2013 March

Denver Bar Association I Vol.I34 3 I March 2012 A Denver Bar Association Publication Vol.Issue 35 Issue 3 I March 2013

No Strings Office Management Kristi Lush explains how one law firm retooled its office— and some perceptions—to help its three associates strike a work–life balance with new families and growing careers.

Inside Seven Things to Consider Before Accepting Credit Cards

by Karen Kishbaugh

What Would Atticus Do? The Legal Ethicist

by Ruchi Kapoor

How Your Donations Support Metro Volunteer Lawyers

by Dianne Van Voorhees

Discover Special Counsel.

We’ll discover the rest.

An efficient document review depends on experience, technology and talent.

That’s why you can depend on us.

Special counSel’S HigH performance review utilizes proven experts, stateof-the-art best practices and cutting-edge technology to deliver the most efficient review possible. Working closely with your counsel, our brightest project managers utilize leading-edge data processing services and Six Sigma1 methodologies. The High Performance Review takes Six Sigma even further, enhancing it with the most advanced near-duplication identification technology in order to organize your review effectively and coherently. We’ve got the right mix of experience and powerful technology to deliver better, quicker and more cost-effective results.

Call today to find out how much an all-inclusive High Performance Review can save you. Per page, per unit, or per hour, Special Counsel delivers!

©2013 Special Counsel, Inc. All rights reserved. 1Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola, Inc.

2 The Docket I March 2013

303.894.9900 800.737.3436 specialcounsel.com Marya Brancio, Esq. Executive Director

Vol. 35 Issue 3 I March 2013 The mission of The Docket is to educate and entertain the Denver legal community — we hope without being sued.

ON THE COVER 8

Creative Approach to Law Firm Management for Working Moms

10

Seven Things to Consider Before Accepting Credit Cards

12

The Legal Ethicist

16

How is Metro Volunteer Lawyers Supported?

FEATURES 4

From the President

6

The Docket’s Mission Statement

14

A Rational, Constitution-focused Discussion about Guns

18

Smaller Teams: Cogs in the Wheels of Justice

8 18

IN EVERY ISSUE 23

Briefs

26

Legal Affairs

28

Dates on the Docket

30

Picture This

THE DOCKET A Denver Bar Association publication. Views expressed in articles are those of the author and not the views of the author’s employers, The Docket Committee, or the Denver Bar Association, unless expressly stated.

Deadline for articles is five weeks prior to the issue date; for example, February articles are due (by email) Dec. 16. To advertise, call Alexa Drago at (303) 824-5313.

THE DOCKET COMMITTEE: Christopher M. Achatz, Norman Beecher, Becky Bye, Scott Challinor, Julie Cuypers, Craig C. Eley, David L. Erickson, Emma E. Garrison, Allison Gerkman, Loren R. Ginsburg, Peter E. Grandey, Ryan T. Jardine, Thomas L. Kanan, Jr., Robert J. Kapelke, Ruchi Kapoor, Paul F. Kennebeck, Natalie Lucas, Alicia J. McCommons, Daniel R. McCune, Margaret McMahon, Douglas I. McQuiston, William R. Meyer, Christopher

6

12 22

Mommsen, Barbara J. Mueller, Siddhartha H. Rathod, Gregory D. Rawlings, Frank Schuchat, Marshall A. Snider, Daniel A. Sweetser, Erica Vargas, Anthony J. Viorst, Dennis P. Walker, Mariya Yakovlevna Cassin.

P.C. EDITOR: Chuck Turner CHAIR: Ryan T. Jardine GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Kate Schuster (303) 860-1115 denbar.org/docket

DBA OFFICERS: James G. Benjamin, President; Daniel R. McCune, PresidentElect; John M. Vaught , First Vice President; Gillian M. Bidgood, Second Vice President; Ilene Lin Bloom, Immediate Past President; Daniel A. Sweetser, Treasurer

Copyright 2013. The Docket (ISSN 10847820) is published monthly, except for the combined issue of July/August, by the Denver Bar Association, 1900 Grant St., Suite 900, Denver, CO 80203-4336. All rights reserved.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBERS: Catherine A. Chan, Janet Drake, Nicholas Ghiselli, Vance O. Knapp, Barbara J. Mueller, Lucia C. Padilla, Meshach Rhoades, Frederick B. Skillern Andrew M. Toft; Chuck Turner, Executive Director EDITOR: Sara Crocker

The price of an annual subscription to members of the DBA ($15) is included in their dues as part of their membership. Periodicals postage paid at Denver, CO and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER send address corrections to The Docket, Denver Bar Association, 1900 Grant St., Suite 900, Denver, CO 80203-4336.

March 2013 I The Docket 3

From the President

Overcoming Obstacles in Life and the Law

by J im Benjamin

T

his month, I have been t h i n king about the importance of perseverance. It is a quality that can be hard to attain, but I’ve seen it in action around the bar association — whether in those who rise above adversity or in an effort to further the rights of others.

Franz Hardy Recognized with Richard Marden Davis Award Each year, the Board of Directors of the Denver Bar Foundation makes the final selection, from among three deserving candidates selected by Davis Graham & Stubbs, of the recipient of the prestigious Richard Marden Davis Award.

The Davis Award is given to a lawyer practicing in Denver who, although being under the age of 40, has already demonstrated a combined excellence as a lawyer with civic and charitable activities best exemplifying the character and promise of Davis at that age.

The past recipients, such as the most recent three honorees — Stacy Carpenter, Mark Clouatre, and Monica Márquez — are all extraordinary individuals. During the several years I have had the honor in participating in the selection process, I have experienced two recurring reactions.

First, on learning of all the accomplishments and volunteer-related services performed by these candidates, I cannot believe they are still under the age of 40. It is just unfathomable that they have accomplished so much at this point in their young careers.

My other reaction is how difficult it is to make the final decision of who will be the recipient. The candidates are all so deserving. However, with that difficulty

4 The Docket I March 2013

comes an immense pride in our Denver legal community, and each year I find myself remarking at how wonderful it is to have such great young talent in our profession.

This year, the Davis Award was presented to Franz Hardy. Soon after meeting Hardy, his competency as a trial lawyer was evident, but his pathway to success is what is most astonishing. His parents met while his father was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany. Shortly after Hardy was born, his mother, who is Japanese, returned to Japan and he was raised by his single father. During his sophomore year at Colorado State University, his father unexpectedly passed away. As an only child, Hardy was on his own, but he graduated from CSU and put himself through law school at University of Colorado School of Law. His leadership qualities have resulted in serving as head of the Diversity Committee of the national law firm Gordon & Rees, president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, member of the Board of Directors of the University of Colorado Law School Alumni Board, member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, and member of the Denver Bar Association nominating committee. And, if you didn’t pick up on it earlier, Franz is under 40 years old!

Congratulations to my dear friend, Franz Hardy.

Benjamin awards Franz Hardy with the Richard Marden Davis Award. See more photos from the event on page 30.

Legislative Policy Committee Supports Civil Union Bill

A core principle of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations is to develop, promote, and support laws that provide equal protection and access to justice for all.

The CBA, through its Legislative Policy Committee, has agreed to support the civil union bill (Senate Bill 13-011), not as a social or morality statement but as one consistent with the precept that protection under the law and access to justice should be available to all. The time for creation of equal rights for same-sex couples is past due.

Rights — such as the ability to inherit by intestate succession, to be admitted into the hospital room of a partner, to include partners and children of the relationship on health insurance coverage, and to visit and to have custodial rights of children when the relationship ends — should all exist without need to create specific contractual agreements.

Each of these and other similar circumstances should be inherent, vested rights arising by law, not contract. Contracts are subject to mutual agreement.

If one party refuses to agree or possesses superior bargaining strength, the other may be denied or severely limited to child visitation or custody, prohibited from sharing in distribution of jointly accumulated assets on dissolution of the relationship, or left without intestate succession rights.

By the time this message is printed, it is possible Colorado’s civil union bill already may have passed both houses of the General Assembly and been presented to Gov. John Hickenlooper for signature. If that process has not been concluded, it is time for individual bipartisan support from all members of the bar to assist in the formulation of law that will afford persons in lifelong relationships the legal right to protect ordinary aspects of life and ordinary indices of justice. D

March 2013 I The Docket 5

’s Mission Statement

F

or our astute readers of The Docket, you must have noticed an additional caption on page 3. The product of focus groups, independent investigation, public polling, and deep meditation, this statement: “To educate and entertain the Denver legal community — we hope without being sued,” defines the mission of The Docket. The storied, nearly 36-year his-

tory of The Docket demonstrates that we have always been very aware of what we were trying to accomplish: a practical and blithe little monthly that keeps you in touch with the Denver legal community and offers insight into the practice of law. We determined, however, that it was time we share with our dear readers what we are setting out to do. Now when you read each issue of The Docket

ask yourself two questions, “Was I entertained, even mildly?” or “Was I educated, even the slightest?” If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” we have accomplished our mission — which we consider, very important indeed. We always appreciate your feedback; email us at docket@denbar.org. D – Ryan T. Jardine, The Docket Committee Chair

The Docket through the years.

Denver Bar Association I Vol. 34 Issue 3 I March 20122013 A Denver Bar Association Publication I Vol. 35 Issue 2 I February

Making Room for

Inside Denver MAMA Supports Lady Lawyers

Dating onyour

Docket

If you’re swamped with billable hours and weekend trial prep, meetingX someone and finding time for a date can be tough. What’s a single lawyer to do?

Natalie Lucas has tips to kick-start your dating game.

by Catherine O. Brown

Barristers Benefit Ball Marks 25 Years

by Sara Crocker

#whatsahashtag?

Learn to Navigate the Twitterverse

by Ryan T. Jardine

Forensic Accounting | Valuation Services | Litigation Support | Computer Forensics

What IS the Difference?

“Understanding attorneys and their clients’ needs when it comes to litigation support.”

~ Doug Cash, MBA, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Forensic Interviewer, CFCI Forensic Accounting Manager

Experience the Eide Bailly Difference.

Professional services with a personal touch.

303.586.8504 | www.eidebailly.com

6 The Docket I March 2013

Since 1984

March 2013 I The Docket 7

Creative Approach to Law Firm Management for Working Moms

Before returning from maternity leave, Kristi Lush found she needed to be at a meeting with partner Richard Angell, but she hadn’t been able to arrange for child care. Angell called the other attorneys and let them know they would be bringing the baby to the meeting. The two walked down 16th Street together holding her son in his car seat.

Photo by Derek Rhodes.

by Kristi Lush

I

n between interviewing with Zupkus & Angell and my first day on the job, I discovered, much to my great joy, that I was pregnant. I felt the need to closely guard this information because I did not know what type of reaction to expect from my firm.

Would this joyous news jeopardize my job or alter my career path?

After trying to politely turn down one partner’s strong suggestion of a

8 The Docket I March 2013

“must try” rare buffalo burger at lunch, and another partner’s offer of sushi (despite the fact that I had lived in Japan for two years and previously disclosed a love for sushi), I decided the thin cloak of secrecy was no longer plausible and shared the news of my pregnancy.

Weeks later another associate announced her pregnancy, which was followed closely by the same announcement from our third — and only other — associate.

We three expectant mothers anx-

iously awaited the partners’ response to all three of their associates being pregnant at the same time, who would require overlapping maternity leaves and wanted to return on a part-time schedule.

My anxiety arose from two places: the experiences that other working-mom attorneys had shared with me and the stories and statistics imparted by legalcommunity-focused media showing the gap between women working as associates and making partner.

The disappointing glass ceiling stories of other female attorneys who felt forced to sacrifice family or career in the name of the other kept me up at night pondering questions like: Will the partners start syphoning off the more sophisticated matters to other attorneys? Will I have a future with this firm after my baby’s arrival? What sort of limitations will be put on my future based on my desire to be a wife, a mother, and a litigator?

As for the statistical evidence and articles, nationally almost half — 47 percent — of law school graduates are women who then go on to make up 45 percent of law firm associates; however, there is a significant shift when it comes to the transition to partnership.1 Astonishingly, women comprise only 19.5 percent of partners and only 15 percent of equity partners.2 This significant attrition rate is largely attributed to women looking for work–life balance opportunities — and few exist that enable women to don the hats of wife, mother, and sophisticated attorney. It seems that it really is only a matter of time before the commodity of underused, well-trained, and available working-mom attorneys becomes too huge for firms of all sizes to ignore.

Much to my surprise, the reaction I anticipated from the partners — and to a certain extent feared — was not at all what we got. Luckily for me, at Zupkus & Angell partners Bob Zupkus and Richard Angell were willing to take the lead

in seizing this underused and available workforce.

What motivated this willingness, however, was not some well-thoughtout euphoric plan of promoting women in the workplace; rather, unbeknownst to me, it was the “concept of enough.”

Valerie Hausladen, in her book “Professional Destiny,” describes “the concept of enough”: A trap that we are all susceptible to, especially in the Western world, is that we overlook the concept of having enough.

We come to never fully enjoy what we have because we are always thinking about what we don’t yet have (a nicer home or car, more possessions, a bigger company, more money, finer art). This sense of wanting more is an insatiable hunger. It is poison to our soul and kills new, creative possibilities because it locks us into a pattern. It might make our life more comfortable but it doesn’t bring us true fulfillment, which only comes when we feel like we are making a difference in a genuine, meaningful way.

Angell explained his own journey toward “enough.”

“Until my eldest child was 12, I worked evenings and weekends, but then I realized that in six years, my son

would be off to college,” he said.

While the firm and his career had flourished, “I cheated myself, cheated the kids, and I caught it just in time,” Angell said.

Simply put, the partners collectively realized that they have been very fortunate and wanted to pay it forward to their associates. Content with their own choices and the balance they have struck between success at the firm and at home, Angell and Zupkus formulated a rough concept that would allow the associates to prove themselves to be capable attorneys while striking a practical work–life balance, in turn, leading to finding contentment earlier in their careers than the partners had.

By the time their three associates had announced their nearly back-to-back pregnancies, Angell said the three associates already had established themselves as “bright, conscientious entrepreneurs.”

This investment in their associates further facilitated the firm’s willingness to imagine creative possibilities for the future of its three associates and break away from the pattern of tradition.

When I returned from my maternity leave, an entire floor of the office

building was transformed into the “new mommies” wing — and Angell and Zupkus even went so far as to purchase a changing table, create a pump-friendly environment, obtain a separate refrigerator for milk storage, and provide an avenue for working reduced hours.

Our little ones were invited to come to work with us, and my son frequently did during the first few months after I returned to work. I have countless fond memories of watching my son napping at my feet while I worked — and seeing my co-workers’ children doing the same.

This creativity, however, did not merely provide a one-sided benefit. The firm found its advantage in cost-savings by paying us hourly on a part-time basis (without benefits) and offering us unlimited, but unpaid, maternity leaves.

Making the adjustments to the new mommies’ wing also enabled the associates to be more efficient and productive while at work. Beyond its most obvious uses and benefits, Angell continues to insist that the motivating force behind the purchase of the changing table was predominately one of safety.

One of my fondest working-mommy Working Moms, continued on page 22

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and University of Denver Sturm College of Law present:

Looking Ahead at Water in the Metropolitan Area:

WiLL WAter LiMits effectiveLy “Douse” econoMic AnD AgricuLturAL groWth? • the impact of water supply constraints on economic growth in the Denver metropolitan area and throughout the state.

• What is the role of water conservation in managing these constraints in the future?

• Are urban and agricultural interests necessarily in conflict?

tuesday, April 23, 2013

Li & wve ev eb ent ina r

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. university of Denver sturm college of Law

Live event and webinar. CLE credit pending.

Find out more and register at www.law.du.edu/enrlp.

Panelists: James Lochhead, CEO/Manager, Denver Water Bart Miller, Water Program Director, Western Resource Advocates John Salazar, Commissioner, Colorado Department of Agriculture Moderator: Michelle Kales, Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Reception immediately following the event.

This webinar is the fourth in a series of four sponsored by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in conjunction with the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. The University of Denver Sturm College of Law is committed to providing facilities that are accessible to persons with and without disabilities. We encourage persons with disabilities to contact Stefanie Carroll at 303-871-6076 for further information.

bhfs.com

March 2013 I The Docket 9

Seven Things to Consider Before Accepting Credit Cards

by K aren K ishb augh

onsumers have a growing expectation of being able to conveniently pay for services with a credit card.

Credit cards may make access to needed legal services possible for certain clients because of the ability to spread the cost over time. For attorneys, the costs may be offset by the assurance and timeliness of getting paid. Although the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee has found that attorneys may accept payment for both legal fees and expenses by credit card, certain protective measures must be implemented. 1 Understanding the ethical considerations, applying good business sense, and implementing procedures to address both will help an attorney avoid unnecessary ethical risks.

Important issues to carefully consider are: client confidentiality; your client agreement or engagement letter; commingling of funds; conflicts of interest and professional independence; processing fees; PCI compliance; and new Internal Revenue Service requirements.

C

Client Confidentiality

A lawyer may not reveal any information relating to the representation without the client’s informed consent 2 and must consult with the client before accepting credit card payment. Disclosure of certain information, including the representation itself, is necessary for such payment, so in situations requiring heightened confidentiality, payment by credit card should be avoided. If the merchant services company requires a description of the services, it is best to limit such description to something general such as “fees and expenses” or “services and expenses.” 3

Agreement or Engagement Letter

The client agreement or engagement letter should detail how credit cards will be used. Clients should sign an authorization to charge their cards or, if you have an online system, they can enter the data and make payment themselves.

To further avoid the risk of disclosing client information, the attorney

10 The Docket I March 2013

and client may agree that no dispute with the law firm will be raised with or adjudicated by the credit card company, if the credit card company will agree to this. The client should be advised that this means that the charge cannot be reversed (refunded to the client) by the credit card company, and that any dispute over fees paid by credit card would be settled between the lawyer and the client, governed by the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. The agreement should further provide that the client waives confidentiality if the client disputes payments with a credit card company.

Commingling of Client and Attorney Funds

Commingling of the attorney’s operating funds with client funds (which include retainers, flat fees, advance fees, and any other unearned funds) is prohibited by Colo. RPC 1.15(a), Colo. RPC 1.5(f), and by the Colorado Supreme Court, which require that such property be kept in a separate trust account until earned. 4 If an attorney accepts credit card payments only for services already rendered and not for retainers or other unearned funds, credit card payments may be deposited into the attorney’s operating account. Associated fees and chargebacks are taken from this same account, which holds funds that are already the attorney’s property. The problem of commingling unearned funds and earned funds is thus avoided.

However, most attorneys who accept credit cards also want to have the option of collecting retainers via credit card. This presents several issues.

First, many merchant service providers will deposit funds into only one account — either the attorney’s operating account or the trust account — so that both earned and unearned funds are initially deposited into the same account (thus commingling funds).

Second, service fees often are automatically taken from the account into which funds are deposited, so if client funds are deposited into the trust account, the attorney must deposit his

or her own funds into the trust account to cover those fees (thus commingling funds). If only client funds are deposited into the trust account, the attorney may be able to negotiate that service fees will be paid from a separate account.

Third, if a client disputes a bill, the credit card company charges back the disputed amount, generally to the account to which it was originally credited. If the funds were initially deposited into the trust account and the attorney has transferred the funds to its operating account, another client’s funds may be used to pay the chargeback or there may be insufficient funds in the trust account.

The solution that is simplest, that mitigates risks, and that is most advisable is to maintain two separate merchant service accounts, where earned funds are deposited into the attorney’s operating account and unearned funds are deposited into the attorney’s trust account. It is best to negotiate that the merchant service provider will deduct all fees for both the operating and trust accounts from only the operating account (see below for a discussion regarding credit card fees). Credit card processor LawPay, a member benefit of the CBA, offers a law firm merchant account that is specifically structured to address these concerns. In addition to offering dual accounts and deducting all fees from the operating account, if a client initiates a payment dispute, LawPay will work with the attorney to resolve the issue, and chargebacks will be deducted from the operating account.

Attorneys that have existing contracts with merchant service providers that do not provide these options must vigilantly take additional precautions.

The Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel takes the position that, as a matter of public policy, unearned funds may be deposited initially into either the operating account or the trust account when the attorney is accepting payment by credit card. If deposited initially into the operating account, the funds must be immedi-

ately transferred to the trust account. If deposited initially into the trust account, funds must be transferred to the operating account as they are earned according to the fee agreement.5 It is acceptable to put a nominal amount of operating funds into the trust account to cover fees if the merchant service provider will not deduct fees from a separate account, but the attorney must clearly identify such funds in its trust account records.6 It also is advisable to negotiate a provision with the provider that chargebacks will be made to an account other than the trust account.

Conflicts of Interest and Professional Independence

The lawyer must keep in mind Colo.

RPC 1.7 and 1.8, which address conflicts of interest with current clients. These rules may arise in cases where the lawyer may charge the client’s credit card for delinquent payments.

A lawyer must understand the terms of the contract with his or her credit card company. Some require that the services be performed before the charge is submitted, which would prohibit use of a credit card for a retainer.7

Processing Fees

Credit card fees are a cost of doing business. Charging your client for those fees is illegal in Colorado.8 Whether an attorney may offer a discount for noncredit card payments is questionable, although the statute provides that a discount offered “for the purpose of inducing payment by cash, check, or other means not involving the use of a seller or lender credit card shall not constitute a finance charge if such discount is offered to all prospective buyers and its availability is disclosed to all prospective buyers clearly and conspicuously in accordance with regulations of the administrator.” 9 Although the prohibition does not apply to debit cards, it is inadvisable to treat debit and credit cards differently for this purpose.

PCI Compliance

PCI Compliance, which seeks to secure user credit card data, is now mandatory for all merchants accepting credit cards — and that includes attorneys.

As attorneys, we are ethically required to safeguard our client’s property and confidential information, so PCI compliance is also a professional and ethical obligation. Although the details of PCI compliance are beyond the scope of this article, more detail can be found on the website of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), pcisecuritystandards.org, which manages the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

The PCI SSC (founded by five of the world’s largest credit card companies) created the PCI DSS, which requires companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information to maintain a secure environment. Under these standards, merchants accepting credit cards must implement certain security protections and annually verify their implementation. Failure to do so can result in fees and the loss of ability to process credit cards.

Choosing a merchant service provider that will actively assist you to implement the standards and become and maintain certified is advised.

IRS Requirements

verify and match each merchant’s federal tax identification number and legal name with those on file with the IRS. Beginning in January, if there is not an exact match, the IRS will impose a 28 percent withholding penalty on all credit card transactions, including deposits into a trust account. It is not known at this time if and how an attorney will be able to reclaim those funds. If client funds are withheld due to an attorney’s failure to ensure that the information matches, the attorney could be in violation of Colo. RCP 1.5(f) and 1.15 (Safekeeping Property).

In Summary

Accepting credit cards can be an effective way for attorneys to increase business and reliable payment and to service clients who could not otherwise afford legal services. The inherent risks can be minimized by taking the time to put safeguards into place, considering each client situation, and steadfastly implementing protective measures to address each of the above concerns. D Karen Kishbaugh is a Denver-based sole practitioner as well as a council member at large of the Colorado Bar Association’s Solo-Small Firm Section Council. She may be reached at karen@kishbaughlaw.com.

Section 6050W was added to the tax code by Section 3091(a) of the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008. Two requirements of this section may impact attorneys accepting credit cards.

First, credit card processors are required to repor t gross credit card transactions to the IRS on an informational 1099-K form.

Second, processors are required to

1 Colorado Bar Association Formal Ethics Comm. Op. 99 (1997)

(hereinafter, Colo. Op. 99).

2 Id; Colo. RPC 1.6.

3 Id. 4 In re Sather, 3 P.3d 403 (Colo. 2000).

5 Telephone interview with Colorado Supreme Court Office of

Attorney Regulation Counsel Chief Deputy Regulation Counsel James Sudler (Jan. 28, 2013).

6 Colo. RPC 1.15(g).

7 Colo. Op. 99.

8 C.R.S. § 5-2-212.

9 C.R.S. § 5-2-212(2).

March 2013 I The Docket 11

The Legal Ethicist

Would Atticus Steal Your Oreos?

by R uchi K ap o or

T

he first time I took the MPRE, I walked in thinking: What would Atticus Finch do? I figured this question would unlock all of the magical answers to the large world of gray ethical possibilities I may face in my long and storied career as a public servant.

Although I had taken a few practice tests beforehand to study for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination,1 my instincts told me that the best way to navigate legal ethical quandaries presented in multiple-choice question form would be to follow in a fictionally ideal lawyer’s footsteps.

This was not a winning strategy, as it turns out.

After getting my score back, I anguished over the fact that I wasn’t a lawyer in the more genteel era of the 1980s, when there were only two clearcut rules guiding legal professionals:

don’t steal from or sleep with your clients.2 What I had chosen to ignore while answering test questions was that legal ethics has become a complex behemoth.

The standards of our profession are now based on a set of ethical rules and a bunch of case law involving lots of lawyers who, well, lawyered their way out of those rules. Plus, there are many wordy comments to the rules that give decision makers even more advice to consider when determining the ethical footing of situations featuring other cunning lawyers who have found loopholes — or just plain ignored — the promulgated rules and case law.

So, there I sat, filling in the MPRE scantron for the second time. This time, I theoretically knew better and had decided to treat this more like the standardized test it was, rather than a measure of my personal ethical fitness.

As a child of the standardized test generation, I have developed a set of

The Right Pick FOR PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY COVERAGE • Rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best for financial strength and operating performance • No case settled without the insured’s consent • $50,000 in Claims Expenses Outside the Limits included • Risk management advice hotline at no additional charge

AttorneyShield® PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

To learn more, call 1-800-510-8240 or visit www.attorneyshield.com.

INSURANCE COMPANY

14001 University Ave., Clive, IA 50325 Professional liability insurance is underwritten by Professional Solutions Insurance Company. A.M. Best ratings range from A++ to S. As an insured, your firm qualifies for up to 2 hours of risk management consultation annually. ©2012 PSIC NFL 9288

12 The Docket I March 2013

comfortable routines for test-taking days, which has either helped me focus or coddled my psyche to an unfathomable extent. 3 For me, there are three necessary ingredients for a successful test day: two mechanical pencils and one freshly sharpened No. 2 pencil, just in case; clothing layers — test rooms are never kept at a comfortable temperature for any normal human being; and a stack of six Oreo 4 cookies, neatly piled in a plastic baggie, for a post-test reward.

Once I finished, I chewed on my pencil eraser for a few minutes, reviewing my bubbled-in answers and trying to decide whether three Cs in a row meant I had answered one of the questions wrong.

I could feel the pressure mounting as people began standing up and turning in their exams, so I hurriedly finished reviewing and added my paper to the pile at the front of the room.5 I returned to my seat and anxiously began throwing my belongings into my bag. Out of the

corner of my eye, I noticed the test-taker next to me had dropped a few of his pencils onto the floor and they were slowly rolling toward me. I crouched under my desk to pick them up and I watched his sneakers move closer to my desk as I tried to help. I grabbed the pencils and triumphantly emerged from under my desk only to notice that he was walking briskly toward the front of the large testing room to turn in his exam.

Puzzled, I looked down at my desk and noticed that four of my six Oreos were missing. I looked back up and watched him hastily cram the last of my cookies in his mouth, give me a jaunty wink, and walk out of the room.

“Rule 8.4 violation!” I wanted to shout. Then, I imagined the various stampede-like scenarios a panicked shout might cause among my anxious

brethren — or worse, irony-filled accusations of cheating on the MPRE — and I angrily went back to stuffing my belongings into my bag.

A few weeks later, the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Counsel sent me a letter telling me that I was ethically fit to practice law.6 I have yet to run into that Oreo-stealing fool or even identify who he was. But, whether he passed the MPRE that day, he passed on a valuable lesson to me about the difference between being declared ethically fit to practice law and actually being ethical. Sometimes these things overlap and are the same thing, and sometimes the line between them is clearly drawn.

But, most of the time, even a line that is clearly drawn can be crossed with a wink and wandering hands when there are chocolate sandwich cookies involved. In

1 Provided to me “at no extra charge!” by an unnamed bar prep

company to which I was already paying thousands of dollars to teach me all the things I didn’t remember from law school.

2 The well-regarded exception to this second rule, of course, was: unless they are attractive and consent. Which are not mutually exclusive considerations.

3 Research has yet to determine. See generally, Jean M. Twenge, generationme.org.

MARSH FISCHMANN & BREYFOGLE LLP is pleased to announce that Daniel A. Staley has joined the Firm Mr. Staley’s practice will focus on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution in a variety of technology areas, including general mechanics, chemical compositions and processes, medical device technology, and renewable energy.

Mr. Staley received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

situations like that, even Atticus Finch might not be of any help. D Ruchi Kapoor is an appellate attorney at heart who is currently clerking for the Denver Juvenile Court. “The Legal Ethicist” is a chronicle of her thoughts on legal misadventures. To read more about her personal misadventures, check out her blog at roopakihcur. wordpress.com.

Do you have a question you’d like The Legal Ethicist to weigh in on? Send your query to docket@denbar.org.

4 Did you know that Oreo is a registered trademark? Otherwise,

they’re just trademark-infringing chocolate-wafer sandwich cookies.

5 My paranoia about not being last is based on the children’s truism: First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest. Women with body hair are not treated well in America, so I try not to risk it.

6 Yes, I did open the letter and cry with happiness and relief. How did you know?

bankruptcy

since 1972 since 1972cobk.com

our

y 41 l n O business.

Years

cobk.com

since 1972

In chapter 13, some property settlement obligations arising out of divorce or separation are dischargeable; however, in chapter 7 they are not.

11 USC §523(a)(15), 11 USC §1328

303

George

George

A Practice Focusing Exclusively on Intellectual Property www.mfblaw.com 8055 E. Tufts Avenue Suite 450 Denver, Colorado 80237 (303) 770-0051

1881 9th Street Suite 335 Boulder, Colorado 80302 (720) 562-5500

789-1313

George T. Carlson & Associates 4219 S. Broadway Englewood, CO 80113 Joe

Free Consultation Evenings & Saturdays March 2013 I The Docket 13

A Rational, Constitution-focused Discussion about Guns — Is It Too Much to Hope For?

by D oug McQ uist on

F

or many years, the national debate about the Second Amendment, and the extent to which government can or should regulate ownership of certain types of firearms, had been considered mostly over. The tide of recent Supreme Court decisions, such as District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, had shifted toward recognition of a personal right to keep and bear arms, not one requiring membership in a “militia.” The topic of gun regulation was virtually absent from the last two presidential campaigns. Violent crime, including crimes involving firearms, has declined noticeably in the last decade. The nation, apparently, had moved on.

That all changed with two horrific incidents in 2012. The first was close to home in Aurora when 12 were killed and 58 were wounded after a gunman entered a movie theater showing “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20. Then, on Dec. 14, a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children and six staff members.

Guns, and the Second Amendment, are a hot topic again in Congress, statehouses, and all over our 24/7 media.

Sadly, though, emotion has overtaken analysis on both sides. The conversation, like so many in our national dialogue, has deteriorated into a useless shouting match.

On one side, we hear a demand to ban some or all types of firearms, as though we could utter a magic incantation to turn the estimated 280 million of them in the United States into squirt guns. On the other side, firearms advocates embarrass themselves on national TV talk shows by shouting that “Obama is coming for your guns,” and threatening “1776 anew.” How exactly is this helping the conversation along?

When we need to be more real than ever, our national debate has lurched toward hysteria. It is foolish to believe

14 The Docket I March 2013

we can make firearms magically disappear by banning them. But, it is equally foolish to shout that any modest attempt to regulate the exercise of the right to bear arms inevitably constitutes an irreversible ride down the Fascist “slippery slope” toward jack-booted thugs bursting into our homes to take our firearms.

The hysteria, on both sides, is preventing serious conversation. Still, we need to have such a conversation, calmly and unemotionally. We need to ground our discussion in legitimate, unbiased research. Most important, our focus needs to fall on doing things that will actually help reduce the illegal use of firearms, and doing so constitutionally.

Let’s start now, shall we?

Here in Colorado our version of the right to keep and bear arms, outlined in Article II, Section 13 of the Colorado Constitution, goes further than the Second Amendment. It grants an explicit constitutional right to use firearms for defense of “home, person, and property.” It proscribes any law that calls these rights “into question”; though (as with all rights), it leaves open the power of the state to reasonably regulate the exercise of the right.

When Colorado’s Constitution was written, the open-carry of a sidearm was commonplace. Even today, there is no state law barring the open-carrying of a firearm (although there is one in Denver).

Coloradans have shown a higher than average comfort with firearms since before statehood, which has generally been carried forward to today.

However, that comfort with guns may be changing as our demographics change. As this goes to press, four bills are pending before the state Senate calling for a magazine capacity limit (15 rounds of pistol or rifle ammunition or five shotgun rounds), banning concealed carry on all college campuses and stadiums, imposing a fee on gun buyers to cover the cost of background checks, and requiring background checks on all pur-

chases, including private transactions.

Some or all of these may have passed by the time you’re reading this. If so, then Colorado will have gone from a fairly “liberty-oriented” state when it comes to gun control, to one of the most restrictive. This would be a seismic shift in the political center in the state, and one that six months ago no one would have seen coming.

The significance of this shift cannot be overstated. After all, in 2003, Colorado joined a majority of states (38 states so far, with four more allowing essentially unrestricted carry without a permit) becoming a “shall issue” concealed carry permit state. It clarified, via Colorado Revised Statute § 18-12-201 et seq., that the carrying of concealed weapons was of statewide concern. Since that time, more than 139,000 such permits have been issued.

In 2012, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that permit holders could carry on campus at state universities in Regents of the University of Colorado v. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Not surprisingly, neither Colorado nor its state university campuses have turned into the O.K. Corral.

The debate on the four bills brought to the statehouse this year has mirrored the national debate, largely overshadowed, in my view, by hysteria on both sides of the aisle. Though the sponsors of the bills are trying to reduce illegal use of firearms, I question the effectiveness of the measures and feel they have been brought to the legislature with undue haste. For example, a consequence of the magazine ban bill, if passed, will be a loss of business. Magpul, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of plastic rifle magazines, says it will leave the state if one of its leading products is banned.

Gun activists, too, would be well advised that excessive “slippery slope” arguments are not the way to get their point across. Sometimes, the most persuasive tone is a persistent whisper, not a high-decibel shout.

If we can stop shouting at each other long enough, there are changes to state or federal law that might constitutionally work to reduce illegal use of firearms. Maybe we could expand instant background checks to all sales, (including the 40 percent of sales that take place between private, non-Federal Firearm Licensed persons). To reduce the risk of accidents arising out of their careless or improper use, we might even implement a modest training component before purchase. Vigorous training is required for a CCW permit, and it has proven itself effective in greatly reducing the risk of negligent firearms accidents

by CCW holders. We could require better exchange of information at the state and federal level, to refine the sensitivity of the universal background check process without trampling on the right of lawabiding people to own and use firearms.

We also could focus on improving information sharing among mental health professionals, to give the Colorado Bureau of Investigation better access to information that might help keep firearms from the mentally ill, and make the background check truly more “universal.”

But bans, though favored by guncontrol activists, fail for many reasons.

First, they are mostly unconstitutional.

Practically speaking, they have been demonstrated to be largely ineffective.

Following the assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004, a University of Pennsylvania study couldn’t conclude that the ban directly led to any measurable drop in overall gun violence, and highlighted the ban’s limitations, noting the rare use of AR-15-style rifles in crimes. It also noted that many firearms were exempted from the ban. It also found the limitation on magazine size failed to make a measurable difference in gun crime or severity.

Cities that have historically had tight restrictions on handgun ownership across the country remain a mixed bag.

Consider Chicago and Washington, D.C., where the Supreme Court has struck down such sweeping gun ownership restrictions. In 2012, the Windy City’s reports of gun violence and homicides soared, but Washington, D.C. has seen a decline in homicides (though its per capita murder rate remains one of the highest in the country).

If you are a gun owner, and familiar

with the safe use of firearms, you can spread the word that gun ownership is a constitutional right, that the overwhelming majority of firearms owners are safe and responsible with them, and that the Second Amendment is not about duck hunting. If you know nothing about firearms, or even hate the very idea of them, you can take some time to talk with a friend who owns and uses firearms. Do some research into the statistics and studies dealing with the use and ownership of firearms. Analyze what would work, and what wouldn’t, then advocate your position forcefully and civilly based on that informed knowledge.

Whatever side you fall on, by discussing the issue rationally and calmly, as we are trained to do, we can go a long way toward advancing the debate. Though I remain skeptical, I’m hopeful we might even restore a little civility to our public debates in general. D Doug McQuiston has been a lawyer in Colorado for more than 30 years. He is a member, contributing writer, and past chair of The Docket Committee. He may be reached at dougmcquiston@yahoo.com.

7th Annual

Financial Assistance for Colorado lawyers

The DBA Waterman Fund

provides financial assistance for “aged, infirm, or otherwise incapacitated lawyers who have practiced in Colorado for a minimun of ten years.”

LEGAL INCLUSIVENESS & DIVERSITY SUMMIT

May 6, 2013 | Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel

National Experts & Cutting-Edge Topics Luncheon Plenary The Next Big Boom: Diversity in a Changing Legal Market

www.cobar.org/watermanfund.htm Denver Bar Association Waterman Fund 1900 Grant St., Ste. 900 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 824-5319 • Fax: (303) 861-5274

7 Ethics/General CLE Credits Expected

Early Bird Pricing Until March 31

www.centerforlegalinclusiveness.org 303.832.3503 March 2013 I The Docket 15

How is Metro Volunteer Lawyers Supported?

by D i anne Van Vo orhee s

T

his year marks the 47th year of operations for Metro Volunteer Lawyers (formerly known as the Thursday Night Bar). A program of the Denver Bar Association, MVL works to bridge the gap in access to justice by coordinating the provision of pro bono legal services by volunteer lawyers within the Denver metro area to people who could not otherwise afford legal services for their civil legal issues.

How MVL Works MVL is comprised of four full-time staff and a part-time Rovira Scholar — a fellowship created in honor of former Chief Justice Luis Rovira.

Our small staff wears a lot of hats, from working with clients and volunteers to organizing board meetings and preparing training materials.

We coordinate the provision of unbundled le gal ser vices and representation to clients through our

monthly Family Law Court Program and Post-Decree Clinics. We also provide a walk-in law clinic at the Denver Indian Center. Mainly, MVL provides pro bono and low-fee legal services. This is accomplished with the help of our invaluable volunteers and interns — in the last year more than 465 volunteers helped MVL advance its mission.

In addition to support from the DBA, MVL is also supported by the Denver Bar Foundation’s annual Barristers Benefit Ball and Henry Hall Memorial Golf Tournament; Colorado Legal Services; COLTAF (the Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation); the Fred & Jean Allegretti Foundation; Lois Ann Rovira; private donations; and the bar associations of the 1st Judicial District, Douglas/Elbert, Adams/Broomfield, and Arapahoe counties.

cases generated about 47,650 volunteer hours; at a billable rate of $250 per hour that translates to nearly $12 million.

The MVL budget for the 2012– 13 fiscal year is $286,000. Thus, the estimated percentage of annual expenses for MVL that are directed to overhead/ administrative costs is about 1 percent compared with 99 percent of the expenses being attributable to providing services to MVL clients.

Thanks to the generosity of MVL’s volunteers, supporters, and partners, we were able to recruit and match a sufficient number of volunteer attorneys, law students, and legal professionals in 2012 to handle those 1,448 civil cases.

Without our donors and our volunteers who give their money, time, and skill, we could not have helped so many people in need.

Volunteers Provide More Than 50,000 Hours in Legal Services

How Can You Help? $25K for 25 Years

In the past year, our volunteers donated their time and expertise to handle 1,448 cases.

MVL estimates that the time for services d o n ate d to t a l e d more than $12.7 million. Here’s how it breaks down: • Of the 1,448 handled, 416 were addressed through t h e Fa m i l y L aw Leslie Lawson Dan Himelspach Court Program o r Po s t- D e c re e 21Years of High Quality Clinics. Cases take, Dispute Management Services on average, about e i g h t- a n d - a - h a l f hours. With 3,536 hours spent at a billable rate of $225 p er hour, that ’s $795,600 donated.

• Non- clinic Freddy Alvarez Janis Cella Todd Mackintosh matters that we refer to volunteers 1801 Williams St. Ste. 300 took, on average, www.DisputeManagementInc.com Denver, CO. 80218 info@DisputeManagementInc.com about 50 hours to (303)321-1115 handle. Those 953

16 The Docket I March 2013

The Barristers Benefit Ball, set this year for Derby Day on Saturday, May 4, is one of the signature fundraising events for MVL. T he Denver Bar Foundation’s Barristers Benefit Ball Committee is committed to raising an additional $25,000 to benefit MVL through its $25K for 25 Years challenge to commemorate t h e b a l l ’s 2 5 t h A n n i ve rs a r y. To contribute, please provide a donation in the envelope you’ll find in this issue or visit our Giving First page at givingfirst. org/25for25.

Thank you for your support of our mission to provide free and low-cost civil legal services to those in need. I hope to see you at the 25th Annual Barristers Benefit Ball.

For more information and details about MVL volunteer opportunities, please visit our website at metrovolunteerlawyers.org. D Dianne Van Voorhees is the executive director of Metro Volunteer Lawyers. She may be reached at diannev@denbar.org.

25

thAnnual 2013

Barristers Benefit Ball

The Barristers Benefit Ball is the single largest fundraiser for Metro Volunteer Lawyers, the DBA’s flagship civil legal services program. MVL is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bridge the gap in access to justice by coordinating the provision of pro bono legal services by volunteer lawyers within the Denver metro area to people who could not otherwise afford legal services for their civil legal issues. MVL is the oldest pro bono legal services program of its kind in the United States.

In honor of the silver anniversary of the Ball, we are launching a “$25k for 25 years” challenge to all of our members! This silver anniversary campaign will go a long way in funding the amazing work of MVL. In addition to coming to the Ball, which promises to be a Derby-good time, we hope you will contribute toward this special effort. Every dollar counts. If each member of the DBA chips in, we can help ensure that MVL will be around for many more years to come.

To contribute, please visit our Giving First page at givingfirst.org/25for25.

0

12,500

6,250

Saturday, May 4

25,000

18,750

Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, Downtown Denver

For more information, call Denise Lynch at (303) 824-5327.

RSVP online at denbar.org.

March 2013 I The Docket 17

Smaller Teams: Cogs in the Wheels of Justice

and going home.

Brent’s Place supports children and families served by Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders every day; teaming up with the Wheels of Justice was an opportunity for to join forces with others committed to supporting the center.

The team is young, but growing. Its members have already seen what makes riders come out and ride again every year.

Meyerhoffer described the ride as “energizing and heartwarming.”

“It was really great to be a part of something that is bigger than just Brent’s Place and meet others who know of our work and have the same goal in mind — helping families dealing with pediatric cancer,” he said.

Crankin’ for Cranios: Fun is the Name of the Game

Clockwise: Participants of the 2012 Kick Cancer’s Ass team. Crankin’ for Cranios team founder Dr. Jacob Gump rides with his son Eli in tow. The two- and four-legged participants of the 2011 Team YAPS. Brent’s Place participants at the Courage Classic.

by E mma Garris on and A lli G e rkman

The Wheels of Justice Cycling Team was founded by attorneys and is sponsored by the Denver Bar Association. It directs funds it raises from the Courage Classic to Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. It has donated more than $1.6 million to the center since the team was founded in 2006. This year’s Courage Classic, a three-day, 157-mile bicycle tour, is July 20 to 22. For more information or to join the team, visit wheelsofjustice.org.

A

mong the 200-plus cyclists who comprise the Wheels of Justice Cycling Team, there are riders who are members of smaller teams that have gotten involved so that their fundraising dollars from the Courage Classic can directly benefit Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders — a place where many riders of these sub-teams have a personal connection. Meet six of these sub-teams that continue to turn the Wheels of Justice.

18 The Docket I March 2013

Brent’s Place: A New Team Builds New Traditions For Brent’s Place (brentsplace. org), the Courage Classic was a natural fit. Many of its staff and volunteers are cyclists and one of its biggest fundraisers is a 12-hour spin-a-thon. So, it didn’t take much convincing when a member of its board of directors, Dr. Tom Smith, suggested that Brent’s Place participate in the 2012 Courage Classic.

“We felt like the Courage Classic was a great way to support our partner, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and get our supporters together to represent Brent’s Place,” said Executive Director Sean Meyerhoffer.

Brent’s Place is the only Children’s Hospital Colorado-approved “safe-clean” housing facility for immunecompromised patients and their families, providing a living environment that is essential to healing and recovery.

Brent's Place is designed to offer families safe-clean individualized housing in an environment virtually free from dander, dust, mold, and other infectious agents, bridging the gap between the hospital

Cranio is the shor thand for a pediatric brain tumor called craniopharyngioma. Dr. Jacob Gump founded the team in honor of his 6-year-old son Eli, a cranio survivor. Gump rode alone in the 2010 Courage Classic, a year after Eli’s diagnosis, and then recruited four friends to ride with him in 2011. He formed the Crankin’ for Cranios team in 2012. It comprised 10 riders and raised $14,000.

“The team was officially formed last year after I discovered we could ride under the Wheels of Justice umbrella,” Gump said.

The Cranios team enjoys being part of the Wheels of Justice community and is happy to see the money they raise go to support the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders directly. The team goal is to raise awareness of pediatric brain tumors and money to support their treatment and research. Gump conducts research on pediatric cancer and has a grant funded by the Morgan Adams Foundation to find better treatments for cranio patients.

“We have made a lot of headway in the last two years and are gearing up to get kids on a clinical trial using an experimental drug possibly as early as this summer,” he said.

If the team could sum up their experience at the Courage Classic in one word, it would be “fun.”

“We have a great time,” Gump said.

“Eli has fun hanging out in Copper all

weekend and one of his favorite songs is ‘We Are Young’ by the band Fun.” Last year, Eli rode the Sunday family ride on a trailer bike.

“It was amazing for us to have him be a part of it, too,” Gump said.

Kick Cancer’s Ass: Much More Than a Kick-Ass Kinda Name Anyone who has biked the Courage Classic in the last three years has almost surely been motivated by this team’s blunt name: Kick Cancer’s Ass. It connotes the kind of grit you need to push you over that last hill and, more important, the kind of grit that patients of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders tap into every day.

No surprise, then, that it was inspired by patients. Amy Goodner’s daughter, Delaney, was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer in June 2008. She was 13. While in treatment, she and her family met a young man who was being treated for another rare form of childhood cancer. Before he passed away, he asked his mom to share a message with Delaney: “Kick cancer’s butt.”

Goodner’s teenage son suggested they make one slight modification, Del-

aney loved it, and a name was born.

“Blunt seems to be in our genes!” Goodner said.

But, when asked to describe the team experience in one word, “grit” and “blunt” didn’t make the list. Teammates sug gested “inspirational,” “spiritual,” and “healing,” among others. Objecting to the constraints of a one-word answer, a couple suggested “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “amazinglysuperlificalycommraderishlyawesomenessingfun.”

Perhaps sentiments like these have fostered the team’s growth. Kick Cancer’s Ass, which joined Wheels of Justice in 2011 because it wanted its efforts to benefit the CCBD, raised approximately $13,000 the first two years it has been riding in the Courage Classic as a team and bumped that number up to $20,000 last year.

The team kicks off every Courage Classic weekend with a Friday night welcome party at Goodner’s condo to focus on fun and the children whom the ride benefits. In 2012, it started a new tradition.

“It was the first year we rode ‘in memory’ versus ‘in honor’ of Delaney,”

Goodner said.

Delaney ’s fight against cancer ended in December 2011, three-and-ahalf years after she was diagnosed. She was 16 years old. But, her spirit lives on through the ride, the team’s camaraderie, and that irreverent name that will carry any rider’s spirit through to the finish line.

Roaring Forks: Connecting Western Slope Cyclists The Roaring Forks was formed in 2012 as a combination of Team Aspen and Team Glenwood. Among its members is Kelsey Bohman, a rider who beat cancer at Children’s Hospital Colorado and has participated in the Courage Classic for a decade.

“Kelsey seems to be the honorary survivor we ride for, but we are always looking for more kids from our area that have used Children’s to ride or represent us,” said Pat Bohman, Kelsey’s mother.

The team boasts about 15 riders from Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Rifle. It joined the Wheels of Justice to contribute directly to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. “It’s the best of both worlds to

The Colorado

Order Your 2013 Legal Directory Today

LEGAL DIRECTORY

An Indispensable Tool for Colorado Attorneys

The Colorado Legal Directory is the source to find Colorado attorneys, Colorado court information and other critical legal resources. You don’t have to do the research—it’s all there in one convenient book! The legal directory has listings for more than 20,000 attorneys, the majority with firm, address, phone number, and many with e-mail addresses.

A Publication of the Denver Bar Association

The directory also includes: 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Attorney listings by Field of Practice Law Firms & Corporate legal departments contacts Colorado State Courts offices information Other government agencies contact information, with key personnel Colorado Executive and Legislative Offices listings, with staff contacts Federal and Municipal Courts information Fee schedules Other legal organizations contact info

$46 $86

embers m A for CB ers -memb n o N for

Please note that each DBA member automatically receives one complimentary copy.

Go to www.coloradolegaldirectory.com to purchase your copy today!

March 2013 I The Docket 19

raise money for the CCBD and be a part of a team that is totally devoted to the same purpose!” she added.

The team, which knows hilly terrain well, hopes to continue an annual training ride in the mountains for Wheels of Justice members it started in 2012.

Asked the one word that captures the Courage Classic experience, Bohman said, “Heaven. I never dreamed I would be riding 150 miles with my daughter, who could hardly walk the length of a football field 11 years ago because of leukemia, sharing each beautiful mile with both old and new friends, all dedicated to producing more miracles for these kids.”

Team Ellie: A Family Affair Scotty Rolfs founded Team Ellie (teamellie.com) with a group of friends who pulled together to honor his daughter, Ellie, 7, who is three-and-a-half years in remission from a very aggressive form of stage four kidney cancer.

Rolfs learned about the Courage Classic from one of Ellie’s nurses during one of her many stays in the hospital.

The team started with Rolfs and five close friends at the 2009 Courage Classic, just over a month after Ellie was declared in remission. Team Ellie has now grown to about 15 riders. Among them in 2012 was Ellie’s older sister Sophie, 10, who rode the 35-mile family ride from Copper to Breckenridge and back. Sophie’s goal is to ride the entire three-day ride in 2014, when she’s 12.

Team Ellie has joined Wheels of Justice for the last three classics.

“We liked the ability to keep our own identity as Team Ellie, but [we also liked knowing] that all of our fundraising [goes] directly to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders,” Rolfs said. Ellie was in treatment for 14 months at CCBD. “We owe much of Ellie’s survival to the center,” Rolfs said. “It is an honor to be able to give back specifically to the place that saved my little girl.”

First and foremost, Team Ellie’s participation in the Courage Classic is a family event. The riders bring their families along for the weekend, eat breakfast together every morning, meet up at all the rest stops, and cross the finish line together.

“All of the families wait and cheer us

20 The Docket I March 2013

on at the finish each day, which is truly awesome!” Rolfs said.

Team YAPS: Two Wheels and Four Legs Like most participants in the Coura ge C lassic , Team YA P S (youthandpetsurvivors.org) seeks to raise money for Children’s Hospital Colorado and to raise awareness for a cause. But, Team YAPS is the only team with a dog that rides along.

YAPS is an animal-facilitated therapy program featuring pet pen pals.

Team YAPS first rode in the Courage Classic in 2005. Connie Fredman has had several pen pals with her dogs Boone and Spree. In 2005, one of Boone’s pen pals, a 12-year-old named Anise, was feeling discouraged about undergoing a two-year course of chemotherapy for leukemia.

Fredman offered to tow Boone in a bike trailer if Anise rode a tandem bike with a friend of Fredman’s in the Courage Classic. A few other friends joined them and Team YAPS was born.

The team has been riding ever since, with as many as 15 riders in some years.

In 2011, Spree took Boone’s place in the bike trailer once Boone’s failing health no longer allowed him to be at altitude. Anise stopped riding after three tours due to a knee problem caused by chemotherapy, but she continues to support Team YAPS. The YAPS program is based out of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. It matches children undergoing cancer treatment with dogs and cats that are also being treated for cancer or other serious medical issues. Pet owners, in the voices of their animals, write the first letter to the children pen pals, and a relationship develops through the letters they exchange. YAPS even hosts events where the children get to meet their pet pen pal in person.

Anne Gillespie started the YAPS program in November 2001 and in the past two years has focused on developing it as a national and international program by starting chapters at other children’s hospitals.

“Our intention is to get the resources necessary to have a staff, an office, and protocols to support other chapters, allowing YAPS to serve many more pediatric and veterinary oncology patients,” Gillespie said.

Roaring Forks participants at the Courage Classic.

Team Ellie founder Scotty Rolfs poses with his daughter Ellie, who was treated for an aggressive form of kidney cancer at the Children’s Hospital Colorado Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Team YAPS joined the Wheels of Justice in 2012 to benefit programs and children directly served by YAPS. In addition to having fun, the team’s riders seek to gain awareness about the YAPS program and the benefits of animal-assisted therapy.

“Even though only one or sometimes two team members are YAPS pen pals, we all know the story of YAPS and are proud to share it with anyone who asks,” Fredman said. “We have all grown and been inspired by getting to know the YAPS pen pals, both animal and human, and are humbled by their journeys.” D

Emma Garrison is an associate at the litigation firm Featherstone Petrie DeSisto LLP and is chair-elect of the CBA Young Lawyers Division. Alli Gerkman is the director of communications at IAALS. The authors both rode the Courage Classic with the Wheels of Justice team for the first time in 2011 and will participate again this year.

Calling All Superheroes...

Join the Wheels of Justice $1,600,000, That’s how much The Wheels of Justice Cycling Team, sponsored by the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, raised

for Children’s Hospital Colorado in the team’s first seven years. Last year, our riders, sponsors, and volunteers all worked together to raise more than $310,000 for the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in the Courage Classic Bicycle Tour.

In 2013, please help us make an even bigger difference for the kids, doctors, and families at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Join as a Wheels of Justice rider and enjoy terrific benefits, including cool team gear, weekend training rides, coaching sessions, and great events. Join as a Wheels of Justice sponsor and you’ll join Denver’s top law firms and businesses in receiving excellent publicity and benefits. For more information, visit wheelsofjusticecycling.org.

Thanks to our generous 2012 sponsors. Please join them in 2013!

March 2013 I The Docket 21

Working Moms, continued from page 9 memories occurred before I returned to work. Near the end of my maternity leave, I got a call from Angell asking me to attend an important meeting with him at a 16th Street firm. After informing him that I had not yet made child care arrangements for my son, he told me not to worry — he would conference in the other attorneys and let them know that we would be bringing my son with us to the meeting. I couldn’t help but notice, and flash a brief smirk, at the pause on the other end of the phone when Angell informed them that an infant would be accompanying us to their office. The image of my boss and I walking down 16th Street in our business attire, together carrying my son in his infant car seat into a downtown high rise, will burn in my memory for many years to come.

More importantly, the goals of the meeting were accomplished and my cli-

ents’ needs were met, even if my child ine and meaningful way in my life, in the was asleep at my feet. lives of the other expectant mothers, and Perhaps to some, a quick phone call, in their own. D the purchase of a mini-fridge, or an invitation to bring your infant to work may Kristi Lush is an attorney with Zupkus not seem like momentous gestures, but & Angell whose practice involves defendto me, they were life-altering actions. ing insurance companies and employers in In a traditional law firm environment, I construction defect, bad faith, civil liability, likely would have felt the need either to and employment law claims. She may be hang up my legal career to start a famreached at klush@zalaw.com. ily or sacrifice motherhood, and perhaps my marriage, for some archaic notion of highTroubled by Rude and Unprofessional Attorneys? quality legal services.

The following lawyers are willing to take calls Luckily, I have not been on a confidential basis, for guidance, tips, and asked to do either. Zupstrategies for dealing with opposing counsel. kus & Angell was willing to Marion McBain James O’Connor accept me for who I am, take (303) 635-2246 (303) 799-9001 any bumps in the road as an opportunity to creatively Steve McBride (303) 740-7422 imagine mutually beneficial solutions for working mothSponsored by ers, and to find fulfillment by the DBA Peer Professionalism Assistance Committee making a difference in a genu-

1 American Bar Association - Commission on Women in the

Profession, A Current Glance at Women in the Law (September 2012), available at bit.ly/XzAIUi 2 Id. For other relevant information and articles, see National

MARSH FISCHMANN & BREYFOGLE LLP Marsh Fischmann and Breyfogle would like to congratulate Dr. Patrick Boucher on his appointment to be an Administrative Patent Judge in the newly established Denver facility of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Boucher will be one of the founding members of the Denver Appeals Board. He has been an important part of our efforts to maintain a premier patent practice and we wish him well.

A Practice Focusing Exclusively on Intellectual Property www.mfblaw.com 8055 E. Tufts Avenue Suite 450 Denver, Colorado 80237 (303) 770-0051

22 The Docket I March 2013

1881 9th Street Suite 335 Boulder, Colorado 80302 (720) 562-5500

Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) website at nalp. org/minoritieswomen, Center for Legal Inclusiveness at legalinclusiveness.org, and the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession at americanbar.org/groups/women.

BRIEFS Denver Cutthroats Hockey Game and Fundraiser—March 1 The CBA and DBA Young Lawyers Divisions invite you to join your fellow young lawyers for a night of hockey for a good cause.

Tickets are $35 and include a seat in the lower bowl and access to the “party deck” with free food and two drink tickets for beer or soda. The Cutthroats will donate $5 from every ticket sold to COLTAF. You may purchase tickets at bit.ly/ WivWLE. The promo code is COLORADO. For more information contact Denise Lynch at dlynch@cobar.org.

2013–14 DBA Governance The Denver Bar Association Nominating Committee has prepared the following slate of nominees to hold office in 2013–14: President-elect: John M. Vaught First Vice President: Nancy L. Cohen Second Vice President: Richard M. Murray Trustees: Erich L. Bethke, Jaclyn K. Casey, and Richard L. Gabriel.

Board of Governors: Becky Bye, Amy C. DeVan, Jacob C. Eisenstein, Beth A. Faragher, Ruben M. Hernandez, Jennifer L. Jaskolka, Steven A. Michalek, Jerremy M. Ramp, Regina M. Rodriguez, Jessica M. Schmidt, and Leia G. Ursery.

Bylaw excerpts: 7-2-5 Any active, judiciary, or life member of the association may also be nominated for any office, except the office of president, by filing with the executive director a petition signed by at least 50 active, judiciary, life, or retired members of the association requesting placement on the election ballot and designating the office desired.

Any such nominee for the office of second vice president must be 37 years of age or younger at the time he/she takes office.

The form of such petition shall be made available by the Nominating Committee at the bar association office on or before April 10, and must be completed and

D onate to W ee C ycle C harity Drive—through March received at the bar association office on or before 4 p.m., May 1.

7-2-6 If petitions for additional nominees are not received by May 1, the candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee are deemed elected and shall assume their respective offices as of the following July 1. If more than one person has been duly nominated for any office, an election by the members shall be conducted by the Nominating Committee for those contested offices.

2013 DBA Awards Honorees Announced Charles F. Garcia has been selected to receive the DBA’s Award of Merit, the association’s highest honor. Garcia will be recognized at the DBA’s annual awards party on Thursday, June 6, at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. Also selected to be honored at the event are Karen Spaulding for Volunteer Lawyer of the Year, Jaclyn K. Casey for Young Lawyer of the Year, and former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Alex Martinez for Judicial Excellence.

Bench and Bar: Meet Domestic Jurists of Denver District Court—March 20 The Bench/Bar Committee is pleased to present lunch on Wednesday, March 20, with the domestic judicial officers on the Denver District Court. Please take this opportunity to meet Hon. Shelley I. Gilman, Hon. William W. Hood III, Magistrate Karen Hubler, Hon. Anne M. Mansfield, and Hon. Elizabeth A. Starrs, who will discuss courtroom procedures, address some of the latest topics in domestic law, and answer questions. The program will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Jury Assembly room on the fourth floor of the City and County Building.

Two CLE credits are requested. The cost to attend for DBA members is $15; $25 for nonmembers. Please RSVP at lunches@ cobar.org or call (303) 860-1115, ext. 727.

Save your children’s items, including clothes, strollers, cribs, car seats, and other similar items for this annual donation drive. The DBA and CBA Young Lawyers Divisions have partnered with local charity Wee Cycle to collect and donate children’s items, toys, and other necessities to needy children and families across Colorado. If you are interested in having your firm participate as a dropoff center, please email Carlos Migoya at carlos@migoyalaw.com.

Pro Bono Recognition Ceremony: See the New Justice Center—April 8 Denver-area attorneys who have met or committed to reaching the Colorado Supreme Court’s pledge of providing 50 hours of pro bono legal services will be honored at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 8, at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. A tour of the judicial center will be led at 3 p.m. For more information or to RSVP for the tour and the ceremony, contact Lauren Dickey at lauren.dickey@ judicial.state.co.us or (720) 625-5440.

14th Annual Roll Out the Barrels Food Drive Sign up your office by April 8 to help fight hunger and feed hope again this year. The food drive runs from April 15 to 26 and benefits Metro CareRing, a nonprofit hunger relief organization that operates one of the largest food pantries in Denver. Questions? Please email Kate Schuster at kschuster@cobar.org.

35th Anniversary Lawyers Committee Luncheon—May 21 Legal Services Corporation President James J. Sandman will be the keynote speaker at the Colorado Lawyers Committee Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on May 21 at the Marriott Denver City Center, 1701 California St. Also, individuals and organizations who contributed significantly to the Colorado Lawyers Committee during 2012 will be recognized. Cost to attend is $60. For more information or to RSVP, visit bit.ly/ Zp8cvS.

March 2013 I The Docket 23

CBA-CLE

MARCH CALENDAR C ALEND NDA NDA AR AR

GET A HEAD START ON YOUR EDUCATION IN 2013: Register online or call today!

LIVE EVENTS AND LIVE WEBCASTS

March 5, 2013 The Latest on Tax Issues in Structuring M&A Transactions Submitted for 1 General CLE credit

March 7, 2013 Social Security Disability Law Update Submitted for 7 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) March 8, 2013 Discipline, Documentation and Discharge of Problem Employees Submitted for 8 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

March 6, 2013 UCC Article 9 Security Interests — Collateral Refresher and Hot Topics Submitted for 4 General CLE credits March 7, 2013 Navigating the Domestic Violence Maze — Determining the Best Interests of the Child Submitted for 8 General CLE credits

March 11, 2013 Advanced Constructive Cross-Examination Submitted for 7 General CLE credits (video replay in Denver ONLY)

March 8, 2013 Natural Resource Issues in Estate Planning Submitted for 6 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics

March 13, 2013 Estate Administration Basic Skills Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

March 13, 2013 Family Law Evidence Practicum Submitted for 7 General CLE credits

March 14–15, 2013 (multi-day event) Advanced Elder Law Institute Submitted for 13 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

March 14, 2013 International Commercial Transactions Submitted for 8 General CLE credits March 15, 2013 Workers' Compensation — Legal, Evidentiary, Appellate, Public Policy and Judicial Perspectives Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics March 20, 2013 Practicing with Professionalism (Mandatory for New Attorneys) Submitted for 6 General CLE credits

March 22, 2013 The Life of a Residential Real Estate Transaction Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics

2013

March 6, 2013 Fiscal Cliff Tax Update Submitted for 4 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

March 1, 2013 Medical Malpractice Cases — Practical Advice and Winning Strategies Submitted for 8 General CLE credits

March 21, 2013 Premises Liability Litigation Submitted for 5 General CLE credits

MAR

March 21, 2013 Advising Small Companies — Responding to Your Client's Needs with Practical Advice Submitted for 7 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) March 22, 2013 Limited Liability Companies in Colorado Submitted for 8 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) March 27, 2013 A Crash Course in Motor Vehicle Accident Law 2013 Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) March 28, 2013 UCC Article 9 Security Interests — Collateral Refresher and Hot Topics Submitted for 4 General CLE credits (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

VIDEO REPLAYS

CBA CLE

1900 Grant St., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80203-4303

www.cobar.org/cle 24 The Docket I March 2013

Phone: 303-860-0608

Toll-Free: 888-860-2531

Fax: 303-860-0624

Preventing Legal Malpractice and Disciplinary Actions

the

Lawyers’ Professional Liability in Colorado: Preventing Legal Malpractice and Disciplinary Actions, focuses on issues relevant to every practicing lawyer in Colorado: professionalism, ethics, the client-lawyer relationship, professional liability insurance, the grievance process and attorney discipline, defenses, technology and the practice of law, fees, debt collections, trends in legal malpractice, and many special topics unique to particular practice areas.

This 2013 edition is now in softcover and includes substantive updates to most of the 45 chapters in the book, as well as to the Subject Index. This book represents thousands of hours of hard work by many lawyers who are among the best in their fields of practice. As part of our commitment to help lawyers keep abreast of professional liability and ethics issues, we have made some significant changes to the 2013 edition. In addition to changing the formatting — moving from three-ring binders to softcover volumes — we have added three new chapters, each of which relates to the intersection of technology and media with the practice of law.

Chapter Highlights: Trends in Legal Malpractice Litigation: Features important legal malpractice cases from the past year, is fully updated for 2013.

Three New Chapters: Social Media and Professional Responsibility — Addresses the ethical and risk management concerns that arise from using social media in the practice of law.

A Lawyers’ Relationship with the Press and Media —A discussion of the practical and ethics issues that arise for lawyers when attempting to protect a client in the caldron of media coverage.

Technology and Duty of Confidentiality — A review of the issues that arise when lawyers’ Rule 1.6 obligations of client confidentiality intersect with cloud computing, lost smartphones and other portable devices, and risks inherent in other new technologies.

LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Lawyers’ Professional Liability in Colorado:

Now in Soft Cover!

The book is a valuable preventive tool and indispensable guide to practicing Colorado law “by the book.”

Three Convenient Ways to Order: ONLINE AT: www.cobar.org/cle/pubs.cfm CALL: IN DENVER 303.860.0608 TOLL FREE 888.860.2531 STOP BY: Our office and save on shipping!

Third Edition, two volumes, soft-cover, 7 x 10-inch format, 1,502 pages with CD-ROM CLE Item Number: ZLPLICO13B CBA Member Price: $85 Non-Member Price: $105

The Colorado Lawyer /January 2013 Vol.25 42, 1 No. 2 March 2013 I The /Docket

Legal

AFFAIRS GOOD THINGS The Colorado Supreme Court Advisory Committee has appointed Denver attorney and former DBA President John T. Baker Baker director of the new Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program.

The program, created by the Chief Justice Commission on the Legal Profession and housed within the office of the Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel, is designed to increase the training of and provide more support for new lawyers, one of the main goals of the commission. Baker, assumed his new position Feb. 25, and will work to expand the CAMP pilot programs that have been running in Adams County and Denver for the past year.

Baker practices in his own firm, concentrating on complex litigation and public interest law.

John S. Gleason, chief regulation counsel for the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation, was honored by the National Gleason Organization of Bar Counsel with its President’s Award at its midyear meeting in Dallas. This is the organization’s highest honor. It is given to one member each year for dedication to the legal profession and contributions in the areas of legal ethics, professional responsibility, and disciplinary enforcement. Gleason received national recognition recently for his work investigating and prosecuting Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in Arizona.

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP received the Women in Law Empowerment Forum 2012 Gold Standard Certification. To certify, firms must successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of

equity partners, leadership positions, governance and compensation committees, and most highly compensated partners.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers recently awarded the national Frederick O. Kiel Distinguished Service Award to David Caprera, senior tax attorney at Kutak Rock LLP. BakerHostetler’s Holli Hartman has been appointed to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force, as part of the Tax, Civil Law, Funding, and Resource Issues group.

Greenberg Traurig’s Neil Oberfeld was recently appointed to the Law Conference Planning Committee of the InternaOberfeld tional Council of Shopping Centers.

Matthew S. Larson, an associate attorney at Ireland Stapleton, has been appointed to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Council for Physical Fitness.

Larson maintains a diverse practice in the firm’s environmental, energy, and natural resources; real estate; and business practice groups.

Matthias Edrich, a tax attorney at Kutak Rock LLP, was reappointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper to serve on the State of Colorado Private Activity Bonds Allocation Committee.

McKenna Long and Aldridge attorney Lino Lipinsky has been elected 2013 president of the Faculty of Federal Advocates.

Lipinsky Jessica Yates, associate in Snell & Wilmer’s Denver office, has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of the Colorado Health Foundation.

CHANGES B ro w n s t e i n H y a t t Farber Schreck announced that Joshua M. Hantman, Jonathan G. Pray, and Ashley B. Wingfield Hantman are shareholders in its Denver office.

A member of the bankruptcy and restructuring group, Hantman’s practice focuses on a broad Pray range of business reorganization, restructuring, and distressed acquisition matters.

A litigator, Pray advises clients involved in Wingfield real estate and construction disputes.

Wingfield represents a wide range of clients in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including development, finance and lending, acquisition, disposition, and leasing.

Metro Volunteer Lawyers’ first Rovira Scholar, Sarah Zoellner, has been named a self-represented litigant coordinator for the Zoellner Denver Juvenile and District Courts. She will be responsible for educating self-represented litigants on court statutes, rules, policies, and procedures within legal limitations to ensure that court cases are handled properly and expeditiously.

During her six-month fellowship with MVL, Zoellner developed and implemented an MVL Resource Program to match MVL volunteers with experienced mentors; organized an adoption training and recruited volunteers to provide pro bono adoption representation; took on MVL cases and represented individuals in need; coordinated efforts with the

If you are a Denver Bar attorney member and you’ve moved, been promoted, hired an associate, taken on a partner, received a promotion or award, or begun service on a new board, we’d love to hear from you. Talks, speeches, CLE presentations, and political announcements, due to their sheer number, cannot be included. In addition, The Docket cannot print notices of honors determined by other publications (e.g., Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, etc.) again due to volume. Notices are printed at no cost but must be submitted in writing and are subject to editing and space available.

Send all notices to Kate Schuster at kschuster@cobar.org by the 1st day of the month.

26 The Docket I March 2013

Denver Probate Court to identify needs and gaps in services; worked with local access to justice and other committees to understand and address community needs; and is serving on a subcommittee of the Colorado Supreme Court to draft a proposed rule to guide court staff in providing legal information to the public.

The Rovira Scholar is made possible by a generous gift from Lois Ann Rovira, wife of former Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Luis Rovira.

The Denver office of Littler Mendelson, PC is pleased to announce its newest shareholder: Danielle Kitson. KitKitson son provides advice and counsel to a wide range of employers.

Foster Graham Milstein and Calisher, LLP is pleased to announce Lara Marks Baker Marks Baker has been named a partner. Marks Baker is a criminal trial lawyer.

Rene Adema Moore has joined the Denver office of Peck, Shaffer & Williams LLP as a partner.

Moore concentrates her Moore practice on tax law, including IRS audit defense.

Denver-based business law firm Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC added Andrew D. Spruiell as an associate.

Spruiell’s practice will focus on business and real estate law.

Otis, Coan & Peters, LLC is pleased to announce that Michael C. Payne has become an equity member Payne of the firm.

BakerHostetler announced today that A. Jeremy Atencio has been elected to the partnership. Atencio represents clients in the business practice area.

Fe n n e m o re C ra i g , P.C. recently elected Troy R. Rackham to become a director and shareholder within the firm.

Rackham R ackham’s practice includes employment and civil rights law, defense of legal and medical malpractice claims, and representing clients in other

forms of complex litigation.

Polsinelli Shughart recently welcomed three associates. Rene M. Larkin and Jack (Jay) L. Mankamyer II joined the real estate development practice, and Joshua J. Pranckun is an associate in the science and technology practice.

Kutak Rock LLP has elected nine new partners to the firm: Brian Caid and Matthew McElhiney in the corporate group; Michael Bonifazi, Mia Della Cava, Adam Hirsch, and Tiffanie Stasiak in the litigation group; Hester Parrot and Mario Trimble in the public finance group; and Wade Houser in the real estate group.

Kennedy Childs, PC hired litigator Sara Sharp to defend healthcare providers and physicians, K i m b e r l y Pe rd u e to Sharp the employment practice team, and Elizabeth J.M. Howard to the health care malpractice defense team.

The law firm of Pearl Schneider LLC is pleased Perdue to announce that James N. Thomaidis has joined the firm as an associate. Thomaidis’ practice will emphasize insurance defense and commercial Howard litigation.

Gordon & Re es has elevate d Byeongsook Seo to partnership. Seo, a Denver partner and commercial litigator, represents clients in complex commercial and intellectual property disputes.

Chad Henderson was promoted to assistant general counsel at QEP Resources, Inc. Public finance attorney Anastasia G. Khokhryakova has joined Ballard Spahr as of counsel.

The firm is also pleased Khokhryakova to announce that David C. Uhlig has joined the firm’s real estate practice group as special counsel Berenbaum Weinshienk PC is pleased to announce that Cynthia L. King has become associated with the firm as of counsel. King is an experienced securities lawyer and has represented clients in both public and private offerings.

IN MEMORIAM Attorney George J. Duckworth, born Sept. 6, 1919, in Cleveland, Ohio, passed away May 22. A longtime Denver resident, Duckworth was a veteran of World War II and a Purple Heart recipient. Survived by his wife, Mary Jo Duckworth, son John E. Duckworth (Amy), daughter Barbara A. Duckworth, and son Robert P. Duckworth; grandchildren Brandon P. Duckworth, Amanda H. Duckworth, Bryan R. Duckworth, Scott C. Duckworth, Mark A. Duckworth, and Kimberly A. Duckworth; great-grandson Jasper A. Kerger; and sisters Mildred Titus (Frank) and Mary Lou Chegwidden (Ernie). In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Disabled American Veterans, 1480 Hoyt St., Lakewood, CO. BRICK & MORTAR Husch Blackwell is now all located at the Wells Fargo Center: 1700 Lincoln St., Suite 4700, Denver, CO 80203. All direct dial phone numbers remain the same.

Dean Neuwirth PC, Appeals/Litigation, is now located at 950 S. Cherry C re e k S t ., Sui te 300, Denver, CO 80246. Phone: Neuwirth (303) 329-9222. Website: deanneuwirth.com. The firm is of counsel to Hochstadt Straw & Silverman, PC. The law firm of Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP opened a new office in the Denver Tech Center at 5613 DTC Parkway, Suite Panasci 970, Greenwood Village, CO, with the addition of partners Ernie Panasci, Deborah L. Bayles, Zsolt K. Bessko, Perry Glantz, and Kristin S. Godfrey, Bessko along with four associate attorneys and three staff employees.

Greg Daniels announces the formation of the Daniels Law Firm Godfrey LLC, located at 150 E. 10th Ave., Denver; phone (303) 863-7436. The Daniels Law Firm will focus on criminal defense.

March 2013 I The Docket 27

Dates on the

DOCKET DBA MEETINGS All DBA meetings are scheduled at 1900 Grant St., Suite 900, in Denver, unless otherwise noted. Call Melissa Nicoletti, (303) 824-5321, to schedule committee meetings so they will appear in this calendar.

March 1

Joint CBA/DBA Networking event Cutthroats Hockey Call Denise Lynch, (303) 824-5327.

March 6

Docket Committee Noon–1 p.m.

Call Sara Crocker, (303) 824-5347.

March 7

Democracy Education Noon–1:30 p.m.

Call Meghan Bush, (303) 824-5323 Diversity in the Legal Profession Noon–1:30 p.m.

Call Andrea Mueller Arias, (303) 824-5340.

March13

Professionalism Coordinating Council Noon–1:30 p.m.

Call Denise Lynch, (303) 824-5350.

DBA Young Lawyers Division 6–7:30 p.m.

Call Heather Clark, (303) 824-5350.

March 14

DBA Board of Trustees 3:30–4:30 p.m.

Call Denise Lynch, (303) 824-5327.

CBA Presidential Visit 4:30–6 p.m.

Call Denise Lynch, (303) 824-5327.

28 The Docket I March 2013

March 19

Community Action Network Meeting Katie Mullen’s 1550 Court Pl. 4:30–5:30 p.m.

Call Kate Schuster, (303) 824-5312.

Room 1018 5:30–7 p.m.

Call (720) 944-2594.

Legal Night at Mi Casa 360 Acoma St. 5:30–7 p.m.

Call (303) 573-1302.

Community Action Network Happy Hour Katie Mullen’s 1550 Court Pl. 5:30–7 p.m.

Call Kate Schuster, (303) 824-5312.

March 20

FOR THE PUBLIC

March 21

To volunteer for the DBA Public Legal Education programs or for more information, unless otherwise indicated, contact Meghan Bush at (303) 824-5303.

March 6

Lawline 9 4–6:30 p.m.

Pro Se Divorce Clinic 1437 Bannock St. Courtroom 22 Noon–1:30 p.m.

Lawline 9 4–6:30 p.m.

Collections Clinic Denver City and County Building 1437 Bannock St., Room 164 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

March 27

Lawline 9 4–6:30 p.m.

Legal Night At El Centro De San Juan Diego 2830 Lawrence St. 5:30–7 p.m.

Call (303) 295-9470.

March 12

Bankruptcy Clinic U.S. Bankruptcy Court 721 19th St. 1:30–3 p.m.

March 13

Lawline 9 4–6:30 p.m.

March 19

Small Claims Clinic Denver City and County Building 1437 Bannock St., Room 164 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Pro Se Family Law Clinic Office of Economic Development 1200 Federal Blvd.,

Join a Committee!

If you are interested in joining a DBA committee, call (303) 860-1115 for information. For a full list of DBA committees, visit denbar.org.

2013

Call for Entries for the

Denver Lawyers Arts&LiteratureContest

Submit your creative works in: •

Fiction

•

Painting

•

Poetry

•

Drawing

•

Photography

• •

Nonfiction Humor

•

(watercolors and oil/acrylic/mixed media)

Sculpture

Submission Period: Feb. 1 to April 15 Winners will be recognized in the September issue of The Docket. See full rules and submission guidelines at denbar.org/docket. No legal subject matter required.

Submit entries to docket@denbar.org. Questions? Email scrocker@cobar.org.

March 2013 I The Docket 29

Picture

THIS

Franz Hardy Receives Davis Awards Franz Hardy was honored with the Richard Marden Davis Award on Feb. 6 at the Brown Palace Hotel. Hardy is the 20th recipient of the award, which is given annually “to a Denver lawyer under the age of 40 who so combines excellence as a lawyer with creative civic, cultural, educational, and charitable leadership as to best exemplify the character and promise of Richard Marden Davis at that stage in his career.” Hardy is a partner at Gordon & Rees, LLP, president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado, a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, and a member of the University of Colorado Law School Alumni Board. Additionally, Hardy focuses on giving back by organizing an annual “Keys to Success” program featuring advice and guidance from a panel of prominent Colorado lawyers in both public and private practice to assist law students in determining their career path. The recipient of the Davis Award is determined by a committee consisting of attorneys from Davis Graham & Stubbs and members of the Denver Bar Foundation.

Franz Hardy, center, poses with Denver Bar Association President Jim Benjamin and Davis Graham & Stubbs Managing Partner Chris Richardson.

Left: DBA President-elect Dan McCune poses with Camille Palmeri.

Right: Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Richard L. Gabriel, DBA President Jim Benjamin, and DBA Board of Trustees member Nicholas Ghiselli.

30 The Docket I March 2013

DBA Happenings Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center Officially Opened Leaders of Colorado’s Judicial Branch and the Department of Law officially opened the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center on Jan. 14. The building consolidates numerous court- and legal-related agencies that had been housed at various locations in Denver, including the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Office of the State Court Administrator. An opening reception will be held on May 2 and will feature U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Read more about the event in the April issue of The Docket. Photos by Bryan Lopez.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, Attorney General John W. Suthers, former Gov. Bill Ritter, and Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael L. Bender pulled out their scissors to officially open the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center.

Members of the legal community, General Assembly, and the public gathered to celebrate the opening of the judicial center. Honored guests included former Chief Justice Mary J. Mullarkey; Ritter, who signed into law Senate Bill 08-206 authorizing financing of the complex; and the four primary sponsors of the legislation: Brandon Shaffer, Terrance Carroll, Josh Penry, and Don Marostica.

Aisenberg and Brown Honored at Bar Foundation Dinner Bennett Aisenberg was recognized with the Award of Merit, the Colorado Bar Association’s highest honor, at the Colorado Bar Foundation Annual Dinner on Jan. 11. The long-time sole practitioner served as president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association from 1984 to 1985, president of the Denver Bar Association from 1991 to 1992 and president of the CBA from 1998 to 1999. In 2003, he received the DBA’s Award of Merit. He also has been honored by the Sam Cary and Asian Pacific American Bar Associations.

Loren M. Brown, recipient of the Gary L. McPherson Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year, also was honored at the dinner, which was attended by nearly 350 guests. Brown, a shareholder with Donelson Ciancio & Grant, P.C. in Broomfield, serves on the board of Metro Volunteer Lawyers, the board of directors of CASA of Adams and Broomfield County, and is a board member of the 17th Judicial District Access to Justice Committee.

Left: Award of Merit recipient Bennett Aisenberg said that to be honored by his peers is one of the greatest gifts he has received.

Right: Gary L. McPherson Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Loren M. Brown, with CBA President Mark Fogg, told guests that receiving this award motivates him to do more to give back in the community.

March 2013 I The Docket 31

A WARM WELCOME

TO OUR NEW PANELIST

Richard Myers has practiced law since 1979 working primarily in the areas of personal injury litigation, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, toxic tort, and construction. He believes the majority of cases should be settled given the high cost of litigation and the emotional toll on the parties. He strives to see and understand each side of a dispute with a goal of reaching a resolution that is fair to all parties given the unique facts inherent to their particular dispute.

Richard P. Myers, Esq.

Samuel Gordon, Esq.

Elaine A. Wohlner, Esq.

Hon. James S. Miller

Hon. John P. Leopold

Sheldon E. Friedman Esq.

Hon Harlan R. Bockman

John E. Hayes, Esq.

Randall C. MustainWood, Esq.

Hon. William F. Downes

Collie E. Norman Esq.

410 17 TH STREET, #1600 • DENVER, CO 80202 LOCAL: 303.534.1254 • TOLLFREE: 1.866.534.1254 www.jamsadr.com 32 The Docket I March 2013

THE RESOLUTION EXPERTS®