Mr. Atkinson received his B.S. in Geophysical Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1973. Prior to attending Law School, Clifford was employed as a geophysicist for a mining company.

He received his J.D. (Juris Doctorate) from the University of New Mexico in 1978, where he served as Editor of the Natural Resources Journal. After practicing at another Firm for 13 years, he and Mr. Thal founded the Firm in 1992. For over 38 years, Mr. Atkinson has focused his practice on litigating a broad spectrum of difficult cases.