Community Advocacy

For our firm, community is everything.

As Colorado residents and legal practitioners, it is important for us to support and protect the communities in which we live. In both Telluride and Denver, we are socially and politically engaged in education, public health, and affordable housing initiatives. Our team members serve on local, regional, and state councils and boards, and keep pace with the most important issues impacting the areas.

Youth & Education Initiatives

Fostering the creative and entrepreneurial spirits of young people is an important focus for our firm. We serve as leaders of nonprofits, founding members of foundations, chairs of boards, and volunteers for multiple organizations for youth education, engagement, and empowerment. Such endeavors include:

• Boys & Girls Clubs in Colorado, Executive Director

• Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, Vice Chair of the Board

• Pinhead Institute, Pintern Program, Founding Member & Legal Counsel

• Just For Kids Foundation, Founding Member & Legal Counsel

• Rotary International Colorado District 5470 Graduate Fellowship Committee Chairman

• Telluride Rotary Club Scholarship Committee Chairman

• Telluride R1 School District Administrative Hiring, Accountability, Charter School and Data Committees

• Telluride Education Foundation, President of the Board

• Telluride Academy, Legal Counsel

• Bright Futures for Early Childhood and Families, Program Manager

Non-Profits & Fundraising

Our firm actively is engaged with multiple non-profits throughout Colorado. We serve leadership and advisory roles for organizations with missions in science and research, visual and performing arts, youth and adult education, affordable housing, equity and economic development, and fundraising bodies. Organizations include:

• Telluride Arts Transfer Warehouse, Fundraising Entity

• Mountains 2 Desert Bike Ride, Just For Kids Fundraising Entity

• Telluride Gay Ski Week, Legal Counsel

• Telluride Rotary Foundation, President

• Light Gives Heat Nigerian Charity Organization, Legal Counsel

• NAMLO International, President

• Colorado Mountain Bike Association, Legal Counsel

• ACCESS Housing, Legal Counsel

Civic Service

Our attorneys believe in community involvement through public service in governmental and official roles. Our firm members serve as elected or appointed officials, steering and organizing committee members, council leaders, and political fundraisers. Positions include:

• Mayor of the Town of Telluride

• San Miguel County Court Judge

• Colorado Judicial Appellate Court Selection Committee Member

• Town of Mountain Village Home Charter Organizing Committee Member

• Town of Mountain Village Town Council, Elected to First Town Council

• Colorado State Bar Real Estate Section Council, Member & Regional Liaison Service

• Activist with the Telluride Valley Floor Condemnation Political Debate

• Jefferson County Mediation Services, Volunteer Mediator

• The Rico Center, Board Member

Support for the Arts

Promotion of the arts has been part of our practice for decades. Our firm supports the arts through legal counsel services, patronage, donations, and volunteer services. These include the following:

• Colorado Attorneys for the Arts (CAFTA), Membership & Volunteer Service

• Services recognized by Colorado Business Committee for the Arts

• Telluride Arts District and Transfer Warehouse, Patron & Legal Counsel

• AhHaa Art School for the Arts, Patron & Legal Counsel

• Telluride Theater, Patron

• Telluride AIDS Benefit, Patron & Legal Counsel

• Mentored by John Henry Merryman - Stanford Law School pioneer in the field of “Art and the Law”

Affordable Housing

Access to affordable housing poses complicated issues in Colorado, as it does across the United States. Here, as elsewhere, both rural and urban economies face challenges for engaging and sustaining viable workforces. Providing equitable access to housing spurs political and economic debates, involving a wide range of issues. Our team actively seeks to address and provide solutions for these.

• Managing Editor for Colorado Lawyer Affordable Housing Series

• Colorado Affordable Housing Task Force Service

• Legal Services for ACCESS Housing - housing and shelter for the homeless in Denver Metro Area.

Development, Sustainability & Conservation

Our firm represents a broad range of clients in dealing with land use, environmental, and related issues and challenges. We help our clients address property impacts arising in connection with agricultural, conservation, development, water rights, mineral and related matters. Our counsel includes assistance with estate and business strategic planning, land use compliance, land stewardship, complex litigation. Services include the following:

• Ranch Land and Strategic Planning

• Land Use, Access, and Easement Issues

• Conservation Easements

• Land Plan Development and Subdivision

• Severed Mineral Rights and Surface Usage Issues