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Law firm updates
Lyons Gaddis announced April 8 that Gunnar Paulsen has joined the firm’s water practice group. Paulsen brings experience representing municipalities, special districts, agricultural operations, ski resorts, industrial clients and individuals across Colorado. He has successfully appeared in all seven of Colorado’s water courts, as well as in district and appellate courts and before numerous state agencies. He earned his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School and his bachelor’s degree from Willamette University.
Greenspoon Marder announced April 8 that Colin Barnacle and Jay Cranmer joined the firm as a partner and associate, respectively. Barnacle and Cranmer are both labor and employment attorneys. Barnacle has more than 20 years of experience and delivers insights and litigation support to a wide array of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to startups. His experience spans traditional labor issues, including union matters and elections, while also working on proactive employment strategies. Cranmer has more than two decades of legal experience representing diverse clientele, from national companies to local enterprises. His track record includes first-chairing more than 80 jury trials and navigating countless evidentiary hearings, equipping him with the strategic acumen to steer clients through complex disputes.
Taft, which recently combined with Sherman & Howard, announced April 9 the return of litigation partner Joe Daniels, and welcomed partner Chris Haunschild, a tax and mergers and acquisitions attorney. As a trial lawyer, Daniels represents clients from around the country in all aspects of litigation, including pre-litigation strategy, discovery, motions practice, trial and post-trial issues. He brings experience litigating intellectual property and business tort disputes. With more than 25 years of experience, Haunschild has advised companies in an array of industries on the implications of domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, reorganizations, financing transactions, securities offerings and joint ventures with an aggregate value of more than $100 billion.
The judiciary
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the appointment of Marguerite Conboy to the Denver County Court bench. The appointment will fill the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Clarisse Gonzales. Conboy currently serves as a senior deputy district attorney with the Office of the 5th Judicial District Attorney. She previously served with the Office of the Denver District Attorney from 2003 to 2024, including as assistant district attorney from 2021 to 2024. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law from 2022 to 2024 and previously practiced civil litigation at Lapin & Associates from 1999 to 2003. Earlier in her career, she was a law clerk at the Colorado Court of Appeals and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and practiced law in Chicago. Conboy earned her law degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago in 1992 and her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1987.
Kudos
Faegre Drinker announced that effective April 1, Matt Stamski has been appointed as the Boulder office leader, succeeding John Marcil. Stamski advises on venture capital/private equity financing and M&A transactions. Boulder partner John Marcil was appointed leader of the firm’s corporate group. Marcil represents clients in strategic corporate transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, debt financings, joint ventures and private equity transactions.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced that Patrick Berry, a shareholder in the firm’s corporate and business department, has been appointed to the board of trustees of Warren Village, a nonprofit organization that serves unhoused and unstably housed low-income single-parent families in the Denver area. Berry will serve and advise the board for a three-year term.
Greenspoon Marder announced the promotion of international wealth and asset planning attorney Andrew Bechel to partner. Bechel is based in the firm’s Denver office and focuses his practice on estate planning matters including integrated estate planning, offshore planning, transactional matters and business and tax planning. He regularly contributes to the firm’s blog and has been published in various estate planning publications.