Robert M. Way is a Partner who practices in the firm’s estate planning and estate litigation sections. Robert began his education at Boston University – Tanglewood Institute of Music, then onto the University of San Diego (Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy), and finally Thomas Jefferson School of Law, in San Diego, California, where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 2001. Mr. Way’s practice focuses on estate planning, probate and trust administration, guardianship and conservatorship, elder law, corporate representation, and probate and end-of-life litigation. Also, his work occasionally includes Catholic estate planning, where he advises both individuals and clergy on the interaction and integration of canon law and civil law in one’s estate plan. Robert is licensed in both Arizona and the District of Columbia.
His professional career has included work as a Deputy Yuma County Attorney, (Criminal Division) and also as a Civil County Attorney (2005-2007). Mr. Way worked with The Deason Law Firm (2007-2010) in Yuma, Arizona, which focuses its practice in estate planning and elder law. Also, he was a solo practitioner with The Way Law Firm, P.C., in Tucson from 2010-2013, and later as a partner with Thompson Krone, PLC in Tucson (2013-2019). Finally, he has worked as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Brown Mackie College (Tucson Campus).
Robert has previously served as a Panel Member and Settlement Officer for the Supreme Court of Arizona Disciplinary Court and as a volunteer Judge Pro Tem for the Pima County Superior Court Probate Division. Since 2012, he has served as a member of the Parish Council for St. Melany’s Byzantine Catholic Church, and he is a co-founder of the Byzantine Catholic Shrine of Mary Undoer of Knots on Mt. Lemmon in Summerhaven.
His volunteer efforts have made him past President of the Yuma County Bar Association, a founding Board Member of the Yuma Endowment Project, and as the 2011 President of the Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Currently, Robert is the President of the St. Thomas More Society of Southern Arizona. Finally, he is chair elect on the State Board of Arizona committee for Elder Law, Mental Health, and Special Needs Planning.
Robert is an accomplished violinist having studied classical violin since age four. During college he was the concertmaster and lead violinist in both the University of San Diego Symphony and Chamber group, and professionally with chamber music groups at the Orvieto Musica Festival, in Italy in 2007. He has recorded as a studio musician with various bands in Hollywood, and has produced a 20-piece jazz big band called Zimbobway’s King Kingston Orchestra, where he was both a songwriter and musician, in collaboration with Carlos Malcolm, founder of the Jamaican ska band, Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms as well as arranger for the original James Bond film, “Dr. No.” Recently, Robert has returned to classical music in playing with concert pianist Eric Genuis.
Mr. Way holds a master’s level degree (7th degree black belt) in the Mandarin Chinese martial art of Northern Shou Shu Kung Fu and is certified by the Red Dragon Martial Arts. Apart from Robert’s professional practice, his greatest joy is being a husband and father of eight children.
