Marjorie Desmond |

Desmond Law, PLLC

Marjorie Desmond | Desmond Law, PLLC

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Firm Summary

Marjorie Desmond was motivated at an early age to pursue a career as an estate planning attorney. Her grandfather was lost in WWII, and left his death benefit to his brother instead of his wife and two children, creating extreme hardship for his young family.

Marjorie determined to establish her own law practice in order to help people avoid costly mistakes, and properly protect their families after seeing a number of young parents die unexpectedly.

Marjorie Desmond grew up in San Diego, California, graduated at the top of her class, and attended Stanford University, where she double-majored in history and German studies.

Upon earning her bachelor’s degree with departmental honors, Marjorie set forth to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer and attended law school.

After receiving her J.D. degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1992, Marjorie was admitted to the California Bar and began her first job at a maritime law firm in L.A. As a member of the Maritime Law Association, she wrote for the Maritime Law Association Recreational Boating Law newsletter and handled a broad spectrum of maritime litigation matters in both state and federal courts in California. She was recruited by a large international law firm in downtown L.A., where she continued to do maritime law, but also handled a wider-range of non-maritime commercial litigation matters. Broadening her scope of practice, Marjorie joined the United States Customs Service as in-house counsel, advising on issues of trade, law enforcement, labor matters, and import/export issues.

Marjorie and her husband moved their family to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999. Excited about the lifestyle change from L.A., she immediately dove right into the duties of an active school-involved parent. For the next 11 years she was involved in the school PTO and was active in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, sports, and music programs in Scottsdale.

In 2010, Marjorie took the Arizona Bar Exam and was admitted to the Arizona Bar. She got a job with a firm in Scottsdale, handling a large range of commercial collection matters all over Arizona. After seeing the devastating effects of the economy and a failure to plan on families, Marjorie chose to transition towards helping people prepare their family for the future. Passionate about helping people create their legacy, she went into estate planning.

Marjorie established Desmond Law, PLLC in May 2015. She has gone through a wealth of legal education and continues to expand her legal knowledge while helping clients prepare and protect themselves and their families to leave a lasting legacy. She has offices in Scottsdale and Tempe to serve her clients.

Marjorie lives in Scottsdale and has two children–one in college and one planning to go to medical school.

In her free time, Marjorie loves to read and play the piano. But you won’t catch her playing in front of crowds; she prefers to play alone to relax, or for very close friends and family. Marjorie is fluent in German and has many friends in Germany who she loves to visit.

Education
• Stanford University, B.A., 1989. History and German Studies, with departmental honors.
• Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., 1992. Loyola Law Review, Note & Comment Editor 1991-92, and published author in the Loyola Law Review.

Experience
• Marjorie began her legal career in 1992 in Los Angeles, California, practicing with a boutique maritime firm as well as a premiere international law firm, handling all aspects of commercial litigation in the areas of product liability, personal injury, creditor’s rights, transportation, maritime and contract law.
• Marjorie moved to the public sector in 1998, working in-house for the U.S. Department of Treasury/U.S. Customs Service in Long Beach, California. She handled legal questions from federal law enforcement agents, trained customs inspectors, and prepared cases for trial in the Court of International Trade and federal district courts.
• Marjorie passed the Arizona bar in 2010. She directed the commercial litigation department of the Scottsdale office of a Minnesota law firm until 2013, when she switched to a field more conducive to helping families.
• Marjorie transitioned her practice to estate planning and family law in 2013 in association with a local family law attorney. She opened her own firm in 2015.

Memberships
• State Bar of California, 1992
• State Bar of Arizona, 2010
• Admitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Northern, Eastern, Southern and Central Federal District Courts of California and the Federal District Court of Arizona, as well as all state courts in California and Arizona
• United States Supreme Court, 2019

Professional Organizations
Maricopa County Bar Association, Scottsdale Chamber Member, Disabled American Veterans, estate planning volunteer; Wills for Heroes, volunteer; BNI, Scottsdale Referral Partners Chapter, founding member, former president and current mentor.

Personal Organizations
Marjorie has been actively involved in a number of community organizations since moving to Arizona. She has held numerous positions in PTO and school organizations, church groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. She is also a member of the Stanford Alumni Association.

Personal Interests and Family
Marjorie has been married for 28 years. She enjoys playing classical piano, horseback riding, traveling, exercising and reading. She and her family and their horse Sunny make their home in Scottsdale.

Mission
Develop long-term relationships with clients and their financial advisers by earning their confidence and trust
Fully understand my clients’ circumstances, needs, goals and concerns
Provide affordable estate plans to individuals and their families that address their very personal needs
Stay updated on current legal developments in the area of estate planning and marital agreements to provide my clients with exceptional service
Help parents develop a plan for their minor children should the parents become incapacitated
Provide clients with peace-of-mind that they have engaged the very best attorney to accomplish their goals