Legends of Law
Wendy Riddell Founder and Managing Partner Berry Riddell
Reflecting back, Wendy Riddell, founder and managing partner of Berry Riddell can thank a law professor for her successful start in the practice of entitlements and zoning law. “I had just been hired at Beus Gilbert by John Berry (now my partner in Berry Riddell). I was there no less than 24 hours before I was handling my first contentious hearing before a village planning committee,” she says. “There was significant opposition to the project, and I had no idea what to do. Luckily, one of my law school professors, Mike Whithey, was in the audience. I went flying up to him to ask him what I should do, and he told me I wanted a continuance (which I had no idea was even a thing). It was readily given to me so we could work things out with the neighbors. The firm thought I was brilliant to figure it out all on my own.”
Starting Points
The practice of zoning law was not on Riddell’s radar after graduating with her J.D., Pedrick Scholar, Order of Barrister, from Arizona State University. “Perhaps after reading a few too many John Grisham books, I thought I wanted to be a criminal prosecutor. My father, a developer himself, told me that he would support me in my inevitable poverty as a prosecutor if I would take the six months between taking the bar and being employable and work at Beus Gilbert, the firm he used in his development business,” she says. “After John hired me and that first hearing, I was hooked.”
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Berry Riddell
After six years at Beus Gilbert, Riddell followed her mentor to Berry & Damore for eight years before teaming with him to start Berry Riddell in 2013. “I am very grateful for the firm we have built and the privilege of working alongside so many incredible people,” she says. “We are busier than we have ever been and working on really great projects.”
Zoning
The practice, ranked in 2020 and 2022 as a U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Law Firms,” is engaged in a wide range of entitlement and zoning activity
across the Valley. “We are very particular about the cases we agree to take, and we do quite a bit of due diligence upfront,” she says. “If we do not believe that we can add value, both to the case and ultimately to the project and the community, we are quick to pass on it,” she says. “We regularly do this analysis for our clients before they make a deal on a site.”
Resume
During her impressive career, Riddell has earned many accolades including “Best Lawyers In America” 2019-2021. Along the way, she has registered a sterling collection of development successes © MPmedia, LLC 2021