Meet the Outstanding Attorneys Beyond Denver
Law Week Colorado is pleased to recognize four outstanding attorneys practicing largely beyond the Denver metro area. These attorneys, nominated by their peers, were selected for their exceptional legal work, contributions to their communities and dedication to their clients and the legal profession.
Join us in celebrating this year’s honorees and learning more about the work they’re doing across Colorado.
Rooted in Northern Colorado: Clay Bartlett weaves business law and community growth
The day after his final law school exam at the University at Buffalo, R. Clay Bartlett packed his car and drove to Colorado. While many of his classmates set their sights on Manhattan’s high-pressure firms, Bartlett was seeking a more relaxed way of life and a place to plant community roots.
“Practicing in a community of this size requires you to be part of the community,” said Bartlett, a partner at Coan, Payton & Payne in Fort Collins. “Early on, all of my contacts came through community involvement. Those contacts turned into clients, and those clients turned into close friends. It’s a tight-knit overlap of life and practice.”
For more than a decade, Bartlett has served as outside general counsel to small and midsized businesses, guiding regional enterprises through commercial real estate development, financing and corporate mergers and acquisitions. That steady counsel earned him a seat on Coan, Payton & Payne’s Executive Committee in 2025.
Bartlett’s path to law began with an undergraduate degree in philosophy, which he called a “theoretical framework that found its practical, real-world application in the law.” After working in banking during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, he turned to law, with his experience in finance becoming a cornerstone of his practice.
“It’s not an everyday skill set for an attorney to read and dissect financial statements at the level a banker or CPA does,” Bartlett said. “Being able to speak that financial lingo allows me to run quarterback on a deal.”
Bartlett frequently works with founders at inception and remains at their side as their companies expand. “We’ve grown our businesses together,” he said. “We’ve watched each other get married, have kids and start families.”
Bartlett’s commitment to regional development has led him into civic and economic leadership. A graduate of Leadership Northern Colorado, he serves on the board of directors of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce and previously lent his regulatory insights to its local legislative affairs committee.
His community involvement reaches into youth services and education as well. Bartlett has served on the board of B.A.S.E. Camp and with the United Way of Larimer County’s young professionals initiative. He also spent several years as an adjunct professor at Colorado State University, teaching real estate law to business seniors, many of whom later returned as clients launching their own enterprises.
Outside the office, Bartlett spends time with his family and enjoys endurance athletics.
Of his life in Fort Collins, he said, “The quality of life and the work-life balance you can build here isn’t comparable. I love it up here so much, though I’m not sure I want everybody to know our secret.”