A NOTE TO READERS. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. Stephen I. Leshner, P.C. 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 | Stephen I. Leshner, P.C. |
| Founded | 1976, Phoenix (per the firm) |
| Offices | 1440 E. Missouri Ave., Ste. 265, Phoenix · 8700 E. Vista Bonita Dr., Ste. 204, Scottsdale |
| Attorney | Stephen I. Leshner — State University of New York, Stony Brook (B.A., 1973); Northeastern University School of Law (J.D., 1976) |
| Certifications | Certified Specialist, Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation, State Bar of Arizona Board of Legal Specialization, since 1991 (charter member of the first certified class); Certified Specialist in Criminal Law since 1982 |
| Practice focus | Practice limited exclusively to plaintiff’s accident, personal injury, medical malpractice, and products liability, including mass tort litigation |
| Notable role | One of two Arizona attorneys designated as the state’s outside counsel in the national tobacco Master Settlement Agreement; Plaintiffs Steering Committee member and elected Lead Counsel, Zicam Products Liability Litigation |
| Contact | steveleshner.com · (602) 266-9000 |
Fifty Years, Two Specialist Certifications
Stephen Leshner has practiced law in Arizona since 1976, after earning his law degree from Northeastern University following an undergraduate degree from SUNY Stony Brook. His early career took an unusual path for a plaintiff’s injury lawyer: he was certified as an Arizona Board of Legal Specialization specialist in Criminal Law in 1982, at the time one of the youngest attorneys ever to earn that certification. In 1991, he became a charter member of the first group of Arizona attorneys certified as specialists in Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation — a credential he has held continuously for over three decades — making him, per his own account, one of only two attorneys in Arizona history certified as a specialist in both fields simultaneously.
Leshner is a Past President of the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association (1999) and a Life Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an invitation-only organization limited to attorneys who have won million- or multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for clients. His practice has been limited exclusively to representing injured plaintiffs for decades — no defense work, no unrelated general practice.
Practice Areas
The firm’s docket concentrates on catastrophic and high-value plaintiff work: motor vehicle collisions causing serious injury, medical malpractice resulting in catastrophic harm, and mass tort product liability litigation. Leshner’s current caseload includes multiple active hernia mesh product liability matters (Bard Ventralex, Ethicon Physiomesh, Proceed), along with Zantac, Johnson & Johnson talcum powder, Elmiron, Wright Profemur, and Stryker LFIT hip and knee implant litigation, and mesothelioma claims. He has handled defective hip and knee replacement implant cases for nearly 25 years.
Track Record
Leshner’s most significant institutional credential is his role as one of only two Arizona attorneys designated as the state’s outside counsel in the national tobacco industry’s three-billion-dollar Master Settlement Agreement — the landmark 1998 settlement between state attorneys general and major tobacco manufacturers. More recently, he was one of ten attorneys nationally appointed to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee overseeing consolidated federal litigation in the Zicam Products Liability Litigation, and was elected Lead Counsel in the parallel Arizona state court litigation. Awesome Attorneys did not locate an itemized verdicts-and-settlements ledger with individual case dollar figures, but his Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership independently confirms a history of seven-figure client recoveries as a condition of that organization’s membership criteria.
ABOUT THESE RESULTS. The matters described above are drawn from the firm’s own published materials and professional biography and have not been independently confirmed against court records except where publicly reported (the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement is a matter of public record). Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of any future case; every matter turns on its own facts and law.
In Clients’ Words
Client reviews on Avvo and Birdeye describe a consistent pattern: clients who arrived “lost” or overwhelmed and left feeling informed and supported. One reviewer wrote that Leshner “took the time to listen to the specific details of my situation” and “took away the apprehension and unknown” by laying out clear options. Another, whose disabled sister was injured, said Leshner and his staff “made the entire process seamless” and secured a settlement the family called “just.” A retired lawyer who relocated to Arizona and was injured in a car crash wrote that after researching and interviewing multiple attorneys, Leshner “did an exceptional job and kept us fully advised throughout.” Peer attorneys who have referred cases to Leshner separately described him as “exceptional” and “talented, honest, and driven,” including one attorney who credited his work on a Plaintiffs Steering Committee for a “very favorable result” in a complex pharmaceutical MDL.
Beyond the Courtroom
Leshner served as President of the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association in 1999 and has described his career as including both professional and political advocacy for safer products and consumer protection. His long-running role helping negotiate the state’s tobacco settlement reflects sustained public-interest work alongside his private plaintiff practice.
Recognition
Leshner has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America and named an Arizona Super Lawyer every year from 2008 through 2025, per Super Lawyers’ own records — one of the longest continuous Super Lawyers tenures identified in this series. He was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation for Scottsdale by Best Lawyers for 2023, per his own published announcement. He holds Martindale-Hubbell’s AV rating and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. His dual Board of Legal Specialization certifications in Criminal Law (1982) and Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation (1991, held continuously) are peer-reviewed credentials this series treats as its strongest tier.
Arizona Legal Backdrop
| A.R.S. § 12-542 | Two-year statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death claims |
| A.R.S. § 12-821.01 | 180-day notice of claim requirement before suing a public entity or employee |
| A.R.S. § 12-821 | One-year statute of limitations for suits against public entities |
| A.R.S. § 12-2505 | Arizona’s pure comparative negligence rule — recovery is reduced, not barred, by the injured person’s own share of fault |
| A.R.S. § 12-502 | Tolling of limitations periods for minors and persons under a legal disability |
Leshner’s mass-tort docket — hernia mesh, talcum powder, mesothelioma — often runs on a separate track entirely: many of these matters proceed through federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) with case-management deadlines set by the presiding court rather than Arizona’s standard two-year window, though Arizona’s discovery rule for latent injuries (such as mesothelioma, which can take decades to manifest) can affect when the § 12-542 clock actually starts running.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Stephen Leshner’s fifty-year Arizona practice, dual Board of Legal Specialization certifications, Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership, and a genuinely distinctive public-service credential — one of two Arizona lawyers who helped negotiate the state’s tobacco settlement — combine with an unusually deep bench of specific, detailed client and peer testimonials. Few solo practitioners in this series carry this combination of institutional credentials and sustained five-star client feedback across multiple independent review platforms.
The honest caveat is a minor one: one Birdeye reviewer noted that Leshner declines cases quickly if he doesn’t believe they’re worth pursuing — a byproduct of a selective, high-value litigation practice rather than a service complaint, but worth naming directly since it’s the only critical note Awesome Attorneys located among otherwise uniformly positive reviews. Prospective clients with smaller claims should understand this is a boutique practice built around catastrophic and mass-tort matters, not a high-volume general injury shop.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched using steveleshner.com (firm site, attorney biography, practice areas, and testimonials page), Avvo, Super Lawyers, Birdeye, FindLaw, Lawyers.com, and PersonalInjuryLaw.Guru. All statutory citations were checked against the Arizona Revised Statutes as published by the Arizona State Legislature. No compensation was sought or received from the firm, and the firm was not contacted prior to publication of 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. “Awesome Attorneys” is a brand name only; it is not a rating, ranking, or claim that any profiled firm is superior in any legal category. Awesome Attorneys maintains a separate attorney directory; only listings there marked “Sponsored” or “Ad” reflect a paid relationship. Facts in this profile are current only as of the research date and are subject to change; readers should confirm any detail directly with the firm.