[Return to Arizona Members Page]
 

Philip "Jay" McCarthy, Jr.

 
 
   Admitted:
bullet1998, White Mountain Apache Tribal Court
bullet1995, Navajo Tribal Court
bullet1991, Hopi Tribal Court
bullet1990, Arizona
bullet1989, U.S. Supreme Court
bullet1984, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
bullet1983, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
bullet1982, Nebraska, Alaska and U.S. District Court, District of Alaska
bullet1981, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
bullet1980, Missouri
 
   Biography:
         Upon graduation from law school, Philip (Jay) McCarthy, Jr. served as a staff attorney with Southeast Missouri Legal Services. In 1982, Mr. McCarthy entered private practice in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1985, Mr. McCarthy joined the newly formed State of Alaska Office of Public Advocacy, which assumed responsibility for statewide Guardian ad Litem services for the representation of children in child abuse/neglect cases, contested divorces, contested adoptions, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency proceedings.
      Mr. McCarthy later served as Deputy Director of the State of Alaska Office of Public Advocacy, and during this time was responsible for the creation of the Alaska Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. During this same time period, Mr. McCarthy assisted in the drafting and passage of Alaska's open adoption statute and Alaska's child witness protection law. Mr. McCarthy also worked closely with the Attorney General for the State of Maryland and prepared amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association and the State of Alaska Office of Public Advocacy in the United States Supreme Court case Maryland v. Craig, which upheld the constitutionality of child witness protection statutes. Mr. McCarthy is responsible for state appellate decisions regarding the interpretation of the Indian Child Welfare Act, as well as case law regarding the obligation of the State to provide essential services to children in the legal custody of the State.
      Since 1976, Mr. McCarthy has also been involved in programs to assist victims of domestic violence. Prior to law school, Mr. McCarthy worked at the Omaha, Nebraska Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women where he was responsible for coordinating community efforts to establish a shelter for victims of domestic violence. While living in Anchorage, Alaska, he served on the Board of Directors for the Abused Women's Aid in Crisis, Inc. Since moving to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1991, Mr. McCarthy has served on the Board of Directors of the Northland Family Help Center, which provides shelter and counseling for victims of domestic violence.
      Prior to law school, Mr. McCarthy served as a Vista volunteer and also worked as an instructor in a forty-two day wilderness program for juvenile delinquents from St. Louis, Chicago and East St. Louis. Mr. McCarthy served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) from 1989 to 2000. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Mountain School.
  
   Awards:
   Mr. McCarthy is the recipient of the 1996 Arizona Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award and the 2000 American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division National Child Advocacy Award.
  
   Education:
bulletCreighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (J.D., 1980)
bulletNorthern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona (B.S., 1974)
 
   Organizations:
bulletNational Association of Counsel for Children
bulletAmerican Bar Association
bulletAmerican Academy of Adoption Attorneys
bulletNorth American Council on Adoptable Children
 
   Reported Cases:
bulletMatter of E.A.O., 816 P.2d 1352 (Alaska 1991)
bulletBlume v. State, 797 P.2d 664 (Alaska App. 1990)
bulletCatholic Social Services, Inc. v. C.A.A., 783 P.2d 1159 (Alaska 1989)
bulletMatter of Termination of Parental Rights of T.O., 759 P.2d 1308 (Alaska 1988)
bulletMatter of L.A.M., 727 P.2d 1057 (Alaska 1986)
bulletRiepe v. Riepe, 91 P.3d 312 (Ariz. App. 2004)

 

Philip "Jay" McCarthy, Jr.
McCarthyWeston PLLC
508 N. Humphreys Street
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
TEL (928) 779-4252
FAX (928) 779-0243

www.mccarthyweston.com
 

 

[Return to Arizona Members Page]

Send mail to:  to obtain information about the Academy and its members.
Send mail to:  with questions or comments about this web site.