Selected Professional Recognitions and Activities
Mr. Cárdenas has an AV (“Preeminent Attorney”) rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
In 2006, Mr. Cárdenas was selected as one of the Lawdragon top 500 litigators in America, one of seven from Arizona.
Mr. Cárdenas is listed in the 2007 and 2008 editions of Southwest Super Lawyers in the category Business Litigation.
Mr. Cárdenas is listed in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America ®, by Woodward/White, Aiken, S.C. in the category of Commercial Litigation.
Mr. Cárdenas is admitted to practice in state court in Arizona and California, in federal court in Arizona and California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court. He is a member of the Arizona and California (inactive status) State Bar Associations. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Maricopa County Bar Association, and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Mr. Cárdenas hasbeen a member of Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association since 1978, having served for many years on its board of directors and as president from 1985 to 1988.
In 1995, Mr. Cárdenas was elected to membership in the prestigious American LawInstitute, which develops the Restatements of the Law and uniform laws. Membership is limited to 3000 lawyers, judges and academics.
Mr. Cárdenas is a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, which is “an honorary organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. . . . Membership in the Fellows is limited to one third of one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.”
Mr. Cárdenas is a past member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates (as a representative of the State Bar of Arizona). The House of Delegates is the ABA’s governing body.
In 2007, Mr. Cárdenas received the University of Arizona Law School Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award.
In 2000, he received the Mexican government's Ohtli award given to U.S. residents of Mexican descent in recognition of their service to Mexican communities in the United States.
He was Valley Leadership’s 2000 Man of the Year.
In 2010, Mr. Cárdenas was inducted into the Maricopa County Bar Association Hall of Fame.