Top Lawyer 2022: Adam M. Trenk, Cannabis Law

It’s time to lawyer up! Our inaugural list of the Valley’s most respected legal eagles spans 39 specialties, from personal injury attorneys to business litigators. And all of them are peer-selected, so you know they’ll do your case justice.

Adam M. Trenk

Specialty: Cannabis Law
Law School/Year Graduated: Arizona State University, 2010
Years in Practice: 12

Rose Law Group was the first firm in the state to establish a standalone cannabis department. What was the response like?
I started with RLG in 2010, when the department was first established by my predecessor and mentor Ryan Hurley. The response was huge and has remained steadily growing ever since. We offer a wide range of industry-specific services, including transactional and regulatory compliance.

How did the legalization of recreational cannabis in Arizona affect your practice?
There was a boom associated with applications for new license allocations, [with] additional activity as those who received licenses are working with capital partners to ramp up organizations. We have also seen a lot of transactional work associated with development of new grow operations to keep up with demand.

Tell it to us straight, man: Pink Floyd or Cypress Hill?
Pink Floyd is more my flavor. But I’m a folk-country fan more than anything.

You also founded the law group’s Equine Law Division. How did you leverage your personal equestrian experience into this role?
Horses have been a focal point of my life since long before I went to law school and remain so. It was only natural to lend my professional skillset to my friends who were in the horse business.

What are your hobbies and interests outside law?
I own and operate a Western saddle manufacturing company called Genuine Billy Cook. We employ about 30 people, and it’s based in Sulphur, Oklahoma. I don’t get a lot of downtime these days other than a couple hours a week to weight-train, but when I do, it is spent riding horses or hiking.

“If I wasn’t a lawyer, I’d be…”
A day-working cowboy.

How we Picked our Top Lawyers

PHOENIX magazine generates its Top Lawyers list via an online survey of practicing attorneys in the Greater Phoenix area. Partnering with Colorado Springs-based information research firm Data Joe, PHOENIX disseminates emails to each of the roughly 16,000 active attorneys licensed with the State Bar of Arizona, directing them to an online portal managed by Data Joe. The survey, which takes place over six weeks, asks respondents to provide the names of up to three attorneys they deem the best in 39 legal specialties. To spread the votes democratically, respondents are asked to nominate at least one attorney in each category who works in a firm other than their own.

At the conclusion of the voting, Data Joe tallies the votes digitally and verifies that vote recipients are in good standing with the State Bar. PHOENIX editors then set the vote thresholds in a manner that ensures the top 10 to 20 percent of vote-getters in each category make the Top Lawyers list. Our fact-checkers then call each attorney on the final list to confirm their affiliation with a Valley-based firm and obtain accurate contact information.

PHOENIX does not give preference to attorneys who advertise. Top Lawyers earn their place on the list purely by virtue of the votes they receive, and our sales staff does not see the list until the lawyers have been confirmed by our fact-checkers. 2022 is the first year PHOENIX has conducted Top Lawyers.