About Douglas Metcalf
Mr. Metcalf is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in white collar defense, tax law, and representing businesses and individuals in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies and in government investigations.
Prior to moving to Arizona in 1996, Mr. Metcalf served as a federal prosecutor in the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in prosecuting tax cases and conducting grand jury investigations.
Since moving to Arizona, Mr. Metcalf has expanded that practice to encompass commercial litigation and tax controversy work.
Mr. Metcalf routinely represents clients sued in state or federal court in commercial or business disputes. He represents several media organizations and has successfully defended defamation and invasion of privacy cases. Mr. Metcalf represents businesses that have become involved in criminal matters as witnesses or document custodians.
While in law school, Mr. Metcalf served on the Drake Law Review. After graduating from law school, Mr. Metcalf was a judicial law clerk for the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C. He currently lives in Tucson with his wife and his two sons.
Representative Cases/Matters
- Volunteer Center of S. Ariz. v. Staples, 214 Ariz. 36, 147 P.3d 1052 (Ct. App. 2006), petition for review denied (2007) (property of a charitable non-profit is exempt from taxation even if a portion of the building is leased to another non-profit).
- University Medical Center v. Dep’t of Revenue, 201 Ariz. 447, 36 P.3d 1217 (Ct. App. 2001) (off campus administrative and clinical properties owned by a non-profit hospital headquartered on the University of Arizona campus are exempt from property taxes).
- Mauseth v. Vandervoet, 2CA-CV 2010-0108 (Ct. App. 2010) (summary judgment affirmed in favor of newspaper on plaintiff's defamation claim).
- Successfully obtained summary judgement against a county that sought to prevent a town from providing sewer service within its town boundaries.
- Successfully quashed a variety of grand jury subpoenas, criminal trial subpoenas, and tax court trial subpoenas seeking documents and/or testimony.
- Successfully obtained a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining a landlord and prospective tenant from opening a competing business in violation of an exclusivity provision in a shopping center lease.
- Successfully obtained summary judgment for an elected public official sued for defamation.
- Successfully obtained a preliminary and permanent injunction against a punk rock band to prevent the band from using a newspaper's copyrighted photograph.
- Represented real estate developers who have been assessed the Tucson speculative builder’s tax.