The new leadership team of Beus O’Connor McGroder will be comprised of seasoned attorneys Mark O’Connor (left), Megan Beus, Patrick J. McGroder IV and Patrick J. McGroder Ill. (Photo by JIM POULIN PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL)
Article By Mignon A. Gould – Associate Editor, Phoenix Business Journal Jan 25, 2024
One of the largest Phoenix-area law firms has new name and revamped leadership.
Phoenix-based law firm Beus Gilbert McGroder, is getting new leadership and a new name more than a year after the death of its co-founder Leo Beus in Nov. 2022.
The firm, which will be renamed Beus O’Connor McGroder, specializes in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. It ranked 29th in the Business Journal’s most recent Largest Phoenix-Area Law Firms list.
Leo Beus co-founded the firm in 1982 with friend and business partner Paul Gilbert, who recently left the firm to launch his own practice.
Megan Beus, Leo’s daughter-in-law, has been named as his successor and will lead alongside veteran litigators Patrick McGroder III and Mark O’Connor.
A former sex crimes prosecutor, Beus said she wants to further the impact that her father-in-law has had on the legal community in Arizona, specifically regarding his approach toward client services.
Megan Beus succeeds her father-in-law Leo Beus in leadership as partner of the newly named Beus O’Connor McGroder law firm. (Photo By JIM POULIN PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL)
“In the courtroom, he was an incredible advocate for his clients;’ said Beus, who joined the firm in 2018. “He was meticulous in his practice of law and he had such a powerful presence and voice that I don’t think there’s one who would compare with him at this point.”
As a new partner, Beus’s goal is to carry on the tradition that Leo Beus started. She described her father-in-law as a mentor and someone who worked with the firm’s attorneys.
“One of the things that I really appreciated over the past year, two years was being able to learn under him;’ she explained. “I hope that I am able to continue to honor his dedication to the community, his dedication to his clients. The way he represented them in such a powerful way is something that I’m hoping to do the same;’
A commitment to preserving a legacy
Patrick McGroder III, who has been with the firm since 2018 and has amassed more than one billion dollars in settlements in his so-year career, has worked on high-profile cases – including one against Ford Motor Company involving police vehicles bursting into flames, and another following a fatal incident of fraternity hazing involving Arizona State University student Jack Culolias, which led to the passing of anti-hazing legislation HB 2322.
Veteran litigator Patrick McGroder Ill remains a partner in the new leadership team of Beus O’Connor McGroder law firm. (Photo By JIM POULIN PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL)
McGroder said he sees his law firm as one that makes a difference.
“Our results generally contain an element of social architecture;’ he said. “We honor the profession by representing victims, by being the voice of the voiceless, by being advocates for those that cannot talk for themselves:’
McGroder believes that is what sets the firm apart from others and makes them appealing to potential clients. He cites the case of a Granite Mountain Hotshot widow as one that exemplifies the type of clients that gravitate toward the firm. Nineteen Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013.
Mark O’Connor, who has been with the firm since 2018, joins the leadership team of Beus O’Connor McGroder law firm. (Photo By JIM POULIN PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL)
Mark O’Connor, who has also been with the firm since 2018 and has been listed among the The Best Lawyers in America since 2009, echoes the sentiment of Beus and McGroder. He said he wants to continue to carry out Leo Beus’s legacy of advocating for clients.
“That makes a difference to the people we represent, no matter who they are, what walk oflife they come from;’ he said. “In the name of Leo Beus … we owe it to them to carry out this tradition of this Beus law firm;’
For the future of the firm, the new partners are aligned about how the company will progress and they have the commitment to clients as their driving motivation.
“I think it’s a collective task that we all share;’ McGroder added. “We consider ourselves more centurions – we’re on the wall, we protect the rights of victims and we’re the frontline of litigation for our clients:’
Patrick McGroder IV will work alongside the leadership team of Beus O’Connor McGroder law firm. (Photo By JIM POULIN PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL)
McGroder’s son Pat McGroder IV, who is a personal injury lawyer and a member of The National Trial Lawyers Civil Plaintiff Top 40 under 40, is also working closely with the new leadership team and is line to become a partner.
“Pat is a tremendous litigator, [he] has a great record of success in the courtroom, as does Mark and Megan, and Pat will indeed have a pivotal role in this firm as it moves forward, both as a litigator and a contributor to our collective efforts,” McGroder said.