Have an announcement for Law Week Colorado’s people section? Let us know.
Law Firm Updates
Crowell & Moring LLP announced Andrea Surratt has joined the firm’s Denver office in the white collar and regulatory enforcement group. Surratt has served as first-chair for investigations, trials and appeals involving money laundering, fraud offenses, sanctions and export controls, gaming, cybercrime, cryptocurrency and national security issues. Her practice focuses on government and internal white collar investigations for companies and individuals. With 13 years of prosecutorial experience, Surratt has led hundreds of grand jury investigations. She also supervised cases involving healthcare fraud and diversion of controlled substances.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP announced the addition of Liz Harding as shareholder, based in the Denver office. Harding helps clients protect and commercialize data assets. She focuses her practice on advising organizations on enterprise-wide privacy compliance obligations, with a focus on advising U.S. companies on European and U.K. obligations, and British companies on U.S. privacy compliance obligations. Harding’s practice also involves work in the media industry, where she assists clients on transactional and operational matters relating to advertising and media sales business.
Holland & Hart LLP announced Michelle Canerday has joined the firm as a partner in the Denver office. Canerday brings 18 years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals and families on complex tax and trust and estate disputes. She brings legal, tax and financial industry expertise to help beneficiaries, executors, personal representatives, trustees and other interested parties. Canerday negotiates and crafts settlement agreements that achieve compromises in a tax-efficient manner. She devises strategies to help high-net-worth clients and fiduciaries protect generational wealth.
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani welcomed Reagan Larkin as a partner in the firm’s Denver office. A litigator, Larkin handles cases from initial investigations through discovery, trial and appeals. She represents a diverse clientele appearing before state and federal courts and handling appellate matters before the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court. Larkin’s experience includes commercial and residential real estate disputes related to leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, covenants, easements, liens, development, zoning, land-use and property rights and litigating various commercial and business-related matters. She received her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Morrison & Foerster LLP announced the arrival of Elizabeth Sipes as a partner in the firm’s private funds group in the transactions department, based in the Denver office. Sipes brings more than 20 years of experience representing and advising private investment funds, investment advisers and institutional investors. Her practice encompasses advising sponsors on all aspects of fund formation and launch. Her work includes drafting and negotiating a spectrum of documentation ranging from term sheets, partnership agreements, side letters and subscription agreements to structuring general partner and upper-tier arrangements. Sipes earned her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP announced the formation of the firm’s intellectual property litigation group. This group is comprised of a team of trial attorneys who are regularly called upon to assist clients from a variety of industries to protect IP assets. DGS has grown its IP practice over the past year, adding two seasoned IP practice specialists Dorothy Auth and Shane Niebergall. With more than 50 years of combined practice experience, Niebergall specializes in U.S. and international property counseling, litigation and patent prosecution. Auth navigates complex patent and trademark litigation and provides IP licensing, patent procurement and counseling services across various industries. Both Auth and Niebergall join DGS partner Emily Wasserman, whose practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation, IP disputes and counseling clients regarding IP rights. Jill Lynch, of counsel, rounds out the team with a trial practice that focuses on complex business matters, commercial litigation and IP litigation.
The Judiciary
Published opinions issued by the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals dating to 1871 are available free of charge through a new website. The judicial department hired a vendor in 2022 to comply with the terms of House Bill 22-1091. The bill called for the department to build a website to allow public access to all Colorado Supreme Court opinions and all published opinions of the Colorado Court of Appeals, or those opinions selected by that court as setting precedent in case law. Later this year, all Court of Appeals unpublished opinions will be added to the site. The website will be updated within a day each time new opinions are issued: Mondays for the Supreme Court and Thursdays for the Court of Appeals.
The 2nd Judicial District Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for a Denver Juvenile Court judgeship created by the retirement of Judge D. Brett Woods. Nominees Lisa Gomez, Michal Lord-Blegen and Blair McCarthy, all of Denver, were selected by the commission on March 5. Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from March 6 to appoint one of the nominees as district court judge for the Denver Juvenile Court. Comments regarding any of the nominees may be sent to the governor at [email protected].
Kudos
The Hispanic National Bar Association named the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association President Amber Gonzales to its list of top lawyers under 40. The list recognizes lawyers who have demonstrated professional excellence, integrity, leadership and commitment to the Hispanic community and dedication to improving the legal profession. Gonzales is a litigator in Crowell & Moring’s Denver office. She has a background in commercial litigation, compliance and regulatory matters, and has advised clients ranging from individuals to fortune 100 companies. She has experience in federal and state courts in matters involving class actions, contracts, false advertising and unfair competition, trade secrets, torts, healthcare recovery and complex commercial litigation. She also has experience representing clients in employment disputes. Gonzales has served for over eight years on the CHBA executive committee.
Messner Reeves LLP announced it was named one of the “Best Companies to Work For: Law Firms” in 2024 by U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report rates each employer on core metrics that form the employee’s hierarchy of needs. These include quality of pay and benefits, professional development and advancement opportunities, physical and psychological comfort, company stability and holistic metrics like belongingness, work-life balance and job flexibility.
Miscellaneous
Colorado Bar Association and Denver Bar Association Executive Director Amy Larson has left the role. Larson served with both the Colorado and Denver bars for more than 17 years. She was the first female executive director in the history of both organizations. Larson was appointed executive director in 2020 after serving the CBA and DBA as deputy executive director and chief operating officer.