Overview

Arizona’s land use law has grown steadily more complex since the mid-1990s, shaped by rapid population growth, competing interests among developers, municipalities, neighborhood associations, and state regulators, and a continuous stream of legislative updates. Withey Morris Baugh, PLC, formerly Withey Morris PLC, has practiced in this specific legal environment since the firm’s founding in 1996. That longevity means the firm’s attorneys have watched Arizona’s development landscape evolve across nearly three decades and have participated in shaping the legal outcomes of some of the state’s most significant land use matters.

The firm operates from Suite A-212 at 2525 East Arizona Biltmore Circle in Phoenix, a location in one of the city’s premium business districts. Its practice is concentrated on land use and zoning, real estate transactions, government affairs, and regulatory navigation. The firm does not spread its resources across unrelated legal areas. The narrowness of its focus is deliberate.

Practice Areas

Land Use and Zoning: The firm’s central practice area covers the legal processes by which developers, landowners, and other parties secure the governmental approvals they need to build, expand, or change the use of property. This means appearing before neighborhood organizations, planning commissions, city councils, and appellate hearings. It means obtaining entitlements for major developments, both commercial and residential. It means representing clients in the procedural and substantive arguments that determine whether and on what terms a project moves forward. The firm has handled this work for commercial, residential, industrial, and master-plan developers, including what it describes as some of Arizona’s largest and most sophisticated clients.

Real Estate Transactions: Land use entitlements are only part of the process for major development projects. Transactions involving acquisitions, sales, and leasehold rights require legal support that complements the entitlement work. The firm handles these transactional matters as part of a practice that covers the full arc of a development project from regulatory approval through property transfer.

Government Affairs and Lobbying: The firm’s practice intersects with Arizona government at multiple levels. It tracks and advises clients on state legislation relevant to development, including updates to Major General Plan Amendment procedures and other regulatory changes that affect how municipalities handle land use decisions.

Arizona State Land Department Auctions: Developers seeking to acquire state-owned land or leasehold rights through State Land Department auction processes receive legal counsel from the firm on the requirements and procedures specific to these transactions.

Regulatory Navigation: Federal, state, and local agencies each impose requirements on development activity. The firm guides clients through these layered regulatory systems, identifying the approvals needed, the sequence in which they must be obtained, and the arguments most likely to succeed before each body.

Attorney Profiles

Michael B. Withey (Founding Partner)

Michael Withey is a founding partner of the firm and one of the attorneys whose name the practice has carried since its founding in 1996. He appears year after year in The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Land Use and Zoning Law and Real Estate Law. He is described as bringing a detailed and strategic long-term perspective to client matters. His tenure at the firm spans the entirety of its nearly 30-year history.

Adam Baugh (Partner)

Adam Baugh is a land use and zoning attorney and partner whose name was added to the firm when the practice updated its name to Withey Morris Baugh, PLC. He has extensive experience in the procedural dimension of land use work: appearing before the neighborhood organizations, planning commissions, city councils, and appellate bodies that make the decisions that matter most to developers. He focuses on removing legal and procedural obstacles that impede development projects, and he handles advocacy for land use entitlements, business approvals, and liquor licenses.

Alex Hayes (Attorney)

Alex Hayes was hired as a land use and zoning attorney, expanding the firm’s attorney team for this practice area.

Dave Baker and Alex Baker

A father-and-son attorney team was brought on board as part of the firm’s growth. Additional credential details for these attorneys are not publicly documented.

Location and Service Area

The firm is located at 2525 East Arizona Biltmore Circle, Suite A-212, Phoenix, AZ 85016. Its phone number is (602) 230-0600, and the firm’s website is www.wmbattorneys.com/. The practice is centered on Arizona and serves clients statewide, including those whose projects require interaction with state agencies, municipalities across the Phoenix metropolitan area, and Arizona’s State Land Department.

Client Focus

The firm’s clients are primarily commercial, residential, industrial, and master-plan developers, along with landowners who need legal support navigating Arizona’s government approval processes. The firm has described its track record as including “intensely complex legal scenarios for some of the state’s largest and most sophisticated clients.” It also represents clients whose projects require interaction with neighborhood organizations and community groups as part of the entitlement process.

The firm produces thought leadership content on Arizona development issues. It hosts a podcast covering land use, development, and Arizona politics, and it provides regular updates on state law changes relevant to the development community, including recaps of new legislation affecting Major General Plan Amendments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of government bodies does the firm appear before?

The firm regularly appears before neighborhood organizations, planning commissions, city councils, boards of adjustment, and appellate bodies. The specific bodies relevant to a given project depend on the jurisdiction and the type of approval sought. The firm advises clients on which bodies have authority over their projects and what arguments and documentation are most effective before each.

Does the firm handle projects outside the Phoenix metropolitan area?

The firm’s practice covers Arizona statewide. While its office is in Phoenix, its clients include developers and landowners whose projects are located across the state, including matters requiring engagement with state-level agencies such as the Arizona State Land Department.

How long has the firm been practicing Arizona land use law?

The firm was founded in 1996 and has been practicing Arizona land use law continuously since that year. As of 2026, this represents nearly 30 years of concentrated practice in this specific area.

What is the Arizona State Land Department auction process?

The Arizona State Land Department manages the state’s trust land holdings and conducts auctions through which developers and others can bid to acquire land or leasehold rights. These auctions involve specific legal requirements and procedures. The firm advises developers through this process, including the preparation and evaluation of bids, the legal conditions attached to acquired parcels, and the entitlement steps that typically follow acquisition.

Why does the firm focus exclusively on land use and real estate rather than offering broader legal services?

Specialization allows the firm’s attorneys to develop depth in a specific legal field rather than spreading their expertise across unrelated areas. Arizona land use law involves procedural complexity, political dynamics, and regulatory knowledge that require sustained focus to master. The firm’s view is that concentrated expertise produces better results for clients whose projects require sophisticated navigation of these systems.

Closing

Withey Morris Baugh, PLC has spent nearly 30 years working within the legal systems that govern how land in Arizona gets developed, transferred, and regulated. The firm’s office is at 2525 East Arizona Biltmore Circle, Suite A-212, Phoenix, AZ 85016, reachable at (602) 230-0600 or at www.wmbattorneys.com/. For developers and landowners navigating Arizona’s entitlement and regulatory processes, the firm’s tenure and its exclusive focus on this area of law represent a specific kind of institutional knowledge that accumulates only with time.