August 2004

Tim Keller Steps Up as IJ Arizona Chapter Executive Director

By Chip Mellor

We are proud to announce that Tim Keller has assumed the reins as Executive Director of the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter.

Readers of Liberty & Law will recognize Tim as the Chapter’s indefatigable staff attorney for the last two and a half years. Tim has established himself as a scourge of bureaucrats in Arizona, with numerous coups that struck down arbitrary and excessive regulations. For instance, he defeated the bar association’s attempt to put hundreds of independent paralegals out of work. African hairbraider Essence Farmer and other aspiring braiders can now practice their craft thanks to Tim. And Christian Alf can continue protecting peoples’ homes from roof rats because Tim forced the Structural Pest Control Commission to capitulate and not require Christian to get a license.

Tim led the Castle Coalition’s petition drive in Scottsdale, Ariz., which resulted in the City Council repealing downtown Scottsdale’s two bogus blight designations. All in all, a very impressive track record and great credentials to bring to the leadership of the Chapter.

Tim, a longtime Arizona resident, graduated from the Arizona State University College of Law. Tim had not planned on attending law school until meeting IJ’s co-founder Clint Bolick during an internship at the Goldwater Institute, Arizona’s premier free market think tank, where Clint was writing a paper as a Winter Fellow. Spending a semester with Clint infected Tim with the public interest law bug and he developed a focused goal to become an IJ attorney. Tim keeps busy at home with his wife Lisa and their two sons. Although you’d never know it by looking at his Lincolnesque physique, Tim has a weakness for doughnuts; he has been known to devour them by the boxful.

Under Tim’s direction we confidently expect the Chapter, which has already established itself as a force to be reckoned with in Arizona, to be at the forefront of protecting the American Dream in the Grand Canyon State.

Chip Mellor is IJ’s president and general counsel.