2014 September

A Denver Bar Association Publication I Vol. 36 Issue 8 I September 2014

ARTISTS AMONG US MEET THE WINNERS

of the 2014 Denver Lawyers’ Arts & Literature Contest

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ARTISTS AMONG US The Denver Lawyers’ Arts & Literature Contest A TALE OF TWO CAREERS: My Journey To and From the Law 2013-14 DBA ANNUAL REPORT

The mission of The Docket is to educate and entertain the Denver legal community—we hope without being sued.

September 2014 I The Docket 3

INSIDE 6

From the President

7

Briefly & Words of Wisdom

28

Back to School for Lawyers: Three Primary Focus Areas for Volunteers in Denver’s Schools

29

Ten Questions with Sarah Domke

32

Pro Bono Spotlight: MVL Lawyer Helps Client Fight for Independence

IN EVERY ISSUE 34

Legal Affairs

36

Briefs

36

Bar Resources

37

Dates on the Docket

38

Picture This

The mission of The Docket is to educate and entertain the Denver legal community—we hope without being sued.

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 December 16.

Editor: Courtney Gibb, cgibb@cobar.org Managing Editor: Heather Clark, hclark@cobar.org P.C. Editor: Chuck Turner, cturner@cobar.org Chair: Ryan T. Jardine Graphic Designer: Kate Schuster, kschuster@cobar.org Advertising: advertising@cobar.org The Docket Committee: Norman Beecher, Adam Brown, Becky Bye, Mariya Cassin, Craig C. Eley, David L. Erickson, Peter E. Grandey, Ryan T. Jardine, Thomas L. Kanan, Jr., Robert J. Kapelke, Paul F. Kennebeck, Gregory Lewis, Lauren Lockard, Natalie Lucas, Kyle Martelon, Alicia J. McCommons, Daniel R. McCune, Margaret McMahon, Douglas I. McQuiston, William R. Meyer, Makenzie Morgan, Barbara J. Mueller, Peter Mullison, Gregory D. Rawlings, Frank Schuchat, Julie Simmons, Marshall A. Snider, Daniel A. Sweetser, Erica Vargas, Anthony J. Viorst, Dennis P. Walker DBA Officers: John M. Vaught, President; Janet S. Drake, President-Elect; Catherine A. Chan, First Vice President; Matthew S. Larson, Second Vice President; Daniel R. McCune, Immediate Past President; Daniel A. Sweetser, Treasurer; Chuck Turner, Executive Director Board of Trustees Members: Erich L. Bethke, Gillian M. Bidgood, Jaclyn K. Casey, Richard L. Gabriel, Nicholas Ghiselli, Franz Hardy, Barbara J. Mueller, Lucia C. Padilla, Gerald D. Pratt

Visit Blog:

Write for The Docket: DBA members are encouraged to send story ideas, photos, tips, and articles for The Docket Committee’s consideration.

We are looking for content by Denver attorneys for Denver attorneys, focusing on trends, courts, and practice management, in addition to opinion and satire pieces.

Please send ideas and member announcements to Editors Heather Clark at hclark@cobar.org or Courtney Gibb at cgibb@cobar.org.

303-860-1115 • dbadocket.org Copyright 2014. The Docket (ISSN 1084-7820) 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.

DBAdocket.org 4 The Docket I September 2014

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.

DENVE R

ON ATI CI

R ASSO BA

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c e 189 1

The Colorado Bar Association and Denver Bar Association search committee is now accepting applications from highly qualified applicants for the Associations’ next

Executive Director The Executive Director serves as Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for administering the affairs and resources for the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations. The Executive Director recommends and participates in formulation of the Bar Associations’ missions, goals, objectives, and related policies.

The Executive Director’s overall responsibilities include: • Providing strategic leadership • Supporting Bar Associations’ boards and officers • Managing staff and volunteers • Providing financial management and budget control • Directing general association activities • Directing public policy activities • Serving as spokesperson and directing public relations • Representing the Bar Associations in public forums locally, regionally, and nationally.

We seek an experienced executive who values the work of the Bar Associations, who is driven to deliver outstanding member service; who is excited to represent the Bar Associations in many different forums locally, regionally, and nationally; and who can ensure the effective achievement of our goals and mission.

To learn more about this prestigious leadership opportunity, please visit our websites, cobar.org and denbar.org, where you will find detailed information about qualifications, job duties, and the application process. Application deadline is Friday, Sept. 26.

The Colorado Bar Association and Denver Bar Association are equal opportunity employers.

Your Partner in Law September 2014 I The Docket 5

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Why Does the Denver Bar Association Deserve Your Membership?

practice in your area of expertise—be it litigation, real estate or oil and gas.

Again, only through the bar asociation can you reasonably accomplish that career goal, all with the help of highly qualified, professional mentors. Not surprisingly, only the bar offers numerous opportunities to meet mentors and to place you squarely in the middle of hundreds of lawyers who do what you do. No other organization comes close.

“The most impor tant criterion to serve the bar is an expression of interest. “

by J ohn M. Vaught The Denver Bar Association, like the Colorado Bar Association, is a voluntary bar, which means that you can decide whether or not to join. Many lawyers, particularly from my generation, did not think twice when it came to joining the bar—it was simply “the thing” to do. Based on the advice of our mentors, there was no alternative. After all, wasn’t everyone a member?

Both the answer to that question and the times have changed, however.

Our newest generation of members— particularly young lawyers—no longer automatically sign up following their initial free membership year. So, the relevant question for bar leadership is, of course, “Why not?” From the prospective members’ view point, the question is: “Why does the bar deserve my membership?” Let me try to answer both questions.

A law career typically spans many

6 The Docket I September 2014

years. I am well into my thirty-fifth year of practice. Although technology has advanced the communication process, I strongly believe that the personal and professional satisfaction I have enjoyed as a lawyer is founded, not on technology, but on the personal relations I have made and enjoyed throughout my years in the profession. My success as a lawyer has been, without question, aided by those personal relationships.

The Denver Bar Association has approximately 9,000 members, the majority of whom practice law. As a result, where else can you meet and come to know—say, even 3,000 lawyers—over a career? Only the bar association affords that opportunity. Not Facebook, not any other social media, not even your law school alumni group can match the opportunity to meet and truly get to know your fellow lawyers in this community.

Further, where else can you meet, at the local level, hundreds of lawyers who

Finally, where else can you find leadership opportunities dedicated to the betterment of your career and of this profession? Bar leadership may seem distant to you if you have never served, but the most important criterion to serve the bar is an expression of interest. We don’t ask where you went to law school, we don’t inquire of your GPA, we only want your dedication to improving the bar programs and bettering this profession. Again, only the bar can offer that opportunity.

The Denver Bar Association’s special mission for 2014–15 is to grow the Young Lawyers’ Division by 15%. Come help us. Join the DBA in that mission.

It will make you a better lawyer, it will advance this profession and it will make a huge difference in someone’s life. I cannot imagine three more important reasons we deserve your membership. D

John M. Vaught President, Denver Bar Association Email: dbapres@ denbar.org

BRIEFLY Did you know?

“The law, as lawyers know, is full of stories, many of them considerably stranger than fiction.”

Famous Artist

Henri Matisse

attended law school in Paris before discovering his love of painting.

Alexander McCall Smith, author and former law professor

Just Google it: More than 30% of legal consumers start their search for an attorney using online resources. bit.ly/1AP34kY.

Comments & Social Buzz “In response to the article that Shaquille wrote, I think he sold himself short. He has all the characteristics of a great lawyer already. I heard his arguments in class, his passion for what he believes in. I can picture him under pressure, taking out his yo-yo and just making magic with it, and finding ideas as to how to solve a problem because that is what lawyers do. They find solutions to the problems that need solving.”

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Top Tweeted: Why Lawyers Need to Stop Writing Like

Eighteenth Century Barristers vs. The Importance of Being Prolix

WORDS of WISDOM

FROM THE DOCKET COMMITTEE

What is your favorite work of art?

Keith Lewis Lewis is a Colorado and Georgia licensed attorney with a 100% trial and appellate litigation practice.

The poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling was first introduced to me in high school. But recently, an attorney-mentor reminded me of this complex, layered poem about the lessons which emanate from life’s struggles. These verses have again become my favorite piece of art and a source of comfort and inspiration as I attempt to “fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run” as an advocate for my clients and this noble profession.

My favorite work of art is Thomas Cole’s “The Architect’s Dream.” It features buildings in the Greek, Roman, Gothic and Egyptian styles. To architects, this conglomeration is probably known as “The Architect’s Nightmare,” but to my layperson’s eye it is inspiring. Painted in 1840, by happy coincidence it resides in the Toledo Museum of Art, the Craig Eley Former Docket Chair and former Ohio city of my birth.

DBA President, Eley works as an administrative law judge.

September 2014 I The Docket 7

Among Us The Denver Lawyers’ Arts & Literature Contest This year, we are celebrating the third Denver Lawyers’ Arts & Literature Contest. The Docket Committee would like to thank all of the wonderful entrants who made the final decisions so difficult.

Everyone who participated in the contest has a license to practice law, but those who stood out also showed off their artistic license. It’s clear that many Denver lawyers find a work–life balance in their creative outlets. You’ll see each impressive winning piece on the following pages.

Please join us in congratulating the winners and praising

8 The Docket I September 2014

all entrants at the Denver Lawyers’ Arts & Literature Contest Party on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The event will be held at the DBA offices at 5:30 p.m., and include complimentary appetizers and drinks. If you’d like to see and hear the winning works and mingle with local artists and attorneys, please RSVP to lunches@cobar.org.

JOEL SAYRES:

FICTION

Fiction Winner for “180 Nights” If you were surprised to learn that a male IP lawyer was behind the voice of Fatima, join the club!

“A couple things I’ve written in the past were from the perspective of a middle-aged guy, so I wanted to try something different,” Joel Sayres explains.

His risk certainly paid off. Sayres says that “180 Nights” was born out of experimenting with different perspectives—using individual circumstance, dissonance, and instability as a lens for larger conflict and patterns. His story focuses on personal and family turmoil, as well as themes of alienation, powerlessness, and loss of home. He incorporates colliding cultures within the storyline.

“I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing, and recently I’ve tried to focus on it more,” Sayres says. “I try to carve out that time and I want to continue to develop as a writer.”

A Haverford College history major who worked as a legal assistant in Washington D.C. before law school at Yale, Sayres now focuses on patent litigation as an Associate Attorney at Faegre Baker Daniels. He enjoys working in the legal profession because it allows him to think critically and help his clients achieve their goals in creative and effective ways.

When he isn’t practicing law or writing winning fiction stories, Sayres can be found hanging with his wife and two dogs.

Her husband was checking me out.

That’s the only reason she looked over from the aisle of books in which they stood, tracking his glare like this wasn’t the first or tenth time. He must not have noticed you. He let his eyes fall and rise, rolling over and through my still trim figure. She pinched his arm and whispered curtly. I suppose her one flaw, her misjudgment of men, remained consistent.

Her gaze caught me for a quick second, then let it go. She looked old to me, her face marked up more than I thought eleven years could do, the green in her eyes faded and dull. It was only a second.

But I think she saw who I was.

When I first met her, my world was brick and chaos. I was tall for an 11-year-

old, and although my father’s girlfriends told me how pretty I was, their words were as worthless as the Swiss dinar my father still kept in a cigar box. They fawned over my full black hair, my “doe eyes,” calling me a Persian princess. He could date here in America, and not just Kurdish women. All kinds of women.

Each eventually came to know my father, and that’s when they left, flashing a smile to me from the doorway of my bedroom if they happened to catch my stare on the way out. It pains me that some of them still hold a place in my memory while my mother, who bequeathed me my beauty, who escaped chemicals and slaughter in Halabja only to drain out below me in a Jersey City hospital when I was less than

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a minute old, does not.

Her death set my father on his descent, which ended only a room away in our Bayonne apartment but a world away from me. He fed and sheltered me, perhaps as a duty to her. He did not care if I went to school, so I did not. The one window in my room looked into the brick of the adjacent building, and if I angled my head right, down to the cracked cement of the alley below. So, my only true view was through the TV that my father put in my room to keep me away from him. At the time, nothing but images of my parents’ homeland, blasts of cluster bombs, tracers across the sky. Although I rarely left my room I could feel the stifling blanket of New Jersey summer approaching, could see the sweat collect on my skin, could sense the movement of our walls inward as I watched mechanized infantry plow through the desert in April 2003.

By this time, men would also come to our apartment, for my father no longer kept his work outside. These were not friends or countrymen. They were hardboiled, purposeful men.

“Hey Fero, who is that?”

“That’s Fatima, my daughter. She’s fine, she stays in her room. Come on, let’s talk in here.”

While they would deal on the other side of my wall I would hold Koyo, the stuffed elephant my mother bought for me before I was born, and try to think about a different place, a different time, but nothing ever came into focus or color.

Then the men and girlfriends stopped for a few months, and I learned that my father was seeing someone new. Someone for whom God would make me wait.

When Ms. Sera finally appeared in my doorway, she didn’t pull her purse tighter, didn’t stand stiff and breathe dirty pleasantries on me while we both put in our time. Instead, it was as if she picked me up in her sight, turned me around in the air, and knew that although hardened, I was a tethered and damaged child, stunted and atrophying while my father committed felonies outside my door. She came and sat at the edge of my bed, tilted her head to the side so that her black hair caressed her shoulders, her jade green eyes radiant against subtle crows feet, and asked if she could tell me a story.

“I guess.”

10 The Docket I September 2014

It was a story about a little girl in a lighthouse, her mother sick and her father gone, who must signal ships in a storm.

Against all odds, she saves them all. Ms. Sera drew the story out, recounting it with life and sound, so that it seemed we were there for hours. My head sank into my pillow, my body lost all weight, the apartment dissolved around me. I was next to blue coastal waters, climbing the tower.

Below me, the sand was clean, unscarred by vehicle tracks, rusted out drums, or blood from recorded beheadings. That was the first night, you understand, that I knew there was something else in this world. The first of countless nights that she would sit on my bed and bring me out of Bayonne, out of my life, into things that I did not know.

The stories were everything and anything, from every country and culture.

Forty thieves, a scorpion killing a frog, a spider saving a pig. Impossible, absurd things. They veered into the unknown; veered into her. Stories of growing up and leaving her country. Stories about young romance, commitment, loss.

I went to school again, if only to kill time until she would appear. When my father told me she was moving in, I cleaned the apartment to make room for her presence. I had nothing to offer as a welcome gift except the last tie to my mother. As she came into my room after unpacking, I took Koyo from under the covers and handed him to her, then put my arms around her neck and pulled her down towards me. At first only her head bowed, stiff and straining, but then her body gave way and she took me in an embrace that filled my room, until I thought the window would burst and the walls break away, combusting with what I had found.

Our routine continued, even as I sensed tension in the apartment. One night I asked her why she told me stories.

“Fatima, amor, that’s a tradition from which I have simply borrowed.” She told me about tales within tales, legends told across generations, 1001 Nights. Stories intended to keep you alive, to look forward to tomorrow.

“Why?” “Because you want to find out how it will end, amor.”

I knew things were not going well

with my father, as she learned more about him, what he was. The kindness between them drained like bath water, leaving a film that clung to my skin as their days grew shorter. One November night she did not finish her story. As she rose from the side of my bed and kissed my cheek, I asked her why. “This one is long and complicated,” she said. “It is best if we finish it later, when we have more time.”

I did not hear the front door close behind her that night. I woke to my father’s cursing, and then the crashing of thrown furniture. After he left I tiptoed over splintered wood to their bedroom.

Her things were gone except for Koyo, which she left with other trash on the floor.

Like a child will do, I believed against all hope that she would return. At night I would sit up in my bed, arms crossed at the door. I wanted her to see that I was angry when she came in. Then, after sufficient apologies I would forgive her, and we would continue as we had been.

In December, I stopped staring at the door and turned back on the TV. The Iraqi dictator was being pulled out of a hole in the ground. The following year it was my father’s turn to atone for his sins, as the police burst in to end his empire, a young officer training his semiautomatic on me as I twitched from the sound of gunfire in the next room.

I will say this. She must have planted some seed in me, some nugget of strength, because I bounced through the system well. I accepted my foster families, graduated from high school, received a degree in English from NYU. I met a man who sells smartphones, a man who loves me, whom I married last year in the Church of Bayonne.

The test showed two pink lines eight weeks ago now. As I said, still early enough to attract glances. Today, hers was quick and was not followed by a second.

I thought about going over there, to tell her what she had done to me, had done for me. Instead, I paid for my book and left.

The first story in this looks like a good one. It will be the second story I tell you, tomorrow night. What I’m telling you now, amor, is the first. And we will go from here, one every night, for 180 nights until you arrive.

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ILONA DOTTERRER:

NONFICTION

Nonfiction Winner for “How I Knew the Soviets” Ilona Dotterrer never needed to search for inspiration in her writing—it’s been in front of her all along.

“It was my own story, in my bones,” Dotterrer says. “It just flowed.”

“How I Knew the Soviets” is the tale of Dotterrer’s family, and specifically, her parents struggle as Czech immigrants in the United States during time of turmoil. The back story is even more interesting: her father had a death sentence on his head in the Czech Republic and became a spy for the CIA after World War II. He had lived in a war environment the entirety of his formative years, and Dotterrer said that when he was finally able to go back to the Czech Republic later in life, it was like he was “reborn.”

She explains that she’s found truth in the fact that immigrants and their children are stuck between the old and new worlds. Dotterrer broke her story down to milestone dates in history to better describe her family’s experiences and the happenings in what is now the Czech Republic In 1950, the Soviets seize Eastern Europe and the icy grip of repression spreads like a vast glacier, freezing hundreds of lives. My young vivacious Czech mother convinces her doting parents to leave their successful bakery and board a small train at the Pilsen train station.

They are dropped off in a thick wood close to the Czech–German border, miles from the nearest village, and simply told to walk west. Oblivious to Soviet patrols, they take a day to leisurely stroll the ten miles into Germany, stopping to snack on stout buttered rye bread and cold breaded veal cutlets washed down with honeyed tea. Later, in Chicago, my father, who carries a large gunshot scar on his leg from his years helping people escape, marvels at their innocence and luck to anyone who will listen.

In 1960, I help my mother and grandmother wrap our old clothes into worn white sheets, slipping in yellow packets of chewing gum like pieces of sunshine, tying the pillow-shaped bundles tightly with smooth string. We write the names and addresses of the aunts with black marker, naming the beloved old country the “Czechoslovak Socialist Republic” or “CSSR,” as the Soviets dictate. Every month, we carry the parcels to Tuzex, the only agency the Soviets allow to distribute warmth and love to the people frozen behind the Iron Curtain. My mother pays

12 The Docket I September 2014

at each point.

“I started out wanting to write the big story, but I just couldn’t get my arms around it.” Dotterrer says. “So I thought why not make it smaller and tie it into the world events.”

Surprisingly, Dotterrer’s effortless storytelling skills haven’t always been put to good use. Although she was interested in writing – and was an editor for the law review in school – Dotterrer had put it on the back burner until recently when she enrolled in writing classes. Now, she is trying her hand at writing screen plays as well.

A Senior Attorney Advisor with the Social Security Administration, Dotterrer has two sons. One spent a summer in the Czech Republic several years ago. Dotterrer took her youngest son and his wife there this summer to discover their Czech heritage.

the outrageous “shipping and handling” fees without a word.

In 1965, letters in tissue thin envelopes with orange and blue borders, imprinted “Par Avion,” regularly arrive at our Chicago apartment. To discourage relentless Soviet censorship, the letters are addressed to a fictitious American. Inside, dense Old World script on small onion-skin sheets describes mind-numbing grayness, empty store shelves, and constant fear. Sometimes, when there are small black and white photographs of weddings, babies, or funerals, my mother and grandmother sit together at the kitchen table, quietly crying for the distant lives left behind.

In 1968, the heady Prague spring, when a few modest freedoms pushed like tender green shoots from under an immovable ice mass, ends suddenly in the August heat. Shiny green

Russian tanks filled with bewildered Siberian teenage boys rumble down the cobbled streets of ancient cities. In the countryside, villagers awake to dozens of the frightening machines circling

their old towns, completely lost on the winding lanes. Television coverage in Chicago shows shocked Czech faces, angry, yelling, crying, defeated, hopeless. My parents stay home from work and spend long days with their friends, smoking and drinking Pilsner beer. Born of boundless worry, loud arguments about the invasion punctuate the nights.

My mother holds on by singing along with the traditional Czech songs of bravery and strength that play over and over on my father’s big Teac reel-to-reel tape deck. Nights, I climb out my bedroom window, go next door and sit with the American neighbors, staring mesmerized at the television as the Chicago police beat young people in the summer streets.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong steps out of the Eagle landing craft, joyfully jumping across the powdery moonscape, the first human to play in space. On an equally fantastic journey, my father’s 80-year-old mother steps off a Pan Am flight at O’Hare, leaning heavily on a thick wooden cane. She has never left the tiny Bohemian farming village where my father was born, and as she walks slowly on the tarmac, she steps into a world as mysterious to her as the moon. Old round rimless glasses frame her small wizened face. Despite the July heat, she wears thick stockings and a wool scarf tied around her gray head. We wear our best clothes to the airport. My father cries openly as she touches his face and softly says to herself, “He really is alive.”

The Soviets, their icy grip clutching at even the weakest, visited my small bent grandmother for years, trying to find my escaped father. They always insisted to her that he was dead. She dies the next year.

In 1972, just before I start high school, my parents, unable to resist the yearning for the homeland any longer, slip away to Vienna, Soviets be damned.

My father’s Cold War skills at guiding people through small holes earned him a sentence of death that the Soviets intended to impose immediately upon his return to the CSSR. He carries a false passport provided by his old CIA contacts, just in case. Plans to rent a car fall through and my parents take a train to a small Austrian town on the Czech-Aus-

trian border. Trying to pass as innocent American tourists, they slowly stroll through the main street to a thin forest.

There are tall barbed wire fences marking the Czech border. The border dogs bark incessantly. My father finds a narrow gap between two thick posts just wide enough for one leg. He tells my mother to watch for the dogs, and before she can stop him, slips his leg through the opening and plants his foot firmly on Czech soil for a moment, his head bowed. My mother pulls him back just before the armed Soviet in the cement watch tower turns in their direction.

In 1979, when my brother and I are in college, my father sends us to visit the Czech relatives. All during that hot humid August, people whom we have never met and who speak no English drive us everywhere in little plastic Soviet-made cars painted the color of squashed green insects. Innocents abroad, unfamiliar with the rampant paranoia that is the natural symptom of Soviet-style repression, we are warned to talk only about the weather with certain family members. After a week, the wealthy college town I left behind, with its shiny bicycles strapped to every street light and a different restaurant on every corner, fades away and I begin to dream in Czech. Eventually, the potato-faced men in rumpled gray suits stop following us, but our relatives remain sad, suspicious and fearful. Rich American cousins bearing gifts can do little to lessen the soul-crushing weight of the Iron Curtain.

1n 1989, East Berlin border guards misunderstand orders, lift the gates that have divided the city for decades, and thousands of jubilant East and West Berliners take down the Wall with hammers and chisels. Like a massive frozen river cracking and thawing, the Soviet occupation breaks up all over Eastern Europe.

For weeks, thousands of incredulous people flood the cobbled boulevards and spired squares. Singing and chanting, they pretend to send the Soviets home merely by shaking their keys, the traditional “final bell” for graduating university students. My parents are delirious. People pile into our house at all hours, drinking and laughing, hugging and making plans. I try to tell my father about my failing marriage. Totally

distracted, unspeakably happy, he looks at me blankly, unable to comprehend my minor dramas. He sends me to the tailor to pick up his pants, flies Lufthansa to Prague, and stays for three months.

In 1995, Eastern Europe begins to return Soviet-confiscated property to its former citizens or their heirs. Old and young people all over the world suddenly find themselves the owners of drafty castles complete with dusty collections of vintage wines or isolated old farmhouses with leaky thatched roofs. My father, 60 years old, walks the fields and sits in the large farmhouse he owned when he was 22. Because his fields were close to Germany and freedom, the Soviets took his sprawling farm, planting high barbedwire fences and watchtowers instead of wheat and corn. The crumbling watchtowers remain, but my father’s Indian motorcycle and the four beloved draft horses, along with his dreams, are gone.

In 2006, my brother and I, following my parents’ wishes, mix their ashes together into a single urn. We take the urn through airport security and my brother puts it under his seat in coach on the Chicago to Prague flight. Our cousins drive us for miles through mazes of roads just wide enough for a pony cart that meander through pristine fields and abandoned farming villages in the green hills. The rain holds off but there is some mist. In a strange combination of reunion and funeral, the entire family comes from all over what is now the Czech Republic to the tiny ancestral village. The utterly quiet cemetery, overlooking centuries-old fields and forests, lies next to the village church with a red tile roof my father paid for decades ago with American dollars. We place the urn next to other tarnished vessels holding the ashes of my father’s parents and grandparents. Through streaming tears, reluctant to leave my parents so far away, I shove photos of the grandchildren encased in zippered plastic bags under the heavy granite slab. Holding me close, my 90-year-old uncle whispers in Czech, “They are home.” And I nod, finally understanding their undying love for their country that, despite the icy sheets of history, bloomed again and again, like yellow crocuses in the spring.

September 2014 I The Docket 13

PHOTOGRAPHY & SCULPTURE

BARRY BARTEL:

Photography and Sculpture Winner

Not to be tied down to just one category, Barry Bartel is the first to win two within the Denver Lawyers’ Arts and Literature Contest: photography and sculpture.

“I never really considered myself an artist,” Bartel says. “But I’ve always enjoyed photography and woodworking.”

We beg to differ – he is clearly a multi-talented artist and lawyer!

And, his adventurous life path has led to a wealth of inspiration. Bartel grew up in eastern Colorado and learned woodworking from his father.

Following college in Kansas, he moved to Haiti for three years with his wife before returning to Oregon for law school. After establishing a legal career in Colorado, Bartel and his wife decided they wanted to relocate to Bolivia with their two kids. They lived there for five years, working as directors for development projects through Mennonite Central Committee.

14 The Docket I September 2014

Although they’ve since returned to Denver (where Bartel practices at Holland & Hart, with a focus on natural resources and commercial litigation) he still cites traveling – and specifically, Bolivia – as his artistic inspiration. In fact, his winning photograph ‘Spices in a Bolivian Market’ was taken in a small rural market with a Canon AE-1 print film camera.

A woman had blankets spread on the ground with bags of spices everywhere, and each day she would roll the bags back up and put them in the saddlebags on her donkey to head to the next market.

His winning woodworking sculpture is similarly inspired by the world: the pieces of wood are from each of the five time zones they have lived in, with the clock on each piece showing the time in that time zone.

From left to right, the pieces are: Myrtlewood from Oregon, Pine from Colorado, Black Walnut from Kansas, Mahogany from Haiti, and Tarara from Bolivia.

BRETT GODFREY:

PAINTING

Painting Winner for “Down and Dirty” What do you do when you fall in love with a painting in an art gallery but can’t afford to buy it?

You teach yourself to paint so you can replicate it! Of course, Brett Godfrey didn’t stop there. After creating an impressive copy of the coveted Charles Pabst painting he’d seen in the Huntsman Gallery in Aspen, he continued to refine his skills.

“By copying great works by other artists, you get the mechanics down,” Godfrey says. “Then, you learn to express yourself and find your own style.”

Godfrey has never had an art lesson in his life. But a few years and many paintings after his first attempt, his artwork was hanging in the same gallery in Aspen – in the same spot as Pabst – that spurred his initial creative endeavor. Currently, you can see Godfrey’s paintings in Galleries Extraordinaire in Cherry Creek.

Godfrey’s paintings and photographs decorate nearly every wall in his law firm, Godfrey Johnson PC, with most focused on the Colorado landscape. Surprised to hear that “Down and Dirty” won, he explains that “Usually I plan paintings for months and it takes a long time…. This one was quick to distract from my grief.”

After visiting his mentor, Bill Myrick, when he was sick in hospice, Godfrey was upset, and naturally gravitated toward painting— which he calls his therapy. He saw a tiny picture of a rodeo cowboy in the newspaper, and began painting a larger, textured version with oil paint and a palate knife. The emotion within this painting is evident.

Godfrey did an excellent job of pouring his distress into the work so that the cowboy conveys a sense of frenetic energy.

Along with having an innate talent for painting, Godfrey is a trial lawyer with an extensive medical, scientific and aerospace background, as well as an engineer, sky diver, pilot, writer, and family man.

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www.ColMediators.org September 2014 I The Docket 15

POETRY

ERIN AGEE:

Poetry Winner for “Annul” “One of the things I like about practicing law is that writing and words matter,” Erin Agee says.

“There’s that same attention to detail and specificity in both legal writing and poetry—I see the bridge between the two.”

Some may view the law and the arts as an odd combination, but Agee sees them as intertwined. She believes that being a good legal writer can make you a good creative writer, and vice versa.

An English major in college with an emphasis on poetry, Agee wasn’t always sure she’d become a lawyer. But now, she loves her position as an Assistant Attorney General in the Natural Resources and Environment Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. And she still finds time to write.

When asked about her inspiration for writing, Agee says: “The craft, the act of making something specific and meaningful is satisfying to me.” She appreciates the deliberateness of poetry, and has felt compelled to write since she was young. Simply put, it’s always been a part of her life.

Agee loves poems with an impact – those that make you feel changed, even if for the tiniest moment. Her winning poem, “Annul,” certainly achieves that. The poem is loosely based on a story her father told her about her uncle. He had gotten married at age 17, and his parents annulled it. She really looked up to her uncle, and hearing about this side of him she didn’t know was interesting. She imagined what that experience had been like, and elaborated upon the basis of what she’d heard.

For my Uncle Dean He was 17.

She was about that age, and every time they brought it up it gave them courage, and they looked so good together, side by side in the mirror, him taller, her dark-haired and soft-eyed, him always with thoughtfully manicured hands.

They invited some friends just for fun but no one came, and they liked it better that way,

16 The Docket I September 2014

him standing on the left, her next to him, her hair pulled back the way she did sometimes at the beach, and that look in her eye, the one she thought was pretty.

And just at the right moment, when the signatures were dry, a beam of light, biblical, columnar, dustilluminating, came through the county building window.

His parents annulled it the Thursday after.

But they talked about that light beam until they were 19.

And every time she brought it up, it gave him courage.

Let no union God has made, the law pull asunder.

A Tale of Two Careers: My Journey To and From the Law—Part I

by Beck y B y e

A

kin to many college students, I found myself at a crossroads during my senior year of college. I was barely old enough for adult privileges, but society expected that I would know what profession to pursue for the rest of my life. And if I were conventional and normal, I would devote most of my waking hours to that profession for several decades.

I sincerely and wholeheartedly attempted to comply with these expectations after college and law school. As a lawyer, I wanted to find my lifelong career in my early 20s. Some might say I failed.

Now, in my early 30s, I am unconventionally leaving my legal career to pursue a new one. I know I could be happier living a different life in a different career.

First, I want to stress to you, reader, that I love the law, and I believe that being a lawyer is one of the most honorable and rewarding careers. I hope that sharing my story about my own difficult decision to leave the law may encourage others to seriously consider following their dreams and passions instead of accepting a career that might not suit them perfectly, whether that means pursuing another law job or changing careers completely.

For most of my life, I had my mind set on a health care career.

I found a passion and aptitude for science as a child. I wanted to help people, using science to do so. Particularly, I aspired to be a physician, because my beloved grandparents were successful physicians. Throughout my life, I also had an unusual fascination with teeth and oral health as it relates to one’s overall well-being and self-confidence and secretly desired to be a dentist.

As I grew older, I maintained these interests. I also developed an abiding respect and passion for the American legal system, as my family left their homestead in the former USSR during the 1970s in pursuit of a place where the rule of law allows equal opportunity for all. My family so understood the value of our legal system that they endured a difficult immigration and acclimation process to start from “scratch,” all for the remote opportunity “to be American.” This compelled me to consider studying the law, as it was the source of every opportunity I ever enjoyed. And I wanted to pay it forward by helping others navigate our complex, yet fundamentally remarkable legal system.

During college, I further realized I loved chemistry, so I majored in it. I enjoyed the logic behind chemical mechanisms; the transformation of theory to reality during lab; and using my knowledge of chemistry, coupled with working in a lab with my September 2014 I The Docket 17

hands, to make a tangible product. Later, I also chose to major in religion, because studying religion means studying humanity and the ultimate origins of the legal system.

Although I enjoyed learning about these diverse subjects, I found that I entered a paradox of feeling intellectually fulfilled by my interests, yet frustrated about not pinpointing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life because of these varied interests.

In the beginning of my final year at my upstate New York college, the 9/11 tragedies took place. The aftermath of legal and political dialogue, coupled with my desire to find personal stability in a particularly unpredictable time, ultimately prompted me to make the “final” decision to go into law.

Attending law school confirmed my interest in being a lawyer. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes and appreciated the far-reaching impact of our legal system. When I started practicing, despite my enthusiastic commitment to the profession, a visceral, gut feeling questioning whether I was pursuing the right career always lingered. I also still yearned for “hands on” science, and helping people through that means, and I knew no aspect of law could ever completely replace or substitute for being a scientist.

I tried ignoring these feelings. I made myself believe that being a lawyer brought enough contentment to suppress my continued appetite to live and work in a science-based atmosphere.

I optimistically believed that a few changes in my legal career might alleviate these feelings: I exited my private sector job for the public sector—first as an Assistant Attorney General for Colorado and later as legal counsel at a federal agency,

both in energy practices, which I believed could be a great way to commingle science and law. Unfortunately, I soon found that no legal job, whether it is energy, health, or even patent law, could substitute for directly using science to help people.

After further introspection, I finally confirmed that dentistry was the perfect confluence of my interests—science and using my hands to make a concrete outcome (as in chemistry labs). In addition, just like law, dentistry was a means to help people and make a positive, lasting impact on their lives.

In my heart of hearts, I knew that to be fulfilled and happy, I needed to pursue the career that I felt I was meant to do.

When I experienced this epiphany, I called the Admissions Office for University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine and scheduled an appointment with the Dean of Admissions. I needed an unbiased perspective to see if going to dental school would prove to be a feasible endeavor. The following week, my heart fluttered while I drove to the Anschutz Medical Campus for my meeting. That day would be a pivotal one and would change the entire course of my life. D Becky Bye is currently a first year student at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine and a licensed attorney. She is a member of the William E. Doyle Inn of Court, a regular contributor to The Docket and former Chair of The Docket Committee, as well as former Chair of the Colorado Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division. She received her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and her undergraduate degree at Colgate University (no pun intended). You can reach her at beckybye@gmail.com.

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If you’re in over your head, or simply bogged down on one of these cases, consider calling me at (303) 409-3578 for a complimentary telephone consultation. As a CELA,* with 16 years of experience handling cases like these, I can tell you – in short order – whether or not I can help, and what can be done (together, if you wish) to foster hope and make a real difference for a family in crisis.

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September 2014 I The Docket 19

2013–14 Denver Bar Association

ANNUAL REPORT DBA President’s Message Dear Fellow Bar Members, In this, my final message to you as President, I want to provide you my assessment of the current state of our Bar Association, and the challenges I see on the horizon.

Over the past year, our bar association has had many accomplishments.

Those accomplishments are highlighted on the following pages. Included in those are numerous events and activities that focused on the importance of health and wellness and on helping new members and those members who are underemployed or unemployed.

If you have not visited the bar offices in the last few months, you should take the opportunity to do so and see the results of STRATUM—a community-focused, co-working space for members. The renovations made to the bar office provide working space where members can come, have access to wifi, have a cup of coffee or tea or a soda while reading or reviewing documents online. You also can socialize, network, and even use a meeting room to meet with clients, should the need arise.

Our bar association is currently healthy and vibrant and is recognized as one of the leaders in the industry. The fact that membership and revenues have been steady over the last several years is due in no small part to a very strong executive staff headed by Chuck Turner, Executive Director, and a hardworking and talented group of staff members.

Our bar association, however, is not without challenges. Its health—and very existence—depends on countless members who volunteer their time and energy to advance the interests of the organization. If you are one of those volunteers, thank you so much for all that you have done and all that you will do.

If you have not been active in the bar association, it is never too late. Please also consider the wonderful networking opportunities that volunteering for bar association projects and activities provides to newer members seeking to establish themselves in the legal community.

My prediction is that the bar association will face significant challenges in the immediate and near future. It is well publicized that law school enrollments have dropped significantly and that many law school students are having difficulties finding employment after graduation. So far, the bar association has been successful in maintaining membership. With so many baby boomers reaching retirement age, and with a reduced num-

20 The Docket I September 2014

ber of law graduates coming out of the law schools in Colorado, however, it likely will be increasingly difficult to maintain membership at its current levels. If membership declines, so will a significant source of the bar association’s revenues, which may have an impact on the quality services the association currently provides. Other upcoming challenges facing the bar association will be a decision about whether to renew its lease or to purchase a building; our current lease expires in four years. Another very real challenge that will likely face the bar association will be attacks on the judicial merit selection system and whether the DBA (in conjunction with the CBA) will continue to have the funds and member support to defend against these attacks.

One immediate challenge facing the Bar Association is the impending departure of our long-serving Executive Director Chuck Turner. Chuck has been with the bar association as its Executive Director for the past thirty-four years. He recently announced that he will be resigning from that position on January 1, 2015. I think anyone who has served as President of the Denver or Colorado Bar Associations will agree that Chuck Turner is one of the primary reasons the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations have been so successful. A search committee to find a replacement is already being formed. I am confident that a suitable replacement will be identified.

In closing, I hope that I have created a sense of realism about some of the challenges that your bar association will be facing and why it is so important that the next generation step up now and carry on the traditions of servitude that have made the Denver Bar Association as strong as it is today.

Thank you for letting me serve as your President.

Yours very truly,

Daniel R. McCune

Executive Director’s Message Fit to Practice ... or be Tied?

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”

– Goethe B y C h arle s C . T urne r Many, many years ago, the Denver Bar Association held a planning session to validate what we were doing, to suggest things we should drop and to consider adding new programs and activities. Of course, the usual came up in terms of supporting the justice system, helping lawyers practice successfully and making sure the public understood and appreciated the lawyers’ role in that system. We will always focus on those three legs of our mission. But a new (at the time) concept also caught the attention of the group: “work–life balance.” Sure, it sounded reasonable: a let’s make sure that we encourage our members to stop and smell the roses kind of a thing. Besides, wasn’t the new generation of lawyers primarily interested in having a life (read: family, hobbies, exercise, etc.) alongside a rewarding career?

How’s that working out? Well, years later, we continue to

preach the sermon that lawyers should strive for that mythical work–life balance. We offer opportunities for such diversions, such as fitness activities and happy hours, but there are impediments: an avalanche of emails, unrelenting deadlines, obdurate judicial officers, not to mention those friendly messages from opposing counsel. The DBA won’t give up because it is in our long-term interest that members have a successful and fulfilling career. We want those young lawyers to see it through, and we want those seasoned ones to stick around for a long, long time. However, we won’t hector you—we understand that the practice of law is not necessarily a stress-free vocation and we shouldn’t add to that. Plus, we realize that some of our members are happy and healthy doing exactly what they are doing now.

But forgive us if we remind everyone from time to time that there are roses out there, there are great books to read that don’t involve the tax code, there are walks to take without cell phones, and there are companions who are more interesting than an appellate brief dealing with the UCC. Join us in taking a moment to regain that balance.

2013–14 Denver Bar Association Annual Report Promoting Justice, Its Administration, and Its Availability to All The DBA Access to Justice (ATJ) Committee added new Denver Pro Se Clinics. The “Doing Your Own Divorce Clinic” has changed to the “How to Collect Child Support Clinic” to best support the public need.

The DBA has joined forces with the Colorado Poverty Law Project (CPLP), a nonprofit organization with the mission to assemble and coordinate volunteer attorneys to participate in a monthly pro bono legal clinic at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). CPLP provides resources Volunteer attorneys answer phones during Lawline 9. to enable volunteers, at their discretion, to provide a range of services to attendees, including answering Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition and Denver Bar on-the-spot questions, providing referrals and, if appropriate, Association are collaborating to implement adult selfproviding limited representation. sufficiency service programs for the Denver Public School The Mile High United Way, Denver Public Schools, community. DPS has chosen to implement an Adult Self SufSeptember 2014 I The Docket 21

Left: DPS Adult Self Sufficiency program.

Above: Fourth grade students at DPS College View Elementary debate whether school uniforms should be required.

Right: Mathew Taylor leads the DBA YLD held workshop series, “Persuasion Through Narrative.” ficiency program model to ensure that families receive the services they need to be economically self-sufficient and support their children’s learning. With the help of Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition and Chan Law firm, the DBA will provide quarterly legal clinics on immigration, expunging juvenile adjudications, petitioning for deregistration, and advocating at suspension and expulsion proceedings.

Lawline 9: The DBA advice line providing brief direction on legal problems has changed times and studios. The new time is from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The program remains one of the DBA’s most popular volunteer opportunities. To join the ever growing list of TV stars, email mbush@cobar.org.

The DBA Democracy Education Committee has changed its name to the Denver Lawyers and Schools Committee.

The Committee is teaming up with Reading Partners, a national education nonprofit dedicated to improving students’ reading skills. Reading partners work in Title I elementary schools to support students from low-income communities who are reading 6 months to 2.5 years below grade-level.

Lawyers and Schools Committee volunteers from Bayer & Carey began a 4th grade debate club at DPS College View

Elementary. Volunteers met with students on a weekly basis to discuss debate and debate prep; to teach basic research skills to help support their positions; and to practice public speaking skills. They ended the year with a final debate (the topic was whether school uniforms should be required), and a pot luck.

New volunteers are welcome for the fall session.

Supporting and Assisting the Membership The DBA Young Lawyers Division held a workshop series, titled “Persuasion Through Narrative,” led by local actor Matthew Taylor. The workshop was a two-part series designed to help young attorneys communicate effectively to win clients and engage juries through storytelling.

The DBA Annual Awards Party and Reception was held at the Ralph Carr Judicial Center on Thursday, June 26. The awards ceremony was held in the Supreme Court courtroom. A crowded room watched as Judge Richard Gabriel received the Award of Merit and as Dan McCune passed the DBA’s oversized gavel to incoming president John Vaught. The ceremony was followed by a reception in the first floor atrium, where more than 150 attendees enjoyed appetizers and drinks, including a featured Denver Bar Vodka Lemonade cocktail, and music.

The DBA administers the Waterman Fund, which, under a Trust established in 1954 by Anna Rankin Waterman, provides financial assistance to Colorado lawyers who have practiced at least 10 years and are in good standing, and are “..aged, infirm, or otherwise incapacitated.” The Fund provided $178,110 in grants this past fiscal year.

The Legal Community Credit Union of Colorado held

2013–14 DBA Year in Review Timeline July 1, 2013 Daniel McCune takes helm as DBA president.

Sept. 17, 2013 Constitution Day

Aug. 10, 2013 CAN School Supply Drive handout

Sept. 19, 2013 Docket Arts and Literature Party at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell

Aug. 13, 2013 Seniors Golf Tournament

22 The Docket I September 2014

Oct. 3, 2013 DBA YLD Law Suit Days Oct. 29, 2013 Seniors Roast Robert (Bob) J. Kapelke Nov. 6, 2013 Wheels of Justice Thank You event

process for verifying information to be printed in the directory and reduces the amount of staff time dedicated to data entry. The online registration for the Barristers Benefit Ball was also redeveloped for improved user experience and integration with the new website/database software. The membership management database underwent an important upgrade. The upgrade brings enhancements and program fixes. The Department assisted in a complete upgrade to the Association’s phone system.

With Microsoft’s end-of-life support for its Windows XP operating system, the department finished replacing and/or upgrading all workstations to ensure network stability and to eliminate known vulnerabilities. The department finished the transition of the staff to a more economical VPN solution.

DBA President Dan McCune hands of the gavel to Incoming DBA President John Vaught. its Annual Meeting on May 13, 2014. A thank you was given to outgoing board member Linda Phillips for her service to the LCCU. The 2014–2015 Board of Directors is as follows: Dawn McKnight (Chair), John Coaty (Vice Chair), Glen Armani (Treasurer), Sue Rossberg (Secretary), Jeremy Sitcoff, Victoria Brown, and, Jessica Mueller. Supervisory Committee members are Geoff Schroder (Chair), Elisa Willard, and Andrew Schmidt.

The Internet and Technology Department led a revamping of the online verification/upgrade process for the Legal Directory. The new online system offers a quick and easy

Uphold the Honor and Dignity of the Bar and Foster Respect for the Legal Profession During the Community Action Network (CAN) Committee School Supply Drive, 300 Denver Public Schools (DPS) students experiencing homelessness had the opportunity to enjoy a spectacular back to school carnival at Whittier K-8 with their families on August 10. Each student received a backpack full of school supplies helping them to be prepared for school. Thanks to the generosity of more than 40

Participants of the CAN Committee’s Strikes for Tykes.

Nov. 7–8, 2013 DBA YLD Court Orientation Nov. 16, 2013 CAN Strikes for Tykes Dec. 13, 2013 Seniors Holiday Party Jan. 9, 2014 First DBA Health Fair

Jan. 13, 2014 Shannon Stevenson receives Richard Marden Davis Award Feb. 24–28, 2014 CAN Toothbrush Drive Feb. 27, 2014 DBA Past Presidents Dinner

Feb. 25–28, 2014 Denver Mock Trial Tournament March 10–14, 2014 DBA-YLD Book Drive for the Denver Warm Welcome Court Child Care Center April 8, 2014 STRATUM, the community-focused co-working space for members, unveiled at the DBA offices September 2014 I The Docket 23

Encourage a Thorough and Ongoing Legal Education CBA-CLE is able to produce hundreds of CLE seminars and substantive legal publications each year though the dedication of hard-working and talented lawyers and other professionals. In recognition of their efforts, our annual reception honors everyone who contributed to our success, with special appreciation of two outstanding individuals who have provided exceptional service and guidance to CLE. In 2013, CBA-CLE presented the Richard N. Doyle CLE Award of Excellence to the Honorable Angela R. Arkin and James R. Walker, Esq.

Cultivate Good Relations Among All Lawyers of Denver

Left: DPS students attending the CAN Committee’s School Supply Drive.

CBA/DBA Staff at the Colfax Marathon Relay. local law firms who donated schools supplies, the CAN Committee was able to fill almost 300 backpacks.

In other CAN Committee events, the KIND Toothbrush Drive brought in a total product donation value of $1,603, and $723 in cash. Also, this year’s Strikes for Tykes sold out with close to 100 participants at Elitch Lanes in Denver and included door prizes and a raffle with 15 prizes. The CAN Committee was thrilled to donate $6,643.16 to Children’s Outreach Project.

The legal community donated $52,638.60 in food and cash for the Roll Out the Barrels food drive. Thirty-eight law firms participated in the drive for Metro CareRing, collecting 4,363 pounds of food and $43,040 in cash donations. This year’s top donating firms are Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP, Bryan Cave LLP, Berenbaum Weinshienk PC, Orten Cavanagh & Holmes LLC, Pryor Johnson Carney Karr Nixon, PC, and Bloch & Chapleau LLC. Fifty-seven teams participated in the Colfax Marathon Relay on May 18 to raise more than $2,000 for The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People. The DBA and CBA Young Lawyers Divisions, as well as the CBA/DBA Staff, put together teams for the relay. Event sponsors CenturyLink and Vail Summit Orthopedics provided shirts and capes for the teams, which were a big hit, and the DBA YLD provided refreshments at The Legal Center’s tent on race day. The Legal Center’s booth won an award for one of the best booths in charity village.

April 21–May 2, 2014 CAN Roll Out the Barrels Food Drive May 2014 DBA Law Day Art Contest winners displayed at Denver Art Museum May 3, 2014 Barristers Benefit Ball

24 The Docket I September 2014

In the past year, the Professionalism Coordinating Council has developed new, updated and expanded vignettes —and recently just submitted an application for a grant for funding. Other highlights include: the special Professionalism issue of The Colorado Lawyer (published); integration with the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professional Development (co-chairs are appointees to the Commission); and preparation of and participation in the Assembly of Lawyers at the October/November attorney swearing-in.

Peer Professional Assistance (PPA) has had a busy year providing assistance to attorneys and courts in resolving professionalism issues occurring in the context of specific matters.

In addition, it held its annual CLE program regarding professionalism in October, which was well attended and evoked much interaction between the presenters and the attendees. Presentations were made to various local bar associations and meetings of judges and attorneys regarding the services available to assist attorneys and the courts in resolving professionalism issues. A presentation was also made to the Chief Judges in their meeting in May regarding the availability of the PPA to help resolve professionalism issues that interfere with the judicial process.

PPA also began work to make its webpage more accessible and user friendly and is adding new members to provide needed assistance and to better address professionalism issues arising throughout the state.

The DBA Bench-Bar Committee continued its efforts in developing events that allow judges and lawyers to get together informally to discuss areas of mutual interest. The

May 18, 2014 DBA YLD Teams run in the Colfax Marathon for the Legal Center June 2, 2014 Henry Hall Memorial Golf Tournament June 5, 2014 Wheels of Justice Kickoff event

June 26, 2014 DBA Awards Party; Dan McCune passes the gavel to John Vaught

Committee held a very community and raised successful lunch, titled approximately $65,500 “Bench–Bar Event: for Metro Volunteer Learn the Nuts and Lawyers. In the past B olts of Protective 25 years of the Ball, Orders and Restrainnearly $2.6 million has ing Orders” in the Jury been raised to support Assembly room of the MVL. historic Denver City T he 2014 DB A and County Building in Awards set a new precDecember. The particiedent for future awards. pating panelists were All of the award descripDenver District Court tions were updated and Judge Elizabeth Starrs, expanded, and more County Court Magisspecific eligibility was trate Beth Faragher and established. Additionher clerk, and attorney ally, it was determined Chuck Turner, Bob Kapelke, Brenda Taylor, and Josiah Hatch at the 2013 Seniors Roast.

Karen Steinhauser. The that the Education in the DBA received very posiLegal System Award may tive feedback from this program. be given only to a K-12 teacher.

The 2014 Henry Hall Memorial Golf Tournament was The Docket blog (dbadocket.org) launched in January held at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood on June 2. More than 2014. The blog features digital versions of the articles in the 65 DBA members came out to enjoy the day. print publication. It also includes some exclusive online content, The DBA Seniors Committee hosted four successsuch as additional law student columns. The print version of The f u l a n n u a l e ve n t s Docket underwent several changes this past year. We’ve added throughout the year: a page called “Briefly” toward the front of the magazine that the 2013 Seniors Golf highlights quick facts, news, statistics or quotes related to the Tournament at HomeDenver legal community, as well as social comments and buzz stead Golf Course in from DBA social networks. Words of Wisdom is another new L akewood on Aug. feature, in which members of The Docket Committee answer 13; the 2013 Seniors a different question every month in the hopes of passing on Roast of Bob Kapelke advice, tips and/or laughs. The design and layout of The Docket on Oct. 29; the Holiis constantly evolving.

From left to right, Champions Low Gross winners day Party on Dec. 13; John Lumley, Todd Jansen, Frank Hamilton, and and on May 13, the Marty Martineau.

2014 Seniors Spring Banquet, which honored 32 DBA members who have been licensed for 50 years.

A new event for the committee this year was an insiders’ tour of the new Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center, which included a welcome by Chief Justice Michael L. Bender and Chief Judge Janice B. Davidson.

The tour was held on Sept. 4 and included the Supreme Court courtroom, Court of Appeals courtrooms, the library, and the Learning Center.

Perpetuate the History and Tradition of the Profession The Barristers Benefit Ball celebrated a second year at the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2014. This year, there were even more stunning hats and seersucker suits to gaze upon as guests enjoyed sipping mint juleps, buying mystery prizes and dancing the night away.

The Ball attracted 612 members of the legal

Wadi Muhaisen, Erica Ferg, Linda and Aaron Bradford at the Barristers Benefit Ball, “Talk Derby to Me.” September 2014 I The Docket 25

{Let’s Talk:

Networking On & Off line} NUMBER of DBA MEMBERS

9,222

Blog:

Unveiled in November 2013

DBA SOCIAL NETWORK UPDATE

• FACEBOOK: 605 likes • TWITTER: 1,736 followers & 1,625 tweets • LINKEDIN: 1, 319 members

113 POSTS since its inception Barristers Benefit Ball: 611 attendees Colorado Bar Foundation Fellows Dinner: 330 attendees Denver Bar Association Annual Awards Party: 227 attendees

{Let’s Get to Work: Our Community Impact} PLE CLINICS, including the Bankruptcy, Small Claims, Collection, Divorce, and Family Law Legal Clinics, had 957 Attendees and 87 Volunteers this year.

COLORADO LAWYERS for COLORADO VETERANS

7 established clinics across Colorado Volunteers: 294 Veterans served: More than 500 Pro bono or lost cost cases assigned to attorneys: 191 26 The Docket I September 2014

LAWLINE 9

330 volunteers make roughly100 calls every Wednesday (1,200/ year) 11 topics covered

throughout the year: Accidents/Injuries Probate, Bankruptcy, Consumer/Contract, Criminal, Employment, Family, General, Immigration, Litigation, Social Security/ Disability,

Financials

Expenses

Assets

2014*

2013

Cash and Cash Equivalents

1,750,491

1,766,088

Certificates of Deposit

53,000

53,000

Due from Colorado Bar Association

119,308

120,919

0

0

Accounts Receivable (Other)

10,245

12,128

Prepaid Expenses

30,449

22,273

Property Net of Depreciation

33,759

13,990

0

0

4,544

4,544

2,001,796

1,992,942

Accounts Receivable Denver Bar Found.

Funds Held for Retirement Benefits Deposits Total Assets

Metro Volunteer Lawyers Programs, Committees, and Departments

Liabilities and Membership Equity

2014*

2013

Accounts Payable Other

0

0

Due to Colorado Bar Association

0

0

G&A Human Resources Building, Equiptment, and Operations

Governance and Meetings

0

0

28,650

31,788

0

0

399,727

397,476

24

0

Accrued Income Taxes

-1,175

-1,175

Total Liabilities

367,226

428,088

Membership Equity

2014*

2013

Unrestricted

1,609,884

1,541,528

Restricted for Special Projects

24,686

23,326

Total Equity

1,634,570

1,564,853

Total Liabilities and Membership Equity

2,001,796

1,992,942

Revenues

2014*

2013

Dues

927,850

928,866

Member Programs

336,018

398,390

Metro Volunteer Lawyers

132,784

151,455

Dues

Misc. Income

67,684

76,987

Member Programs

Total Revenues

1,464,335.94

1,555,698.44

Expenses

2014*

2013

Programs, Committees & Departments

597,003

576,078

Metro Volunteer Lawyers

251,358

275,476

G&A Human Resources

282,519

269,362

Building, Equipment & Operations

243,422

261,912

Governance and Meetings

21,678

23,661

Total

1,395,980

1,406,88

Surplus/Deficit

68,356

149,210

Due to Denver Bar Foundation Accrued Compensation Accrued Retirement Benefits Deferred Revenue (Dues and Other) Accrued Sales Taxes and Property Taxes

Revenues

Misc. Income

Metro Volunteer Lawyers

*2014 figures are unaudited September 2014 I The Docket 27

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR LAWYERS

Three Primary Focus Areas for Volunteers in Denver’s Schools B y E rich Be t hke Sharpen your pencils and get ready for fun and meaningful volunteer opportunities in our Denver schools! The DBA’s Lawyers and Schools Committee (LSC) is kicking off the 2014–15 school year by announcing three focus areas to get lawyers and legal staff into Denver classrooms.

Last school year, the LSC worked with Denver’s teachers, principals, students and staff to identify the volunteer activities that will be most useful to Denver students. The LSC invites lawyers and legal staff to participate in the following three volunteer/partnerships:

1. Conduct Law and Civic Events in Classrooms—Coordinate with a Denver teacher and help students with any or all of the following school events • Constitution Day: Attorneys and/or legal staff volunteer to help teach a provided lesson plan on the Constitution to third-grade and eighth-grade classes during the week of September 15.

• Court Tours: Attorney volunteers work with a teacher to take students to a courthouse to watch our courts in action. Most tours include an opportunity to watch court proceedings and meet with a judge.

• Career Day: Attorneys and/or legal staff work with schools to make brief presentations to students in classrooms or at career fairs to help them learn about how to become a lawyer and what lawyers do and/or discuss job fields related to their profession.

• Law Day Art Contest: Each year, a theme is released by the American Bar Association. An attorney and/or legal staff works with a teacher to speak to the students about the importance of the theme, and leads the class to participate in drawing a picture with captions about the theme.

2. Become a Reading Tutor and Work with the Reading Partners Organization LSC has teamed up with Reading Partners, a national education nonprofit organization, to train attorney and/or legal staff volunteers to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring to students who are struggling with reading. Reading Partners staff will be present in the classroom to work with volunteers in specific Denver elementary schools as volunteers tutor students from low-income communities who are reading 6 months to 2.5 years below grade-level. A reading tutor’s commitment level can be coordinated with Reading Partners to meet the volunteer’s calendar. Reading Partners is conducting an initial training program on August 20 at the DBA offices, with additional training sessions during the school year (please contact Jessica Harper at jessica.harper@ readingpartners.org for details on these).

28 The Docket I September 2014

3. Participate in Denver’s Regional Mock Trial or Pre-Mock Trial Programs For many years, Denvers attorneys have worked with high school teachers and students to help coach High School Mock Trial Teams as they compete in the Denver Regional Mock Trial Tournament in our Denver courtrooms with Denver judges presiding. The LSC has two mock trial goals: first, to expand the number of attorney–coaches and high school teams; and second, to provide younger Denver students with pre-mock trial advocacy skills so that they can better participate when they reach the High School Mock Trial level.

• High School Mock Trial: The High School Mock Trial Program is an extracurricular program. The year begins with an attorney volunteer partnering with a high school teacher–coach and identifying student participants in September and October. The case problem is released November 1. Practices, using a case-based curriculum, are conducted by the attorney and teacher–coaches normally once a week after school.

• In-Class, Pre-Mock Trial Events: Attorney and/or legal staff volunteers will visit K–12 classrooms and partner with teachers to explain to students how a mock trial works.

Volunteers will also work with teachers to conduct foundational activities to provide students mock trial skills.

The Lawyers and Schools Committee is confident that “going back to school” will be rewarding for you and for the students and teacher with whom you will interact. While the LSC has additional opportunities for volunteers, by volunteering in one of the above primary areas, you will be providing our schools with the help from our legal community that is needed most. Contact Meghan Bush at mbush@cobar.org to get involved in the committee and/or volunteer opportunities. D Erich Bethke is a Director at Senn Visciano Canges P.C., where his practice emphasizes family law and commercial/business matters.

He has been the committee chair of the Lawyers and Schools Committee for the past five years and has been involved in school-related volunteer projects for over 20 years. He will always be passionate about the volunteer involvement of DBA members in Denver’s schools.

TEN QUESTIONS 4. Where’s your favorite place to go in Denver?

Uptown—17th Avenue. Great shops, awesome restaurants and always good people-watching.

5. If you could bring only three things on an island with you, what would you bring?

Hammock, fishing rod, a copy of Pride and Prejudice.

6. What food do you dislike the most?

Durian. It is a kind of fruit that is really popular in Southeast Asia. It smells sickeningly sweet, like five-day-old garbage. It has the texture of an avocado but tastes almost garlicky. Some people can't get enough of it. One bite was enough for me.

7. Who’s your role model and why?

Ten Questions with Member Sarah Domke “Ten Questions” is a new Docket feature focused on getting to know DBA members. If you’re interested in being in the spotlight—or know someone else who should be—let us know!

Email cgibb@cobar.org.

1. Where did you go to law school and where are you currently working?

University of Denver Sturm College of Law. I was a summer associate at Plotkin and Plotkin, P.C., a debt collection firm, and now I am doing contract work while looking for a permanent position

2. Why did you become a lawyer?

Flexibility. I thought it was great that a lawyer does not have to choose a practice area right out of law school and stay in that area forever. I can change where and how I practice as my life and interests change.

My dad. He works hard and is respected in his profession, but he has always made time for family. Even after working insane hours, he made time to coach our teams, help with homework, and take us fishing. He is a great example of the elusive “work–life” balance.

8. If you could watch only one TV show for a year, what would it be?

The West Wing.

9. What’s on your desk right now?

Trial file for this week with my evidence book and trial outline; suits to review for filing; cases for a motion I am working on; different colored Post-its and pens for color-coding my life; moleskin planner; empty coffee mug; Diet Coke (first of many).

10. If you weren’t a lawyer, you’d be: A travel writer.

You can contact Sarah Domke at sarah.a.domke@gmail.com.

3. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from a mentor?

Don’t be someone who is remembered for being a jerk. Bad behavior is much more memorable than good, and no matter how high the stakes may seem at the time, it is not worth risking your reputation.

September 2014 I The Docket 29

CBA-CLE Calendar

Sept. 2014

REGISTER ONLINE OR CALL TODAY!

September 2, 2014 Gun Trusts Submitted for 1 General CLE credit

LIVE EVENTS AND LIVE WEBCASTS

September 4, 2014 – Full Day Program Build Your Practice AND Retain Your Clients Submitted for 6 General CLE credits, including 6 Ethics September 4, 2014 – Half Day Program Build Your Practice: A Roadmap to Effective, Ethical Business Development Submitted for 3 General CLE credits, including 3 Ethics September 4, 2014 – Half Day Program Retain Your Clients: How to Provide Effective, Ethical Client Service Submitted for 3 General CLE credits, including 3 Ethics September 5, 2014 Advanced Estate Planning Symposium 2014 Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including .5 Ethics

September 10, 2014 Immigration Law 2014 Submitted for 7 General CLE credits September 12, 2014 HOA Basics: Common Interest Communities Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics September 17, 2014 Commercial Loan Documentation: Tools for Seamless Transactions Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics September 18, 2014 Colorado Legal Legends: A Fireside Chat with Cathy Stricklin Krendl in 2014 Submitted for 1 General CLE credit, including .5 Ethics

September 9, 2014 – November 18, 2014 Colorado Real Estate Practice with Willis Carpenter Submitted for 18 General CLE credits, including 4 Ethics

September 18, 2014 Non-Compete Agreements, Confidentiality Agreements and Other Restrictions on Employee Competition Submitted for 4 General CLE credits

September 9, 2014 Outbound Transactions: U.S. Taxation Submitted for 1 General CLE credit

September 19, 2014 DUI Basics: A Nuts-and-Bolts Approach Submitted for 6 General CLE credits, including 1 Ethics

September 9, 2014 Representations and Warranties Insurance: A Concept Whose Time Has Come?

Submitted for 1 General CLE credit

September 3, 2014 Hanging Your Shingle: Your Future Begins Now Submitted for 18 General CLE credits, including 6 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) September 24, 2014 Advanced Estate Planning Symposium 2014 Submitted for 7 General CLE credits, including .5 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) September 25, 2014 Build Your Practice AND Retain Your Clients Submitted for 6 General CLE credits, including 6 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

VIDEO REPLAYS

September 25, 2014 Build Your Practice: A Roadmap to Effective, Ethical Business Development Submitted for 3 General CLE credits, including 3 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver) September 25, 2014 Retain Your Clients: How to Provide Effective, Ethical Client Service Submitted for 3 General CLE credits, including 3 Ethics (video replay in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Denver)

All classes are held at the CBA-CLE Classroom at 1900 Grant St, Ste 300, Denver, CO, unless otherwise noted.

CBA CLE

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

www.cobarcle.org 30 The Docket I September 2014

Phone: 303-860-0608

Toll-Free: 888-860-2531

Fax: 303-860-0624

ELDER LAW IN COLORADO ELDER LAW

Includes the 2014 Supplement, with a New Chapter!

JOHN J. CAMPBELL and D. WAYNE STEWART, Managing Editors The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive desk reference for attorneys who may be either new or experienced in the field of elder law. It is intended to carry on the tradition of being an important resource for elder law practitioners throughout Colorado. The book is the culmination of an incredible amount of time and effort by our authors, who represent some of the finest elder law attorneys, both in Colorado and the nation.

This Fourth Edition covers a wide variety of topics, from how to start an elder law practice, to estate planning, probate, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, elder abuse, and much more.

This is by far the most comprehensive edition of the Elder Law in Colorado ever published.

The 2014 Supplement to Elder Law in Colorado is the third supplement to the Fourth Edition.

This 2014 supplement to the book includes updates to a majority of the chapters. Some of the changes throughout are minor, but with important clarifications necessitated by legislation and regulations on issues including: n Social Media n Civil Unions n The Affordable Care Act n The Legalization of Marijuana Other updates and additions are more substantial, encompassing important appellate cases and statutory and regulatory developments (both state and federal) affecting the practice of elder law. This year's new chapter on marketing to Baby Boomers (Chapter 15) is a fascinating look at why and how to market elder law services to the “Forever Young” generation.

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

CBA-CLE Books — Elder Law in Colorado, Fourth Edition Two-volume, loose-leaf, 8.5 x 11-inch, 1,248 pages with CD-ROM CLE Item Number: ZELICO11B

CBA Member Price: $189

Non-Member Price: $225 September 2014 I The Docket 31

N

PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT:

MVL Lawyer Helps Client Fight for Independence B y Court ne y G ib b

“

There needs to be a better system in place for cases of emotional abuse”

32 The Docket I September 2014

atalie Patron is not a lawyer. But, she certainly has an opinion when it comes to the current legal system. After all, she recently went through a drawn-out court battle consisting of one initial hearing followed by four trials—just for a divorce.

A hardworking mother of three, Patron was in an emotionally abusive marriage for years, unhappy and yearning for independence for her and her children. When she finally found the courage to file for divorce, however, Patron realized that the struggle wasn’t over. Her (then) husband tried to fight her decision every step of the way, and eventually she filed for a restraining order—which was denied.

“After the order was denied, I really needed more help,” Patron says. “I didn’t know how much protection I had under the separation.”

So, Patron got online and began researching pro bono organizations, hoping, at the very least, for advice on paperwork and fees. She ended up finding Metro Volunteer Lawyers, never expecting the scope of help they would give her.

While her soon-to-be ex-husband’s parents paid for his lawyer, Patron was left without any resources once their battle escalated. She was above the minimum assistance level, but still unable to afford a lawyer on her own.

The lack of help for this financial demographic has turned into an all-too-common issue within the legal world. The ABA Journal describes this in the article, “Middle-Class Dilemma: Can’t Afford Lawyers, Can’t Qualify for Legal Aid.” A law professor states that “Lawyers are just too expensive for many people needing legal help.” Those who fall within this category make too much money to qualify for assistance and legal aid, yet cannot afford the per-hour fee most lawyers today charge.

Luckily, Patron found assistance through Metro Volunteer Lawyers, and specifically, its Family Law Court Program Coordinator, Kevin Murphy. Throughout the beginning of her divorce,

she spoke with him frequently for advice. As the divorce proceedings were drawn out, it became clear that Patron needed more than that. So, MVL assigned her a pro bono lawyer: Maureen Weiland, an associate at Fennemore Craig in Denver.

“She treated me as if I was her number one client,” Patron raved of Weiland. “She explained all aspects of everything to me, and was very diligent. I still can’t believe how wonderful she was.”

Weiland had her work cut out for her. Patron’s husband wasn’t fighting for assets, but for unfettered access to their three kids and to try and prevent her from ever leaving the state. While Patron was worried about the welfare of her girls, it seemed that he wanted to make the process as difficult as possible.

As a young lawyer looking to further her knowledge of the law, Weiland rose to the challenge: “Taking on cases like this has been the most valuable work that I’ve done. Working with MVL is a great opportunity for new lawyers to hone their skills. I’ve gained experiences that this early on in my career I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.”

Another big roadblock faced by Weiland and Patron was the lack of definition in cases dealing with emotional abuse.

“There’s a system in place for physical scars but not so much for emotional,” Patron explains. Without broken arms or bruises, she struggled to demonstrate the damage her hus-

band left on her and her children’s egos and sense of self-worth.

Weiland was pivotal in showing why it wasn’t a good idea for Patron’s husband to be in their children’s lives. Patron knew what needed to happen, but she didn’t feel she could defend them on her own. She credits Weiland with fighting hard and playing by the rules to find protection for her family.

“It’s great to see the impact of the work I’m doing, and how it helped make her life better,” Weiland says.

Today, Patron and her children are healing and discovering their independence. She is incredibly grateful for MVL and Weiland, who made Patron believe that law can be used for the greater good.

“I felt so blessed to have her on my team,” Patron says. D Metro Volunteer Lawyers (MVL) is the pro bono program of the Denver Bar Association, providing civil legal services to those in need. Contact MVL today to learn how you can take on a pro bono case or become a mentor at metrovolunteerlawyers.org.

Courtney Gibb is the communications and marketing specialist for the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations and editor of The Docket. She can be reached at cgibb@cobar.org.

Clarence

Darrow

by David Rintels

Based on Clarence Darrow for the Defense by Irving Stone

www.minersalley.com

For Tickets & Information

1224 Washington Ave. Golden, CO 80401

Call or Visit

Box Office:

303.935.3044

“Clarence Darrow” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

September 2014 I The Docket 33

Legal

AFFAIRS GOOD THINGS

Paul

Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC is pleased to announce that attorney Jacob W. Paul has been elected to the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra Board of Direc-

tors.

Paul’s practice focuses on real estate, business, trademark, and copyright litigation Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell has won the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2014 George B. Vashon Innovator Award for the category of Women’s Initiatives. The firm has been honored specifically for its Women in Leadership Lecture Series (WILLS).

The Colorado Women’s Bar Association 2014–15 president is Alison E. Zinn.

Zinn is a senior assoZinn ciate attorney at Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, P.C., where she focuses on litigation involving wills, trusts, and probate fiduciaries.

Diana L. Powell, a shareholder in Gutterman Griffiths, PC, has been elected to the Colorado Judicial Institute 2014– 17 board of directors.

CHANGES Dayna L. Dowdy has joined the team at Martinez Law Group, PC. Dowdy has experience in employment law, representing both employees and employers before federal and state agencies and in federal and state courts.

Pendleton, Wilson, Hennessey & Crow, P.C. is pleased to announce that Anne-Marie S. Vos has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Vos’ practice focuses on employment law and general litigation.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton announced the addition of Adam

Gianola. Gianola joins the firm as an associate in the intellectual property department.

John R. Rodman & Associates is pleased to announce that Katherine W. Petrides has joined the firm as an associate attorney.

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP has added two new associates. Chelsea Huffman and Jake Whitted joined the firm’s natural resources and finance & acquisitions departments.

Travis B. Keenan, PC is pleased to announce that John A. Hedges is now an associate attorney at the firm. Hedges joined the firm as a law clerk in 2011. As an attorney, he will focus on community association law, creditor rights, and real estate litigation.

Laura J. Kurzyna was recently promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Army Judge A dvocate General’s Corp for the Army Kurzyna Reserves. She currently is commanding The 87th Legal Operations Detachment with locations in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho.

Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC is pleased to announce that Faith Betz has joined the firm. Betz represents clients in the areas of elder, Betz probate and immigration law.

Spencer Fane is proud to welcome David S. O’Leary as of counsel to the firm. O’Leary brings experience in real estate development and local government law.

Tara L. Dunn has joined Perkins Coie as a senior counsel working with the firm’s business group. She re p re s e n t s p u b -

lic and private enterprises in corporate financial transactions. She also represents U.S. and foreign public companies in corporate governance matters and all aspects of registration and reporting.

G re g L . G a m b i l l has joined the health care group of Davis Graham & Berryhill Stubbs LLP as an associate. Gambill’s practice is focused on regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters affecting clients in the health care industry.

Burghardt Moye W hite LLP announced the formation of an ADR Practice Group.

Concurrently, the firm announced that Jack W. Berryhill will join Moye White White as a partner and a member of the ADR Group.

Berryhill’s practice will focus on litigation, negotiation and settlement of family law issues. His pracRodgers tice also covers commercial and business litigation.

Berryhill is joined in the ADR Group by Jim Burghardt (group chair and former managing partConover ner of the firm), partners

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.

34 The Docket I September 2014

Ted White and Carrie Rodgers, and of counsel Jerry Conover.

Fortis Law Partners LLC is pleased to announce the addition of Annita Menogan to our firm as of counsel. Menogan has practiced for more than 30 years, both in-house and in private practice, with a focus on general corporate law, securities, corporate governance, executive compensation and M&A practice. Menogan most recently served as Senior Vice President, Secretary and Chief Legal Officer at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. BRICK & MORTAR Stinson Leonard Street LLP’s has moved. The law firm’s 13 attorneys and 8 staff members are now located in Plaza Tower One at 6400 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Ste. 1900, Greenwood Village. Email addresses, the office’s main telephone and fax numbers remain unchanged.

Butler Snow LLP has moved to 1801 California St., Ste. 5100, Denver.

Butler Snow is a full service law firm with 17 offices in the US and UK. Cordell & Cordell announced the opening of its first office in Castle Rock.

Cordell & Cordell has more than 90

offices across the United States.

Mallon & Lonnquist, LLC is pleased to announce that Craig T. Watrous & Reed F. Morris became members and managers Watrous of the firm and the firm’s name has been changed to Mallon Lonnquist M o r r i s & Wa t r o u s , PLLC. Watrous and Morris complement the firm’s Morris business, real estate, litigation and finance practice.

IN MEMORIAM Janis Ann Millspaugh-Oglesby died suddenly June 25. Jan was born to Richard and Andrea Millspaugh December 14, 1967 in Colorado Springs. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and in 2001, she earned a law degree from the University of Denver.

Jan had been employed in the past by the law firms of Bloch and Chapleau, and Thomas Plog and Associates.

Jan is survived by her husband John Oglesby of Aurora; her step-children

Chelsea and Alex and Alex’s fiancé Kaitlin Rains, all of Denver. She is survived by her parents Richard and Andrea Millspaugh of Overland Park, KS; her sister Julie House and husband Jeff House and nephews Isaac and Joshua House of Clayton, NC; and her sister Jenae Brown and fiancé Nelson Rodriquez of Walnut Creek, CA, and many aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, and many friends.

A life celebration was held at the Harvest Church on August 9th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital or to the charity of your choice in Jan’s name.

NEW FACES Charles L. Mastin II and Christine C. Mastin, both partners at Mastin Bergstrom LLC, are thrilled to announce the arrival of a Fikki new daughter, Fikre “Fikki” Wudassie Mastin, born March 11, 2013 in Awassa, Ethiopia. She arrived home to Colorado with her family on July 17.

DBA YLD Law Suit Days Sept. 25–26

On Thursday and Friday Sept. 25 and 26, the Denver Bar Association Young Lawyers Division will accept donations on the steps of the Denver City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St., from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Donate gently used professional clothing, shoes, and accessories. Clothing should be clean and on hangers. Donations will be accepted only at the Denver City and County Building on the dates listed above. The DBA YLD will not be able to pick up donations and cannot accept donations on alternative dates.

Donations will be given to Bayaud Enterprises. Bayaud Enterprises, Inc. is a local nonprofit that provides vocational training, job coaching, résumé building, and job placement services for individuals with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities, as well as to homeless or low-income individuals and families.

Please note: If the weather is bad, the donation site will be moved to the second floor of the rotunda just inside the entrance to the Denver City & County building. Thank you in advance for your participation!

Questions? Contact Patrick Thiessen at prthiessen@yahoo.com.

September 2014 I The Docket 35

Bar Resources The DBA Waterman Fund 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 minimum of ten years.” Please visit cobar.org/watermanfund.htm for more information. The Fund’s address is 1900 Grant St., Ste. 900, Denver, CO. Phone number is 303-8245319 and fax is 303-861-5274.

Troubled by Rude and Unprofessional Attorneys?

The DBA Peer Professionalism Assistance Committee The following lawyers are willing to take calls on a confidential basis, offering guidance, tips, and strategies for dealing with opposing counsel.

BRIEFS CWBA Raises the Bar With Dinner The CWBA Foundation’s Annual “Raising the Bar” Dinner will be held at the Brown Palace Hotel on Thursday, Sept.

4, at 5:30 p.m. This year, The CWBA celebrates “Lawyers Who Have Raised the Bar in Protecting and Advocating for Children.” Six amazing women will be honored: The Honorable Kathy Delgado, District Court Judge, 17th Judicial District, State of Colorado; Kathy Gebhardt, CEO, Children’s Voices, Inc.; Wadine Gehrke, Retired Professor, DU Sturm College of Law; Diana Goldberg, Executive Director, Sungate Kids; Theresa Spahn, Partner, Wedgle & Spahn, and founding Executive Director of the Office of the Child’s Representative; and Stephanie Villafuerte, Director, Children’s Law Center. Proceeds from the Dinner help the CWBA Foundation fund scholarships at both Colorado law schools, provide funding for CWBA educational and mentoring programs and more. For more information, visit cwba. org/cwba-calendar.

36 The Docket I September 2014

Roger Castle: 303-839-8251 T.J. Carney : 303-526-9666 Karen Pearson: 720-874-8615 Fran Fontana: 303-468-2668 Sponsored by the DBA Peer Professionalism Assistance Committee.

COLAP The Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP) is a confidential, independent program established by the Colorado Supreme Court pursuant to Rule 254. COLAP’s mission is to assist judges, lawyers, and law students suffering from physical or mental disabilities or other impairments. COLAP provides educational programs (including ethics CLEs); assessment and referrals; information about obtaining mentors and sponsors; assistance with interventions; formal and informal monitoring programs; and aftercare assistance and referrals.

For more information or for confidential assistance, please contact Barbara

September Barrister After Hours and the CBA Solo Small Firm Section —Thursday, Sept. 18 Join the DBA and CBA Solo Small Firm Section for Barristers After Hours on Thursday, Sept. 18, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Corner Office, 1401 Curtis St. Free drinks and appetizers will be provided.

Questions? Contact Heather Clark at hclark@cobar.org or visit dbayounglawyers.org.

Represent The First District Of Cba The Denver Bar Association seeks nominees to serve as Colorado Bar Association Vice President representing the First District (Denver). This is a one-year term beginning July 1, 2015, serving on the CBA Executive Council and Board of Governors. Nominations are due by Friday, September 19. For more information or to send nominations, contact Dana Collier Smith at dcolliersmith@cobar.org.

September Coffee Talk: Career Advancement— Wednesday, Sept. 24 Judge Rich Gabriel will share his

Ezyk, Executive Director, at 303-9863345 (land line); 303-906-2940 (cell); 855-986-2126 (toll free). Visit our website at coloradolap.org.

DBA Placement Services As a membership service of the Denver Bar Association, the Placement Service provides law firms and legal departments of corporations with qualified applicants in positions that match their skills, abilities and expectations. Their quality approach to cost-effective staffing has made the DBA Placement Service a favorite of the legal community since 1986.

It provides temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time employment opportunities for attorneys, secretaries, paralegals, receptionists, accounting, administrators, and office assistants. Contact Mev Parsons or Amy Sreenen at 303-894-0014 or email dbaps@earthlink.net.

thoughts, based on more than two decades in private practice and six years on the Court of Appeals, regarding what it takes to succeed in the practice of law.

Topics will include how to navigate life in a law firm, tips for developing business, how to keep clients and supervising attorneys happy, how to deal with difficult clients and attorneys, and what judges expect from the attorneys who appear before them. One general CLE credit applied for.

The coffee talk will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the DBA offices. RSVP by emailing lunches@cobar.org or calling 303-8601115, ext. 727.

DBA YLD Hosts Law Suit Days From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 25 and 26, the DBA Young Lawyers Division will accept donations of gently used professional clothing, shoes, and accessories on the steps of the Denver City and County Building. Clothing should be clean and on hangers. The DBA YLD will not be able to pick up donations and cannot accept donations on other dates. If the weather is bad, the donation site will be moved inside the city and county building. For more information please contact Heather Clark at hclark@cobar.org.

DU Law Stars Shine Denver Law alumni and faculty will be honored at the DU Law Stars Dinner at the Hyatt Convention Center Denver on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Honorees include Theodore Z. Gelt, JD’75, Thompson G. Marsh Award; Gale A. Norton, JD’78, Outstanding Alumni Award; Jack Finlaw, JD’81, Robert H. McWilliams, Jr., Alumni Professionalism Award; and Professor Stephen Pepper, Robert B. Yegge Excellence in Teaching Award. Proceeds from the event are directed to the Clinical Programs and the Judicial Fellows Program. For more infor-

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.

Sept 2

Denver Access to Justice Committee

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

Sept. 3

Lawline 9 500 East Speer Blvd 4–5:30 p.m.

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

Call 303-573-1302

Sept. 9

Veterans Clinic Auraria Campus

mation or to RSVP, please visit alumni. du.edu/2014lawstars or contact Laura Dean at ldean@law.du.edu.

Get Up to Speed on the Latest Technology and Services for Law Firms Large and Small

of law firms have legal blogs. At the Legal Technology Expo, there will be legal technology companies exhibiting and also presenting short educational seminars on the latest in technology for the legal community. Find out more at cobarcle.org.

Attend this year’s first Legal Technology Expo, Oct. 27–28, at the CBA-CLE offices. The Legal Technology Expo is the place for the technology and legal communities to interact and to mutually benefit. Use of technology is fast increasing. It’s estimated that for lawyers: 89% use mobile phones to check email; 34% use tablets in the courtroom; and 26.9%

Noon–1:30 p.m.

Call Carolyn Gravit, 303-824-5323

Sept 3

Docket Committee Bar Review Comida Cantina 5:30–7 p.m.

Call Courtney Gibb, 303-824-5336

Sept. 10

Professionalism Coordinating Councils Noon–1 p.m.

Call Chuck Turner, 303-824-5314

Metro Volunteer Lawyers Board Meeting Noon–1 p.m.

Call Dianne Van VoorHees, 303-866-9378

Sept. 16

Dba Young Lawyers Division Council 6–7:30 p.m.

Call Heather Clark 303-824-5350

Community Action Network Noon.–1 p.m.

Call Kate Schuster, 303-824-5312

Lawyers and Schools Committee Noon–1 p.m.

Call Carolyn Gravit, 303-824-5323

Sept. 11

Sept. 25

DBA Board of Trustees 7:30–9 a.m.

Call Leah Achen, 303-824-5327

Interprofessional Committee 7:30–8:30 a.m.

Call Heather Clark, 303-824-5350

Tivoli Student Union “Senate Chambers” 900 Auraria Parkway Noon–2 p.m.

Family Law Clinic Office of Economic Development 1200 Federal Blvd Room 1018 5:30–7 p.m.

Call 720-944-2594

Sept. 18

Sept. 17

Lawline 9 500 East Speer Blvd 4–5:30 p.m.

Sept. 4

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

Sept. 16

Small Claims Clinic Denver City and County Building 1437 Bannock St, Room 117 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

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

Call 303-573-1302

Child Support Clinic 1437 Bannock St, Room 368 10–11:30 a.m.

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

July 23

Lawline 9 500 East Speer Blvd 4–5:30 p.m.

Poverty Law Clinic Colorado Coalition for the Homeless 2100 Broadway 4–6 p.m.

September 2014 I The Docket 37

Picture This 2014 Sean May Memorial Run The 6th Annual Sean May Memorial Run brought in a record number of registrants and profits this year! Held on May 17, the event consisted of a 9-mile run, a 5k run, family walk and kid’s fun run at Barr Lake State Park.

The event was created to honor Sean May, a former Adams County prosecutor, who was shot and killed in his backyard when he was returning home from work in 2008. The case remains unsolved.

Proceeds from the race benefit Access to Justice programs and Sean May’s family. Access to Justice is an integral part of Metro Volunteer Lawyers, a DBA pro bono program providing civil legal services to those in need. The profit raised from the race this year was $3,561.84.

Attorneys Volunteer in our Community at Mount Saint Vincent The Catholic Lawyers Guild of Colorado and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teamed up to provide grounds maintenance services for Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday, July 19. Mount Saint Vincent is a treatment center for children with severe behavioral and emotional challenges due to mental illness, trauma, abuse or neglect. They rely totally on volunteer maintenance of their grounds, which saves $150,000 annually. It is a great thing for legal groups or law firms to do together. Angela Frederick of Mount Saint Vincent says that they “couldn’t keep the lights on without this help.” You can visit the center’s website at www.msvhome.org for volunteer opportunities or call Angela at 303-964-1122.

From left: Aaron Conrardy, Dave Warner Emily York, Katie York, Brian Swan, Kate Swan, Leslie Boyle, Patty Pogge,and Steve York.

Suanne Dell, Bonnie Shriner, Eileen Kottenstette, Judge Kandace Gerdes

38 The Docket I September 2014

DBA Happenings DBA YLD Planning Session Under the leadership of DBA President John Vaught, a new lawyer strategy session was held on July 10 at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell. Vaught’s goal for his year-long term as President is focused on the “15 by 15” concept: Increasing DBA YLD membership by 15% in 2015. The strategy session worked to address how we can make this happen – and what’s held us back from reaching this milestone and impacting young lawyers in the past. Insight came from a diverse group of participants, including leaders in the bar, active members, non-active members, non-members and law students.

DBA President John Vaught.

Ellen Brilliant leading the discussion.

The Colorado Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

Brownstein Team with Award.

The Colorado Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) honored three exceptional community leaders and one outstanding law firm at the 9th Annual Immigrant Liberty Awards held on May 30. More than 300 lawyers, community members, and supporters attended the event at Denver’s Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral.The event is a fundraiser for the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN).

The honorees included: Gerardo Noriega, a young man born in Mexico who serves as a community organizer with Rights for All People in Aurora, Colorado.

Alejandra Cardona Lamas, a 20-year-old born in Mexico who survived the Aurora theater shooting and persevered to become a stand-out student at Colorado State University.

Jorge Loweree, Senior Counsel with the Office of Congressman Jared Polis, who has been instrumental in advancing immigrant rights on a local and state level and a fierce advocate for

national immigration reform.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, recipient of the 6th Annual Pro Bono Service Award for its work in providing more than twenty attorneys, paralegals, and staff members to help undocumented children and young adults achieve deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

September 2014 I The Docket 39

Collie E. Norman Esq. Samuel Gordon, Esq.

Hon. William F. Downes

John E. Hayes, Esq.

Randall C. Mustain-Wood, Esq.

Richard P. Myers Esq.

Hon. James S. Miller

Hon Harlan R. Bockman

Elaine A. Wohlner, Esq.

Sheldon E. Friedman Esq.

Hon. John P. Leopold

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