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Lincoln & Lauer Phoenix is a board-certified estate and trust law practice founded in 1978, now led by its current partner after the founder’s retirement.
A NOTE TO READERS. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. Lincoln & Lauer, PLLC 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 | Lincoln & Lauer, PLLC |
| Founder | John C. Lincoln (retired) |
| Current Partner | Michelle M. Lauer |
| Founded | 1978, Phoenix |
| Certification | John C. Lincoln: State Bar of Arizona Board-Certified Specialist in Estate & Trust Law (career-long, now retired) |
| Focus | Estate and trust law exclusively: estate planning, probate, trust administration, guardianship and conservatorship, elder law and long-term care (ALTCS/Medicaid) planning |
| Office | 3514 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018 |
| Contact | (602) 955-9555 · lincolnandlauer.com |
Sources: lincolnandlauer.com, Yelp, Martindale, Super Lawyers’ hosted directory. Compiled August 2026.
Origin
Lincoln & Lauer Phoenix: A Founder’s Retirement, and a Firm Built to Outlast Him
John C. Lincoln, who has lived in Phoenix since 1965 and speaks fluent Spanish, graduated summa cum laude with his bachelor’s degree and cum laude with his law degree in 1974. He founded his own firm in 1978 and was certified as a specialist in estate and trust law by the State Bar of Arizona, a certification he held for the length of his career; he was also AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the directory’s highest peer-review rating. The firm’s own site now lists Lincoln as retired. Michelle M. Lauer, who earned her B.A. summa cum laude from Arizona State University in 2004 while working full-time as a legal secretary and her J.D. from California Western School of Law in 2008, is the firm’s current active partner.
Practice
A Restricted, Single-Focus Estate and Elder Law Practice
Lincoln & Lauer restricts its practice entirely to estate and trust law: estate planning, probate, trust administration, and guardianship/conservatorship matters, with a particular emphasis on elder law and long-term care planning, including ALTCS (Arizona’s Medicaid long-term-care program) eligibility planning. Lincoln published articles on long-term care planning in professional publications and served as faculty in continuing-education seminars for other attorneys over his career.
Track Record
Awesome Attorneys did not identify an independent, itemized case-results table for the firm, which is typical for a private estate-planning and elder-law practice where individual matters are not publicly filed in the way litigation outcomes are.
Past-Results Disclaimer: Every matter is different, and no past result guarantees a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Martindale shows a 4.8-out-of-5.0 aggregate rating for the firm, with reviewers rating Lauer’s legal knowledge, analytical capability, judgment, and communication all at 4.8 or higher. Reviewers describe the firm as thorough in explaining elder law and long-term care planning options.
Community
Lincoln’s history of serving as faculty for continuing-education seminars aimed at other attorneys reflects a sustained contribution to the estate-and-trust bar beyond his own client work, distinct from client-facing marketing.
Recognition
Both Lauer and Lincoln are listed on Super Lawyers’ own hosted directory as selectees to the Super Lawyers or Rising Stars lists, a peer-influenced, research-driven selection process. Lincoln’s Board-Certified Specialist designation in Estate & Trust Law was a genuine, examination-based credential; readers should note the firm’s own site now describes him as retired, so prospective clients would work with Lauer or other current firm attorneys rather than Lincoln directly.
The Arizona Legal Backdrop
What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.
Arizona’s probate process is governed by Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, and the state’s trust code is codified at A.R.S. § 14-10101 et seq. Guardianship and conservatorship proceedings — a core part of this firm’s practice — are governed by A.R.S. § 14-5101 et seq. Arizona’s long-term care Medicaid program, ALTCS, has its own income and asset eligibility rules distinct from general Medicaid, which is why specialized planning in this area, as this firm offers, differs from general estate planning.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The firm’s clearest differentiator is decades of continuity in a genuinely narrow specialty — estate and trust law exclusively, with a particular elder-law and long-term-care-planning emphasis that not every estate planning firm offers in depth.
The honest trade-off: the firm’s founder and most visible name recognition, John Lincoln, is now retired, so prospective clients should confirm which specific attorney — Lauer or another current team member — would actually handle their matter, rather than assuming Lincoln’s continued day-to-day involvement.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched in August 2026 from lincolnandlauer.com, Yelp, Martindale, and Super Lawyers’ hosted directory. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a competing “Lincoln & Lauer” or “Michelle Lauer” practicing estate law elsewhere in Arizona that could create identity confusion. Lincoln & Lauer, PLLC 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.