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Law Firm Updates
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP welcomed Joseph Daniels and Jack Mankamyer II as partners in the firm’s Denver office. Daniels joins the litigation practice group as a strategic advisor to clients around the country in all aspects of litigation, including pre-litigation strategy, discovery, motions practice, trial and post-trial issues. He has experience in both intellectual property and business tort disputes, as well as financial services, telecommunications, oil and gas and corporate governance disputes. Daniels received his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law. Mankamyer joins the real estate practice group with a nationwide leasing practice as well as experience in the representation of developers, purchasers, sellers, investors and lenders in complex commercial real estate transactions. His practice includes the representation of both tenants and landlords in the negotiation of retail, office and health care leases and more. Mankamyer earned his law degree from the University of Colorado Law School.
Lewis Roca announced Justin Winquist has joined the firm’s litigation practice group as of counsel in Denver. Winquist focuses his practice on insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, defending national property and casualty insurance carriers in individual cases and class actions throughout his career. Winquist is also experienced in complex commercial litigation, business disputes, class actions, appeals, personal injury and product liability. Winquist received his law degree from American University Washington College of Law.
Husch Blackwell announced Brian Kinnear has joined the firm as partner in its intellectual property practice group in the firm’s Denver office. Kinnear focuses his practice on patent prosecution and counseling, where he manages the patent portfolios for Fortune 100 companies, start-ups and businesses in between. Kinnear has prepared and prosecuted patent applications on artificial intelligence, satellite imaging, medical devices and complex fractal encoding and decoding and myriad business methods for clients across various industries. Before becoming an attorney, Kinnear was an engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Judiciary
The 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission will meet April 1 to interview and select nominees for appointment by the governor to the office of county judge for Mineral County. The vacancy will be created by the retirement of Judge Ruth Acheson and will occur on May 1. Applications are available here. The completed application must be e-mailed to [email protected] no later than 4 p.m. on March 15. Late applications will not be considered. Any person wishing to suggest a candidate to fill the vacancy may send a letter to be submitted to any member of the nominating commission, with a copy to the ex officio chair, no later than 4 p.m. on March 8.
The Colorado Supreme Court Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee has released its annual update to Colorado’s model jury instructions for use in criminal trials. The model jury instructions may be found here. They include instructions concerning all offenses defined in Title 18 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, along with instructions addressing select offenses defined in other titles of the Colorado Revised Statutes. This annual update incorporates 2023 legislation, as well as case law published since the release of the prior edition. For any questions regarding the instructions, users are encouraged to contact the committee at [email protected].