Estate Lawyer in San Juan County & Farmington, NM

Serving New Mexico, Texas, & Colorado

Meet the Attorney

Gary Risley is the founding director and shareholder of the Risley Law Firm, P.C., located in Farmington. Prior to starting his own firm he was a director and shareholder in the Farmington office of the Miller Stratvert P.A.law firm. He graduated cum laude from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree, and received his juris doctor from the Baylor University School of Law in 1983. He received the second highest score among those taking the July, 1983 Texas bar examination.

Gary’s practice today emphasizes commercial transactions, business succession planning, estate planning, probate matters, water law, and related litigation.

More About Gary Risley

Gary Risley Estate Lawyer in San Juan County & Farmington, NM | Risley Law Firm, P.C.

Career

Gary served as the Vice-president of Legal Affairs, general counsel, and corporate secretary for Mesa Air Group for 11 years before he returned to private practice in 1999. During his tenure at the publicly-traded company, it grew through merger and acquisition, as well as internal growth, from a company with 13 aircraft and $40 million a year in revenue to an airline with nearly 200 aircraft and over $500 million a year in revenue. He had the privilege of working on commercial transactions ranging from $100 to $250 million.

He also dealt with complex personnel issues and the Human Resources director at Mesa reported to him. Risley was responsible for all legal affairs of the company during his tenure.

While at Mesa, he also served as the president of Mesa Air Pilot Development, an ab initio pilot training school that was recognized as best cooperative program between private business and public education in New Mexico. The program started with two single-engine aircraft and grew to 13 aircraft and more than 100 students during the time that he ran the program.

He was elected to serve as the probate judge in San Juan County in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He is currently serving as San Juan County Probate Judge after he was appointed by the San Juan County Commissioners to fill the vacant position in January of 2021.

Community Involvement

Gary has been very active in a large number of community and political activities.He was very active with Boy Scouts, having been the founder or co-founder of a Cub Scout Pack, a Boy Scout Troop, and a Venture Crew. He was the Scoutmaster of the troop until March, 2009. He has also served as District Chairman of the Anasazi District and on the Great Southwest Council Board. He received the District Award of Merit for his work for Scouting in the local area.

He was a member of Jaycees while living in Texas. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for Navajo Ministries; which, among other things, operates the Four Corners Home for Children, a home for displaced Navajo children. He helped bring USTA tennis to Farmington, and participated in organizing both adult and junior leagues in that sport. He was a certified tennis official, having been to the USTA’s National Chair school in Florida, and was certified to call lines at professional level matches.

He is currently an active member of the San Juan Rotary Club, and is a past president of the Club. Risley previously served as the chair of the Farmington Chamber of Commerce Telecommunications and Transportation Committee. During the period of his chairmanship, the committee was actively focusing on two key issues: 1) Preservation of scheduled air service in rural communities, particularly Farmington, NM, and 2) improvement of high-speed data access in San Juan County. The TNT committee was the key advocate of a plan that recently resulted in the creation of a redundant fiber optic loop which will avoid outages with line cuts in San Juan County. The committee also drove the effort with the local telephone and cable providers to make DSL or cable modems more accessible throughout the county. Regional Aviation Partners, a rural air service advocacy group, named Gary to their Board of Directors where he assisted with planning for actions before the Department of Transportation.

He is very active in his church as a Bible Study leader and deacon, has been recognized in the past as one of “New Mexico’s Top 100 Power Brokers” by New Mexico Business Weekly, and in 2004 was featured in the Four Corners Business Journal as a leader in the Four Corners Region.

He has served as the president of the San Juan County Rotary Club, which named him its “Vocational Member of the Year for 2003”, and on its Board of Directors throughout the years. He also served on the Rotary’s Club foundation board of directors.

Personal Life

Gary is married to Annette Layman Risley, and they have three children and eight grandchildren. He has more hobbies than he has time, but his favorites are flying and cycling. He also enjoys mountain biking, camping, and he is a licensed ham radio operator. He continues to serve from time to time on various charitable boards.

Get Legal Help

We can handle your uncontested probate anywhere in the state of NM. We can assist with business matters and real estate issues in NM, TX, or CO.

Legal Matters

Cases can be straightforward or complex, but whatever the circumstances, Risley Law is here to assist you. Your case is important to us and we will provide our absolute best effort on your behalf. Give us a call if you have any questions.

Request For An Attorney

When you contact Risley Law, an attorney and an assistant will be provided for you. It is important to know that whatever the circumstances, the facts of your legal matter are important to us. We dig very deep to find the details that make the difference for our clients.

Risley Law Firm, P.C. is ready to assist. Call today to request a consultation.