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Law Firm Updates
Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP announced Amanda Snavely joined the firm’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights group. Her practice focuses on all aspects of bankruptcy, business restructuring and related transactions. Snavely received her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She was the vice president and director of community outreach for the Student Trial Lawyers Association, where she coached first-year students on developing trial skills.
Messner Reeves LLP announced a new partner in its Denver office, Darren Alberti. Alberti specializes in appellate law and litigation involving a variety of areas, including constitutional law, corporate law, class and collective action labor disputes, employment discrimination, administrative law, intellectual property and natural resources.
Ogletree Deakins announced the promotion of Abigail Wallach to shareholder at the firm’s Denver office. Wallach represents employers of all sizes on all matters impacting their employees under federal and state law, including compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Gabe Pinilla has been appointed to partner in charge at Adams and Reese LLP’s Denver Office. Pinilla is a construction law and litigation attorney focusing his practice on a broad range of disciplines. He is a member of the firm’s construction law practice and is admitted in Colorado, Texas, Florida and Maryland.
VF Law announced attorney Lisa Cancanon has returned to the firm’s Colorado office as an associate. Cancanon has practiced law for 11 years and focuses on various facets of bankruptcy and collections. Her experience includes representing both lenders and services in collections proceedings. She is admitted to practice law by the Colorado State Bar and Pennsylvania State Bar.
Lewis Roca announced the firm’s 2024 partnership class and its newest Denver partner Abby Harder. She is a member of the firm’s litigation practice group and co-lead of the class actions group. Harder specializes in representing clients in commercial litigation, covering class actions, real estate, employment and close corporation and partnership disputes. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants across all litigation phases, including dispositive motions, discovery, jury trials, bench trials, arbitration proceedings and appeals.
Kutak Rock LLP elected 17 new partners from its attorney ranks in seven of the firm’s 19 offices. Pardis Farrokhyar, of the Denver office, focuses on representing issuers and underwriters in tax-exempt and taxable financings for municipalities, school districts and particularly utility-related issuers including water and wastewater and transportation-related issuers including ports and airports.
Holland & Knight announced 46 attorneys in the firm have been elected to partner. Thirty-six associates and 10 senior counsels from various offices throughout the firm have been elevated. Nneka Obiokoye is a member of the firm’s business section in Denver. Obiokoye focuses her practice on domestic and international project development and financing transactions, representing project developers, buyers, off-takers and other entities seeking to engage in commercial transactions relating to renewable electricity, renewable fuels, clean energy, sustainability and midstream and downstream oil and gas.
Morrison & Foerster LLP announced the election of 27 lawyers across 13 practice groups to the firm’s partnership. In the firm’s Denver office, Chere See was promoted to partner. She is a member of the transactions department and the mergers and acquisitions group. See represents public and private companies in a variety of transactional matters and advises clients in domestic, cross-border and multijurisdictional acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, strategic investments, securities offerings and general corporate matters.
Polsinelli welcomed Cassandra Foster as a shareholder in the firm’s real estate practice group. Joining the firm in the Denver office, Foster is a real estate attorney with more than a decade of experience in guiding clients through real estate transactions. Foster has both in-house and private practice experience advising real estate developers, investors, institutional lenders and private equity groups on real estate acquisition, disposition, development, finance banking and corporate law. She is a member of Commercial Real Estate Women and active on the CREW Denver Education Committee.
Moye White LLP announced Patrick Akers, Steven Gockley, Chris Scolari and Jana Willsey have been named partners. Akers is a bankruptcy and commercial litigation attorney representing asset purchasers, debtors, landlords, secured and unsecured creditors and trustees in commercial bankruptcy and litigation matters. Gockley is a real estate attorney with expertise in the development of commercial and industrial properties and construction law. Scolari is a trust and estates and corporate attorney with expertise in business planning and property law. Willsey is a finance and development attorney with experience in commercial real estate financing.
Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP announced the partner election of Ryan Cooke, Daniel Guisbond, Melissa Romero, Jacob Rey and Erin Tatman. Cooke represents clients in civil disputes across a range of industries and practice areas. Guisbond helps clients navigate commercial cases across a variety of business sectors. Romero represents clients in commercial litigation and has experience developing and implementing litigation and trial strategies. Rey represents clients in high-exposure cases nationwide and defends both small and large companies in contracts, trade secrets and other commercial disputes. Tatman defends clients, including individual healthcare providers, healthcare organizations lawyers and law firms, against professional liability and product liability lawsuits.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced, in the Denver office, Reid Galbraith, Trayton Oakes and Courtney Shephard will become shareholders and Chris Hand will become of counsel. Galbraith is a member of the firm’s real estate department and is a dealmaker with a background in a variety of real estate asset classes. Oakes is a member of the corporate and business department and represents clients in online gaming, sports betting, tribal gaming and other gaming-related commercial arrangements and regulatory matters. Shephard is a member of the natural resources department and assists clients with localized development challenges. Hand is a member of the firm’s corporate and business department and assists his clients with financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters.
Peter Michaud, an M&A and private equity transactions attorney and former chair of Ballard Spahr’s corporate department, became chair of the national law firm on Jan. 1. As chair, Michaud focuses on firm strategy and operations, practice performance and market and client relations. He joined the firm in 2018.
The Judiciary
The 14th Judicial District Nominating Commission announced four people have applied for nomination to the office of county judge for Moffat County. Applicants are Jay Cranmer, James Hesson and Nichole Cristee, all of Craig, and Jennifer Hoag of Maybell. The 14th Judicial District Nominating Commission will meet via videoconference on Jan. 12 to interview and select nominees for appointment by the governor. The vacancy was created by Judge Brittany Schneider’s appointment to the district court. To be eligible for appointment to fill the vacancy, the applicant must be a qualified elector of Moffat County at the time of investiture and have graduated high school or attained the equivalent of a high school education as indicated by the Department of Education.
Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian Boatright appointed Judge Erin Sokol as chief judge of the 4th Judicial District. As of Feb. 5, Sokol will replace Judge William Bain, who was appointed to the bench in 2010 and has served as chief judge since Aug. 2017. Sokol worked in private practice in Washington D.C. and in Colorado Springs before she was appointed to the bench. She will be the first female chief judge of the 4th Judicial District. As chief judge, she will serve as the administrative head of the district, responsible for appointing the court executive, chief probation officer and clerk of court, assisting in personnel, financial and case-management duties and seeing the business of the courts and probation is conducted efficiently and effectively.
Gov. Jared Polis on Jan. 4 appointed Magistrate Judge Elizabeth McCarthy to the Denver Juvenile Court in the 2nd Judicial District. The vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Pax Moultrie to the Colorado Court of Appeals. McCarthy is a magistrate in Denver Juvenile Court, a position she’s held since 2019.
Polis also appointed Magistrate Judge Christina Apostoli to the Arapahoe County Court in the 18th Judicial District. The vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Chantel Contiguglia to the 1st Judicial District Court. Apostoli is a district court magistrate in the 18th Judicial District, a position she’s held since 2011, with her docket consisting of protective proceedings, including mental health, probate and paternity cases.
The term of office of U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado expires on Sept. 30. The U.S. District Court is required by law to establish a panel of citizens to consider the reappointment of a magistrate judge to a new eight-year term. The duties of a magistrate judge in this court include conducting preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases, conducting various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge and trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants.
Kudos
Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC announced attorney Kelley Duke has been selected to 5280 Magazine’s 2024 list of top lawyers for her work in civil litigation. Duke is a litigator and trial attorney who chaired the firm’s litigation practice group for ten years and now serves on the firm’s executive committee. Her practice includes serving as a lead advocate to national and international clients in commercial litigation matters. In addition, she serves as a strategic advisor and outside general counsel to multiple clients in industries including oil and gas, transportation, supply chain management, banking, marketing, public relations, packaging and distribution and special districts.
Miscellaneous
Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC also announced attorney Lidiana Rios has been selected to serve on the board of directors of Convivir Colorado. This nonprofit organization provides a leadership program and other resources for immigrant, refugee and first-generation youth. Rios is a litigation and regulatory attorney representing companies and individuals in a wide range of business matters, including governance and contract disputes, trade secrets, unfair competition and fraud. She handles dispute resolution, trials, appeals, arbitrations, mediations and regulatory proceedings. Rios also advises investors, creditors, developers, intellectual property holders and other license holders in regulatory compliance matters.