MARC CULLEN GOLDSEN – Partner   
Practice Areas:
  • Real Estate
  • Business Transactions
  • ERISA / Employee Benefits
  • Indian Law
  • Construction Law
  • Water Law

Email Me
Phone: 520.623.4353
Fax: 520.792.3426

Practice Focus & Experience

Marc Cullen Goldsen practices in the areas of Indian law, real estate and construction law, environmental law, ERISA, pensions, executive compensation, labor and employment law and business and corporate law. Marc has worked with a broad range of clients, including government entities, commercial and residential developers, landowners, contractors, subcontractors, architectural and engineering firms, sureties, insurance companies, community associations, homeowners and businesses of all varieties and sizes. Before joining Udall Law Firm, LLP, Marc was a Senior Associate with a prominent Scottsdale, Arizona law firm and served as Deputy General Counsel for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Senior Assistant General Counsel for the Gila River Indian Community. Marc is a Past Chair of the Arizona State Bar Construction Law Section, where he served on the Executive Council for eight years. Marc was the subject of biography in the 2005 – 2006 edition of Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Law and the 2008 – 2009 edition of Cambridge’s Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals.

Representative Matters

• Provides ERISA and related tax and executive compensation statutory and regulatory compliance advice to business and government clients.
• Outside construction, economic development, environmental and natural resources, gaming, land and water rights counsel to various federally-recognized Indian communities.
• Represents developers in connection with residential and commercial developments on Indian Reservations, Arizona State Trust Lands and private lands valued from $10,000 to $400 million.
• Represents landowners, homeowners, community associations and developers in connection with disputes concerning alleged violations of zoning ordinances, community master plans, CC & R’s and community design guidelines. Such representation has included a recent victory, on behalf of a developer, in a Special Action instituted by a community association and master developer to challenge the approval of certain zoning variances.
• Represents buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers and guarantors in connection with purchases and sales of real property and business assets ranging in value from under $50,000 to over $50 million and the financing of such transactions.
• Represented various government entities in negotiations concerning the location of major freeways, partnership arrangements for river restoration projects, boundary and right-of-way disputes and water allocation questions.
• Represented businesses in the purchase, sale, operation and maintenance, construction and repair of multi-million dollar hotels in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, San Francisco Bay Area and Sedona.
• Served as primary in-house counsel to Arizona Indian communities in the following areas: Business Enterprise, Construction, Cultural Resources, Economic Development, Education, Engineering & Construction, Environmental, Finance & Investment, Gaming, Government Contracts, Housing, Human Resources (including Personnel, employee benefits and other Labor and Employment matters), Insurance, Inter-governmental Relations, Land and Water Rights, Land Use, Public Works, Regulatory Development and Enforcement, Tax, Transportation and Zoning.
• As outside counsel, facilitated settlement of a long-standing election and leadership dispute, which preserved an Indian sovereign’s Federal recognition and funding, and which will allow the Indian sovereign to move forward with self-governance to provide programs and benefits for its members.
• As in-house counsel to an Arizona Indian community, provided legal representation in relation to the construction of a $400 million casino hotel and convention center complex.
• Developed comprehensive environmental management programs as in-house counsel for two different Arizona Indian communities.
• As in-house counsel to Arizona Indian communities, provided legal representation in relation to the construction of two multi-million dollar government administrative complexes.
• As in-house counsel to an Arizona Indian community, coordinated the drafting of a water delivery and use code to implement the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act.
• As in-house counsel to an Arizona Indian community, provided legal representation in connection with the design and construction of a proposed $1.4 billion, 2,400-mile water conveyance system to deliver water allocated under the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act.
• As in-house counsel to an Arizona Indian community, provided legal representation in connection with the completion of construction, and negotiated and drafted the Charter and Curation Agreement for the operation and maintenance, of the Huhugam Heritage Center.
• As in-house counsel to an Arizona Indian community, coordinated and drafted private letter ruling request, that resulted in favorable determination by the IRS regarding taxation of Indian housing benefits.

Education

• University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law (LL.M., Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy, 2006)
• University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law (J.D., 1999)
• Arizona Law Review (1997 – 1999)
• University of California at Berkeley (B.A., with Distinction, 1997)

Publications & Presentations

• Public Contracts and Procurement Regulations in Arizona, Lorman Education Services Continuing Legal Education, Phoenix and Tucson, AZ, October 25, 2007, October 15, 2008, October 28, 2008 and October 7, 2010, (Member of Faculty).
• Indian Water Rights Under the Arizona Water Settlements Act, Lorman Education Services Continuing Legal Education, Tucson, Arizona, January 28, 2009, July 15, 2010 and January 13, 2012, (Member of Faculty).
• Commercial Development in Indian Country, Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine, Annual Real Estate Outlook, (March 2007) (Guest Columnist).
• Per D.C. Circuit, IGRA Has Its Limits…For Now, The Arrow (Arizona State Bar Indian Law Section), Fall 2006.
• So Don’t Sue Me: Ameliorating the Fear Factor in Indian Economic Development Through Dispute Resolution and Limitation of Liability Provisions. Third Annual New Voices in Indigenous Research Conference, University of California at Berkeley (March 2005) (Lecturer).
• The Public Policy Obstacle to Regulatory Exclusions and Termination Upon Takeover Provisions as Defenses to Fidelity Bond Coverage, International Association of Defense Counsel Fidelity and Surety Newsletter, June 2001 (Co-Author).
• What Claims are Available to the Contractor on a Problem Job and How the Contractor Should Substantiate the Claims, Lorman Education Services Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Phoenix, AZ (2000 – 2003) (Contributor).

Court Admissions

• Arizona State Courts
• Pascua Yaqui Tribal Court
• U.S. District Court of Arizona

Memberships

• State Bar of Arizona, Construction Law Section, former Chair, Chair-Elect, Budget Officer, Secretary and Executive Council Member-at-Large
• State Bar of Arizona, Indian Law Section
• Maricopa County Bar Association
• Pima County Bar Association
• American Bar Association, Forum on the Construction Industry
• American Bar Association, Environment, Energy and Resources Section
• Colorado River Water Users Association
• Western Resource Lawyers Colloquium
• Federal Bar Association, Phoenix Chapter, Board Member

Community Involvement

• The Hearth Foundation, Pro Bono Legal Counsel
• SNAP Foundation, Pro Bono Legal Counsel
• Tucson Challenger Baseball League, Coach
• Congregation Anshei Israel, Member of Board of Trustees
• Autism Society of Arizona
• Tucson Alliance for Autism
• Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation
• Arizona Hillel Foundation
• Tucson and Phoenix Area Synagogues, Religious Educator
• High School Debate Coach and Speech and Debate Judge, Volunteer
• Noah’s Ark Animal Rescue, Pro Bono Legal Counsel