Firm Description

The lawyers and legal staff at Backus, Carranza & Burden have major civil litigation experience extending over 40 years in the fields of construction, health care, real estate, professional liability, business, premise liability, and product liability.  We are renown for our competence in handling complex legal matters.  Our firm is rated by Martindale Hubbell as a Preeminent Law Firm with the highest rating of AV.  Mr. Backus has achieved numerous distinctions, including being recognized as a Superlawyer for Nevada and the Mountain States and being inducted into the trial lawyer honorary society of Litigation Counsel of America.  The law firm is ranked as one of Best Law Firms by U.S. News & World Report. When you ask other lawyers of our reputation – which we invite you to do – you will most likely get very positive comments about us.  We have been involved in handling some of the largest and most complex cases in the country.  We have successfully represented very large international businesses and local Nevadans.  We pride ourselves in our ability to represent our clients in tough cases. 

We Listen to Our Clients. In order to achieve a high level of success in negotiating, arbitrating or litigating a matter for one of our clients, we believe that it is of paramount importance to take the time necessary to not just meet with our clients, but to listen intently to what they have to say.

We Are Educators. We pride ourselves in being called upon to educate our brother and sister lawyers locally, nationally and internationally.  We have presented educational seminars to our clients, to industry participants and to the public.  We have in house seminars to update and train our legal team.  Most importantly, in every case, we strive to educate our client, since a well-informed client has the best advantage at getting a victory.  Knowledge is Power!

We Plan Our Client Representation. Every case is different and will take a different path to resolution.  We at Backus, Carranza & Burden  believe that it is essential to plan out each case early on.  We try to develop a critical analysis of what it will take both from a cost- and time-perspective to achieve a successful result for our clients.  Providing our clients with a litigation plan and budget gives them the opportunity to make decisions during critical milestone stages in the representation to be better able to control their destiny.

We Understand The Importance of Legal Metrics.  We understand that legal metrics can accomplish operational improvements, predictive modeling, early case resolution, effective litigation planning and budgeting, law firm and attorney performance assessment and enable alternative fee arrangements for clients.   We understand the most important aspect of our representation is the end result and how efficiently we get there, rather than the billable rate we earn.

Want to Know What Our Firm Values Are? This is what we believe in and these are the established long-term “firm values” at Backus, Carranza & Burden:

  • Do fabulous work.
  • Be known for innovativeness.
  • Attract exciting people.
  • Have a collegial, zany and laughter-filled environment.
  • Be ethical.
  • Be responsive to clients.
  • Have exciting clients.
  • Make a technology statement.
  • Take risks.
  • Take initiative.
  • Spend energy on solutions, not on emotions.
  • Shoot for total quality.
  • Break with tradition.
  • Experiment wisely.
  • Try easier, not harder.
  • Stay calm, cool and deliberate.
  • Smile.
  • Smile more.
  • Have lots of fun.
  • Love what you do.