Top Lawyer 2022: Christina Noyes, Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions

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.

Christina Noyes

Specialty: Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions
Law School/Year Graduated: Arizona State University, 1996
Years in Practice: 26

Describe M&A in layman’s terms. Can you give us a recent example of the work you do?
M&A is like playing a tennis match while juggling on a unicycle. You must accomplish your client’s goals while protecting their rights, but not be so inflexible that you unduly delay or overcomplicate the deal. I recently represented a product supply company that was acquiring an East Coast vendor to be a new subsidiary.

What or who inspired you to enter this field? (Don’t say Gordon Gekko!)
I was skeptical of the legal field until I was studying accounting in college and took a legal class on commercial secured transactions. My classmates complained the class was complicated and boring, but I enjoyed the mix of business and law and understanding how to get deals done.

You volunteer on the Phoenix Community Alliance board. Describe your work there, and how your legal skills benefit their mission.
Phoenix Community Alliance gives a voice to Downtown and nearby business members in the building and development of this area. I’ve been able to legally help their mission “behind the scenes” with trademark registrations of their rebranding, initial affiliate agreements, nonprofit advocating IRS rules and corporate governance advice.

Name the best depiction of your field in TV or film that you’ve seen.
I rarely watch any because they are so inaccurate! That said, Ally McBeal has been my favorite. The show started in 1997, right when I was a new associate just like Ally. It was the best in terms of showing the insanity of juggling clients, partners, paralegals and friends.

What are your hobbies and interests outside law?
I’m obsessive about fostering animals. I started in 2017, with two puppies and younger dogs and now with senior dogs and cats. My family has helped over 65 animals across three rescue groups. I love giving them a safe, loving space until they find their new family.

“If I wasn’t a lawyer, I’d be…”
A radiologist! It is fascinating to me, but in college, I decided that I couldn’t survive eight years of chemistry.

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.