For over 20 years, Johnny and Paula Sorenson have been serving the Tempe community through their business, The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC, located near Elliot Road and Hardy Drive.
The family-owned and minority-owned business specializes in civil work primarily in the areas of serious personal injury, wrongful death, insurance claims, as well as business and commercial litigation.
“We represent a lot of individuals and families in the community, when they've been wronged, especially in the arena of personal injury and wrongful death,” says Johnny. “We help them with all aspects of the accident including resolving property damage, dealing with hospitals and doctors, and building their case so they get maximum compensation for their losses.”
When it comes to business and commercial litigation, The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC focuses on helping their clients understand and resolve a dispute with another person or company. “We help our clients identify the legal and factual issues that are in dispute. We also help our clients frame and focus their evidence and arguments, communicate that to the other side, and hopefully resolve the dispute that way. Some of it is counseling our clients and giving them straight talk, which is something we're proud of,” says Johnny.
Johnny, a Montana native, graduated near the top of his class from Arizona State University’s law school. He then clerked for the Arizona Court of Appeals and worked as an attorney at a large downtown Phoenix firm.
Paula was born in Phoenix and met Johnny while working in the Supreme Court. They soon got married and moved to Tempe, where they raised their four children.
On July 23, 2005, the couple opened the doors of The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC, where Tempe families and businesses could seek legal help, and their firm could make a meaningful impact locally. “We really identify with our team and our clients and try to help them the best we can,” says Johnny.
“Pretty much all of our team members are people we’ve met along the way. If they were teenagers, they babysat for us while in high school, and then worked with us at the firm while attending college,” says Paula. “That was the big thing for me in opening the law firm—helping people, supporting our employees as they finished their degrees if that was their path, or simply creating a really nice place where they wanted to come to work every day.”
“Starting our own little office was really an opportunity where we could not only live comfortably, but do good for the community,” says Johnny.
The couple makes the perfect team in and out of the courtroom. Johnny works as an attorney, while Paula, a paralegal, also conducts private investigations work for the firm, including finding key witnesses for important cases. Despite the long hours their work demands, spending time with family has remained a priority to the Sorensons.
The Tempe location of their office meant Johnny would be closer to home and family, attend more of his kids’ events, and give them a place where they could spend time together.
“It was a way that we could still meet the demands of this profession and still be really connected to our family,” says Johnny. One of their kids has even followed in Johnny’s footsteps and is currently attending law school at Arizona State University, while another plans to do the same.
Diversity is a core value at The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC, which is something that comes from Johnny’s experience as a first-generation American. Johnny says his mother, who is Korean and never learned to read or write English, gave him a different perspective.
“People with diverse backgrounds and perspectives—whether it's race, gender, origin, or lived experience—more accurately reflect the community around us. That’s something that we value and are proud of,” says Johnny. The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC is also a certified minority supplier enterprise. Johnny and Paula believe that embracing different ideas and welcoming diverse backgrounds is essential to their success, their community, and their profession.
Along with helping companies and people with their legal issues, Johnny and Paula also support their community by sponsoring local schools’ sports teams, making donations to teachers and classrooms, and taking pizza from the restaurant their daughter works at to the local police and fire departments.
In 2006, Paula started East Valley Attorney Services (EVAS) to help reduce costs for The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC’s clients. Paula would make deliveries and pick-ups at various law firms, medical offices, courts, and businesses. She would handle large copy and scan projects and photograph accident scenes. Paula has largely stopped EVAS to focus on her paralegal and investigative work in the office.
Johnny occasionally serves as a judge pro tempore for the Maricopa County Superior Court, where he handles short trials and serves as a neutral settlement conference judge. He also works as a neutral mediator or arbitrator when hired by other law firms to help with dispute resolutions and private mediations. Johnny is also an active member of the Arizona Asian American Bar Association and the Arizona Association for Justice.
Now entering Johnny’s 30th year of legal practice, and their 21st year of business, The Sorenson Law Firm, LLC has grown to a team of 14 experienced legal professionals working together on hundreds of cases per year and continues to serve the Tempe community.
“You really get the same quality of work that you would if you were hiring a big national law firm, but with the benefits of being in a small law firm environment,” says Johnny.
“Starting our own little office was really an opportunity where we could not only live comfortably, but do good for the community.”