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Law Firm Updates
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced Oct. 31 Evan Leitch joined the firm as a shareholder in its Denver office. Leitch will focus on advising clients on corporate transactions. Leitch handles private and public mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and private equity transactions. He advises clients across a range of industries on a wide variety of corporate and transactional matters. He also provides strategic and corporate governance counsel to clients and advises issuers and investors on securities and exchange commission reporting and compliance.
The Judiciary
The 1st Judicial District Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for a district court judgeship created by the retirement of Judge Randall Arp, effective Jan. 1, 2024. Nominees Chantel Contiguglia of Centennial, Kellie Fetter of Littleton and Melissa Garscin of Westminster were selected by the commission on Oct. 30. Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from Oct. 31, within which to appoint one of the nominees as district court judge for the 1st Judicial District. Comments regarding the nominees can be sent to [email protected].
The 1st Judicial District also announced its warrant clearance day and community resource fair will be Saturday, Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Building. The 1st Judicial District, the Community Connections Center, Jefferson County Justice Services and others will come together to help people clear their warrants and get connected with resources. In addition to clearing warrants, attendees can connect with various community resources and other assistance. To check warrant-clearance eligibility for probation-revocation cases, you can send an email to [email protected]. To check eligibility for all other cases, you can send an email to [email protected].
The 18th Judicial District Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for a district court judgeship created by the retirement of Judge Patricia Herron. The vacancy will occur on Dec. 1. Nominees Chantel Contiguglia of Centennial, Natalie Stricklin of Aurora and Daniel Warhola of Franktown were selected by the commission on Nov. 1. Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from Nov. 2 within which to appoint one of the nominees as a district court judge for the 18th Judicial District. Comments regarding the nominees can be sent to [email protected].
On Nov. 2, the Colorado Judicial Branch announced Judge Gil Martinez died Oct. 31. Martinez was a sitting senior judge and former 4th Judicial District chief judge. The department said Martinez was on a hunting trip with family near Gunnison when he died. After returning to camp following a hunt in deep snow from the weekend storm, Martinez collapsed and was not able to be resuscitated, according to the announcement. Martinez is survived by his wife of 50 years Joanie Martinez, two children, seven grandchildren and a great-grandson. Details regarding services are pending.
Kudos
Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC announced Nov. 2 it was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms, with ten local rankings for its work within the Colorado market. The firm received a tier 1 ranking for its work in administrative/regulatory law, business organizations, commercial litigation, corporate law, employment law (management) and real estate law. The firm received a tier 2 ranking for its work in employment law (individuals), environmental law, land use and zoning law and insurance litigation.
Moye White LLP announced Nov. 2 it was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms, receiving national recognition in five practice areas and 19 rankings regionally. The firm ranked nationally in tier 2 for communications law and nationally in tier 3 for corporate law, franchise law, mergers and acquisitions law and tax Law.
Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP announced Nov. 2 it was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms. Nationally, DGS received a tier 1 ranking for mining Law. DGS was also nationally ranked in corporate law, leveraged buyouts, natural resources law, oil and gas law and securities/capital markets law. The firm also got tier 1 rankings in Colorado in 28 practice areas.
Ogletree Deakins announced it was recognized by Best Law Firms as a law firm of the year for the 13th consecutive year. Ogletree Deakins was named the 2024 Law Firm of the Year for employment law (management). The firm’s Denver office also received tier 1 rankings for immigration law.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP announced Nov. 2 it was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms. The firm earned 126 tier 1 practice rankings — 18 national tier 1 rankings and 108 regional tier 1 rankings. The firm earned 213 practice rankings across the U.S. The firm was also selected as the Law Firm of the Year for intellectual property litigation. This is the sixth consecutive year the firm has received the Law Firm of the Year recognition and the third time the firm has earned the recognition for intellectual property litigation. The firm’s Denver office received tier 1 rankings for intellectual property litigation, patent litigation and patent law.
Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie announced 22 of the firm’s areas of practice were listed for national counsel and 97 practice areas were listed within the three regional categories in the 2024 Best Law Firms list.
Holland & Hart LLP announced Nov. 2 it was recognized as the national Law Firm of the Year for natural resources law in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms. The firm was also recognized in 29 practice areas nationally and in 149 practice areas regionally. In addition, the firm was recognized nationally in tier 1 for environmental law, environmental litigation and technology law for 11 consecutive years and for natural resources law since 2021. The firm received 112 regional tier 1 rankings in eleven locations. To see the full list of the firm’s ranking click here.
Caplan & Earnest announced Nov. 2 it was recognized by Best Lawyers in its 2024 Law Firms of the Year. The firm was recognized regionally in tier 1 for Colorado for health care law, immigration law and medical malpractice law; regionally in tier 3 for real estate law; and nationally in tier 3 for health care law.
BAM Family Law announced Nov. 2 it was ranked in the 2024 Best Law Firms list regionally for family law.
Otteson Shapiro LLP announced it was ranked in the 2024 Best Law Firms list. The firm was ranked nationally for three practice areas and regionally for nine practice areas, with the firm’s Denver and Dallas offices both recognized. The firm was ranked nationally for financial services regulation law, banking and finance litigation and commercial litigation. The firm was ranked regionally in Colorado for banking and finance law, commercial litigation, insurance law, banking and finance litigation and real estate law.
Fortis Law Partners LLC announced it was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms. The firm was ranked regionally in tier 1 for for labor and employment litigation and workers’ compensation law (employers); and regionally in tier 2 for employment law (management), corporate law and commercial transactions/uniform commercial code law.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced Nov. 3 it was recognized by Best Lawyers in its 2024 Best Law Firms edition. The firm received a national tier 1 ranking for land use and zoning law. In addition to its national tier 1 ranking, the firm received nine other national rankings as well as 53 regional rankings across eight offices. To view the firm’s full rankings click here.
Odds & Ends
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced Oct. 29 applications for the Supporting Recovery Programs Persons Who Wander Grant Program will be accepted from Oct. 30 until Jan. 26, 2024. The program provides grant funding to assist local governments or their designees in locating persons with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease, autism, brain injury or developmental, cognitive, neurological or chromosomal disorders by encouraging said governments and/or their designees to establish recovery programs and provide tools to save the lives of lost and missing persons. The funding is available to any county, municipality or local law enforcement agency seeking to create a new recovery program or maintain an existing program. For law enforcement interested in applying for this grant with questions, contact CBI Grant Specialist Drake Brownfield at [email protected].