Bob Matthews
By Matt Masich, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — Bob Matthews, 58, litigation partner at Faegre & Benson’s Boulder office, was one of three people who died Saturday when the small plane he piloted collided with another plane over north Boulder.
A partner at the firm called Matthews a “leader” and “go-to guy in the office.”
Also killed in the collision were Mark Matthews, 56, who was a passenger in his brother Bob’s Cirrus SR20, and Alexander Gilmer, 25, the pilot of a Piper Pawnee. The Piper was towing a glider until moments before the collision, when the glider pilot disconnected. The glider pilot and two passengers safely landed.
The cause of the collision remains unknown. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation expected to take eight to 10 months to complete.
Matthews leaves behind his wife, Cindy, three adult children and one grandchild. He was originally from Omaha, Neb., according to the Omaha World-Herald. He got a B.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1973 and earned his J.D. there in 1976. He was licensed to practice in Colorado in 1979.
Matthews joined Faegre & Benson in 2002 when the firm combined with Boulder’s Crisman Bynum & Johnson. Faegre had 21 attorneys in Boulder at the time of Matthews’ death.
“Bob had been here the longest through both of those firms,” said Neal Cohen, Matthews’ friend and colleague. “He was one of those guys that everybody loved. He was certainly the leader of the Boulder office that everybody looked up to.”
Matthews was a respected civil litigator, earning recognition last year as a “Colorado Super Lawyer.” He successfully defended StorageTek in a $2 billion breach of contract suit and won summary judgment for his client in a legal malpractice suit against Snell & Wilmer. Matthews regularly advised fellow litigators on their cases.
“I don’t think I ever had a case where I didn’t go sit down with him on several occasions to kick things around,” Cohen said. “This office is a very tight, collegial family of lawyers and staff and Bob had a lot to do with the creation of that attitude around here.”
A memorial will be held Saturday in Boulder.
“Today is a very tough day,” Cohen said Monday, the first workday after the fatal crash. “Not a lot of work getting done. Hugging and crying. The whole office is going to have a big lunch today to laugh and cry together and tell stories.”
Cohen said Matthews loved adventure and introduced a wide circle of friends to activities like scuba diving, sailing, flying and rafting.
“He was constantly doing stuff — fun stuff, terrific stuff — and brought everyone along with him. Bob was sort of the galvanizer of all that, the organizer.”
Matthews played basketball in college, Cohen said. One of his favorite pastimes in recent years was playing with his two sons on a league basketball team.
