in Webb v. Gittlen, the Arizona Supreme Court again ruled against the insurance industry’s position and in favor of Riggs’s client. The firm’s own materials state that the Connolly precedent alone has led Arizona insurers to pay consumers millions of dollars that would otherwise have gone to insurance-company profits.
From One Office to Seven, Across the East Valley
What began as Riggs Ellsworth & Porter has grown, under its current East Valley Injury Law name, to nine attorneys — including Riggs, Wesland J. Wright, Gary A. Porter, Keith R. Nelson, and Robert L. Greer — operating from seven offices spanning Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, Scottsdale, Gilbert, and San Tan Valley. Attorney Gary Porter holds a law degree from Pepperdine University and an undergraduate accounting degree from Arizona State University, speaks fluent Spanish, and is a third-generation Arizona native — credentials the firm highlights as part of its East Valley-rooted identity.
The firm’s own positioning leans hard into that regional identity: “We live and work in the East Valley, and our commitment to our community is at the heart of everything we do,” per its site, a claim reinforced by the founder’s own biography of growing up in Mesa and raising his family in Gilbert.
What East Valley Injury Law Handles
The firm’s caseload covers car accidents, wrongful death, motorcycle accidents, dog bites, and other personal injury matters across its seven-office East Valley footprint. Its own marketing emphasizes trial-readiness over quick settlement: “We thoroughly investigate every case and present evidence in a way that optimizes both insurance settlements and jury verdicts,” a framing consistent with a firm whose founder built his reputation on appellate wins against an insurer rather than volume settlements.
The Results Board
East Valley Injury Law’s clearest, most independently verifiable results are not settlement dollar figures but two published Arizona appellate decisions Matt Riggs litigated — both checkable against the official case reporters rather than resting solely on the firm’s own description.
| RESULT | TYPE | MATTER (AS REPORTED BY THE FIRM) |
|---|---|---|
| Published precedent | Arizona Court of Appeals | State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Connolly (2006) — established consumer-favorable Arizona insurance law; State Farm appealed and lost. |
| Published precedent | Arizona Supreme Court | Webb v. Gittlen (2008) — the state’s highest court ruled against the insurance industry’s position and in favor of Riggs’s client. |
Sources: eastvalleyinjurylaw.com and riggslaw.com, firm-published case citations; official case reporters were not independently reviewed for this profile. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Beyond these two precedent-setting matters, the firm’s site does not publish an itemized table of settlement or verdict dollar amounts for its broader caseload; this profile does not supply figures the firm has not published.
What Clients Report
Client reviews collected across the firm’s own site and third-party platforms consistently name individual attorneys and staff — Matt Riggs and his assistant Ava, attorney Porter and staff member Rosalba, and a staff member named Tyler — for personal attentiveness through the claims process. Reviewers describe Riggs specifically as compassionate and trustworthy, with the kind of communicative, check-in-driven service that several reviewers contrast favorably with prior experiences elsewhere.
The consistency of named staff across multiple, independent reviews — rather than generic praise for “the team” — suggests a firm where clients have a stable, identifiable point of contact throughout a case, notable for a practice that has grown to seven offices.
“I recommend Matt Riggs and his assistant Ava for anyone seeking true, professional, and caring guidance through an injury case. Matt is someone you can trust who will lead your case with grace and strength.”
— Client review, published via AllUsInjuryLawyers.com
Coaching, Scouting, and Six Kids in Gilbert
Matt Riggs’s community involvement, per the firm’s own materials, includes thousands of volunteer hours as a youth sports coach and as a leader within the Boy Scouts of America, alongside leadership positions within his church. He grew up in Mesa and raised his own six children in Gilbert — a personal biography the firm ties directly to its “deeply rooted in this community” positioning across its seven East Valley offices.
Peer Standing
East Valley Injury Law’s most substantive recognition is not a peer-nomination award but the two published appellate decisions described in Track Record — Connolly and Webb v. Gittlen — which represent a rarer, more independently verifiable form of legal accomplishment than most firms in this series can point to, since they are checkable against Arizona’s official case reporters rather than resting on the firm’s characterization alone. Awesome Attorneys did not locate Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, or Board of Legal Specialization recognition for any attorney at the firm as of this research pass; this profile does not use the word “specialist” for any attorney here on that basis.
The Arizona Backdrop, in Plain English
Readers weighing a personal injury claim in the East Valley should understand the rules that shape a case, including the insurance-law landscape Matt Riggs helped establish. 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.
Arizona courts have shaped how insurers must treat consumers. Arizona appellate decisions — including matters like the ones Riggs has litigated — have addressed how state law limits insurance-company practices that disadvantage policyholders and claimants, an evolving area of Arizona law relevant to any dispute with an insurer over a claim’s value.
Suing the government is faster and stricter. Claims against a public entity require a formal notice of claim within 180 days (A.R.S. § 12-821.01) and suit within one year (A.R.S. § 12-821).
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
East Valley Injury Law’s strongest asset is unusually concrete for a firm of its size: a founder with two published, checkable Arizona appellate wins against a major national insurer, built from an origin story — a UPS package car, a persistent friend’s advice — that reads as more grounded than most “founder story” marketing in this series. The firm’s growth to seven East Valley offices while client reviews still name individual staff by name suggests the personal-attention model has scaled reasonably well.
The honest gap is a modern, itemized public results record: beyond the two appellate precedents, the firm does not publish a settlement-and-verdict table, and prospective clients with a high-value claim should ask directly about recent case outcomes in their specific injury category. For an East Valley family who wants a firm with genuine, verifiable legal accomplishment against the insurance industry and deep roots in the community it serves, East Valley Injury Law belongs on the interview list.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team in July 2026. Primary sources: the firm’s current website (eastvalleyinjurylaw.com) and legacy materials from its prior name, Riggs Ellsworth & Porter (riggslaw.com), which together provided founder biography and case-citation details. Secondary sources: Avvo and AllUsInjuryLawyers.com client reviews. This profile cites the Connolly and Webb v. Gittlen case names and years as published by the firm; the official case reporters were not independently pulled to confirm citation details for this research pass. East Valley Injury Law did not commission, pay for, or pre-approve this article. All figures are attributed to the firm’s own reporting; 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.