his best interest? Once we have a thorough understanding of the client’s current situation, needs, and the details applicable to resolution of the issues, we meet and strategize with the client to discuss potential arguments and strategies and to decide, with the client, on next steps throughout the pendency of the representation. Q: What are best practices you have employed to build a successful career? MF: There are too many necessary best practices to detail them all for you in this article. That would take a book. However, there are a few that we should talk about.
Meet Denver Attorney Mechelle Y. Faulk
egize with them, advise them about the benefits and risks of taking certain positions, and keep them informed. We work hard, as a team, to efficiently meet goals and priorities. We are available and responsive. We get back to our clients quickly and, if an urgent issue arises, clients can reach us late at night and on weekends. We are truly committed to our clients and their best interest.
Another important best practice is to give back and get involved. This not only benefits you, but it benefits your community and it usually benefits the judicial system as a whole. Let me give an example, for a period of time I was a member of the Judicial Performance Commission for the 18th Judicial District in Colorado. That commission plays an important role in Colorado’s system for rating and retaining judges. As part of that commission, I not only gave my time and served an important role in Colorado’s judicial system, but I also met a number of other involved attorneys and community members who are now part of my network. Another way to give back is to write an article or to teach a seminar to help less experienced attorneys learn a new skill or understand how to perform a skill that you already have. By writing those articles or teaching those skills, you are helping to ensure that the attorneys in our judicial system are skilled, represent their clients well, and are efficient.
Q: What is your approach or philosophy to winning or representing a case? MF: Every case is different and requires its own unique analysis and strategy. It’s not possible to treat every case in the same way as each case has its own facts and each client has his or her own priorities. However, there are some common practices. In every case, we begin with an analysis of the facts and a deep understanding of the client. Does this client have an art collection that she has been working for years to build and wants to protect? Is this client the beneficiary of substantial family wealth in the form of business interests and trusts? Does this client have a special-needs child? What assets does this client own and what legal arguments may apply to ensure that those assets are divided in
Q: What is it about your job that most excites you? MF: My clients and the work that they bring. In my practice, every day is truly different and I love it. One day, we may be working with a client to value a world-renowned art collection. The next, we may be drafting a brief on whether intellectual property is enforced in Asia and how that affects the value of a client’s business interest (which does substantial work in Asia). The next day we may be preparing arguments relating to the Hague Convention about why a child in Europe should be returned to the United States or perhaps we may exhibit relating to why valuation of a cannabis company is more appropriate than the opposing expert’s valuation. Because of the type of practice that I have, my team and I solve interesting and complex problems which keeps the work sophisticated and
She Excels at Resolving Her Clients’ Most Personal & Private Matters, Including Those Regarding Wealth Preservation, Divorce, Children, Marital Agreements, Adoptions & Cohabitation. Q: Can you share with our audience, the types of law you specialize in? MF: My practice focuses on assisting my clients to resolve private issues relating to family matters, particularly when those issues are complex. Consequently, I assist high net worth clientele through divorces which includes identification of assets such as trust interests, business interests, royalties, investments and liabilities, as well as valuation and division of those assets and liabilities, identification of appropriate amounts of support (spousal support and child support), and child-related issues. I also assist my clients with prenuptial agreements, post nuptial agreements, allocation of parental responsibilities for children, Hague Convention matters, and private issues that arise after a divorce or legal separation has been obtained. Q: If we interviewed all your past clients – what is “one” common word that comes up when they describe working with your law firm? MF: Committed. We get to know our clients on a very personal level. We communicate about their goals and priorities. We strat-
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One of my most important “best practices” which I discuss a lot with associates is the concept of digging-in to your client’s cases. It’s not sufficient to know the basic details about your client. One of the things that distinguishes my practice is that we truly know our clients. We know the details of their financials. We confer with their expert team, as appropriate, such as their accountant, wealth advisors, and estate attorney or we help them to establish their own expert team if they don’t have one. We know how our clients feel; we know their relationships with their children, their parents and their siblings. We have delved into the past, understand how assets were acquired, who was working, who was not, how income was earned, and where that income went. We understand where our clients hope to be in 5 years, 10 years, and further into the future. It is that type of detail that helps me to be the best advisor to my clients.
interesting. There are very few things that are as rewarding as resolving a complex matter for a client in a positive and satisfactory manner. Q: What’s the greatest fear that you’ve had to overcome to get where you are today? MF: My greatest fear is that I have missed something in a case – either an important fact or new or obscure law. Particularly newer and less experienced attorney, I was constantly afraid that I would not know how to do something procedurally or not be aware of a pivotal case relating to a specific issue. I recall how stressful it was as a new attorney being on the opposing side of a very experienced attorney who had been in front of the judge frequently or who had litigated the issue numerous times. The only way to overcome that fear is to be very, very prepared. Know the facts, read all of the relevant case law (really read it, don’t just skim it), read and understand the opposing party’s arguments, analyze the opposing party’s discovery responses/ documents/exhibits, and read and understand the procedural rules. If you are in a new division and have a questions about procedure, call the clerk, be polite and respectful of time, and ask specific questions about how things work in that division procedurally – or ask your legal assistant to do so. Clerks are incredibly nice and helpful people if you are prepared and ask specific procedural questions. Q: Can you tell our audience one of your most memorable moments in your career? MF: One of my most memorable moments was the first time that I did a step-parent adoption. The mother and very young daughter had left a traumatic, abusive relationship a few years before and were really struggling. She met a lovely man and they married. He loved the little girl and she loved him. However, despite having no contact with his daughter for years and paying no support to meet her needs, the biological father objected to the termination of his parental rights and did not consent to the adoption. We had to litigate the termination of the biological father’s parental rights, which we did and succeeded. A short time later, the mother, the daughter and the new husband appeared in for the adoption hearing. They brought balloons, neighbors and classmates were there with gifts, and everyone cried when the decree was entered. It was beautiful and emotional – a good reminder of how important our work is. Q: What would be the title of your autobiography? MF: Manifest Uri. In Korean, the term uri is indicative of a sense of oneness or family with others – it expresses a shared connectedness as part of an extended family and community. A significant part of my success has been not only the close relationships that I enjoy with my family but the close relationships that I have built with my clients, other attorneys, judges, and other professionals. mechelle.faulk@faegredrinker.com 303.607.3652