Sean Connelly

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Sean Connelly will rejoin Denver’s Reilly Pozner, his old firm, when he steps down from the bench in January with plans to open a new office in Washington, D.C.

Dan Reilly and Larry Pozner, Connelly’s once and future law partners, said they supported his move to the bench while holding out hope that he’d return to the firm someday.

“We never filled his office,” Reilly said. “We always said, ‘If you ever want to get back to private practice, you’re always welcome here.’”

“We cherished working with Sean,” Pozner said. “He is an incredible intellect and we understood that he might go to the bench, but we always had a great deal of fun having Sean as a major part of the firm.”

Connelly will split time between Denver and Washington, D.C. His practice will focus on federal civil and criminal appeals, complex civil litigation and while collar criminal defense.

The firm’s expansion to Washington, D.C. was prompted both by Connelly’s desire to return to his legal roots (he was a Department of Justice lawyer there before moving to Denver) and to better serve the firm’s East Coast clients, which include Ingersoll Rand, Lehman Brothers and AIG.

Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008 appointed Connelly to the Court of Appeals. Connelly opted not to stand in the November retention election, allowing his term to expire in January.

Connelly originally moved to Denver more than a decade ago as part of the prosecution team in the Oklahoma City bombing trial and appeal process. He joined Reilly Pozner in 2002, and in 2006 became a named partner, with the firm restyling itself Reilly Pozner & Connelly. His named was dropped when he joined the bench and the firm will remain Reilly Pozner when he returns.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

Tracy Gray has joined Jacobs Chase Frick Kleinkopf & Kelley as partner.

Gray, a 19-year veteran, advises clients on a wide range of intellectual property and privacy matters

“Tracy brings a tremendous wealth of IP experience, as well as a focus on the growing role of new technologies and web-based business practices in today’s world,” Managing Partner Paul Jacobs said.

After receiving her undergraduate degree from Brown University, Gray attended USC Law School. Before joining Jacobs Chase, she practiced at Hogan & Hartson LLP in Colorado, and Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro LLP in Los Angeles.

Scott Barker, Dan Frost

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Two prominent Holland & Hart partners are leaving the firm. Scott Barker, chair of the firm’s litigation department, will start July 1 at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell. Dan Frost, a veteran construction claims and transactions attorney, will start Monday at Snell & Wilmer.

The departures were separately confirmed Friday by the attorneys’ new firms, in response to Law Week inquiries.

Barker, a Top 10 “Colorado Super Lawyer” and member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, will leave Holland & Hart after three decades.

“Both Holland & Hart and Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell are, in my estimation, the two best litigation firms in the state of Colorado, or for that matter, in the region,” Barker said, declining all other comment other than to say he is “delighted to be associated with Holland & Hart, and looking forward to working at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell.”

Frost, who has a significant construction practice, has worked at Denver firms since graduating from law school in 1978. He practiced at Fairfield and Woods before moving 11 years ago to Holland & Hart. Frost said his move to Snell & Wilmer is “an opportunity to help them build their Denver practice, and I’m excited about that.”

Frost said details of his biggest recent projects are confidential, but they include representation of an international gold mining company in a transaction in Mexico; completing complex railway oil-gathering contracts for an oil and gas company that owns fields in North Dakota; and litigation involving a claim on a large power plant.

“I have so much respect for the firm I’m leaving,” Frost said. “I’m leaving a lot of great friends and a good firm. It’s been a great 11 years, but I have this opportunity and this challenge that I’m really looking forward to meeting.”

Chris Hazlitt, Neal Cohen and James Sawtelle (L-R) joined HRO from Faegre & Benson on Tuesday.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Holme Roberts & Owen announced Tuesday it has hired three partners from Faegre & Benson. Chris Hazlitt and Neal Cohen come from Faegre’s Boulder office, where Hazlitt had been executive partner. Jim Sawtelle comes from Faegre’s Denver office.

Hazlitt is a corporate attorney who handles mergers and acquisitions for technology and natural foods companies, as well as those in the outdoor industry. Cohen is a litigator who handles class actions, intellectual property and securities cases. Sawtelle is a litigator who has been lead counsel in more than 30 jury trials and more than 15 appeals.

“Having three partners of this caliber join HRO, from an equally prestigious firm, is indicative of HRO’s expansion in Colorado, and of the firm as a whole,” said Ken Lund, HRO managing partner.

The announcement comes less than a month after Perkins Coie’s Denver office took on three other lateral partners from Faegre & Benson: Nate Ford, Jeffrey Beuche and Peter Kinsella. Ford and Beuche joined the Perkins Coie’s corporate governance and transactions practice. Kinsella joined the licensing and technology practice.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Attorneys Michael A. Sandstrum and John J. Clasby recently joined Broomfield firm Donelson Ciancio & Goodwin.

Sandstrum, who had been with Fleishman & Shapiro until earlier this year, joins as special counsel for the firm’s litigation group, specializing in construction, real estate, and intellectual property litigation; contract disputes; business torts; and personal injury matters. Clasby, a former Hogan & Hartson associate who was most recently with the office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, joins as an associate for the litigation group, specializing in general civil, commercial and criminal litigation.

Steve Kaufmann

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Steve Kaufmann, for years a fixture of Morrison & Foerster’s Denver office, has moved to Washington, D.C. to become chief of staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. government foreign aid agency.

Kaufmann joined Morrison & Foerster in 1986. He was managing partner of the Denver office from 2000 to 2007, and from 2007 to 2010 was in charge of the firm’s 500-lawyer global litigation department. He has joined the Millennium Challenge Corp., created by Congress in 2004 to reduce poverty through long-term investments in poor countries committed to their own development.

While with Morrison & Foerster, Kaufmann was active in pro bono work with the Colorado Lawyers Committee and won the group’s “Individual of the Year” and “Outstanding Sustained Contribution” awards.

“Over his nearly 25 years with the firm, Steve has been a skilled and admired leader,” said Keith Wetmore, chair of Morrison & Foerster. “Under Steve’s leadership, the department maintained its focus on being the world’s best team of trial lawyers, but also embraced the development of strong specialized practices. We thank Steve for his tremendous efforts on behalf of the firm, wish him the greatest success in his new role.”

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Perkins Coie’s Denver office has added lateral partners Nate Ford, Jeffrey Beuche and Peter Kinsella. They were with Faegre & Benson. Ford and Beuche joined the Perkins Coie’s corporate governance and transactions practice. Kinsella joined the licensing and technology practice.

“The firm is growing at an unprecedented pace,” Denver Managing Partner Bob Miller said in a statement. “We are in a unique and terrific position to welcome new attorneys to our office, which will further support and expand the services that we provide to our clients.”

Perkins Coie says it has added more than 200 lateral attorneys nationwide since 2005.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Gregory Durbin has joined the Denver office of Polsinelli Shughart as a shareholder in the firm’s science and technology practice group. He was previously a partner in Dorsey & Whitney’s intellectual property group. Durbin is an electrical engineer who has worked as a patent attorney for 11 years.

“Greg’s extensive background in electrical engineering complements our growing patent practice here in Denver as well as our other offices across the country,” said Steve Long, managing partner of the Polsinelli’s Denver office.

Durbin has worked on U.S. and international patent portfolios, enforcing and defending patent rights, and assessing and mitigating infringement risks.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

Rebecca C. Watson, former assistant secretary for Lands and Minerals Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has joined the law firm of Welborn Sullivan Meck and Tooley.

Watson was most recently a natural resources partner at Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). She has more than 30 years of legal and policy experience in the fields of conventional and renewable energy, natural resources (grazing, mining and timber) and federal environmental law.

As assistant secretary of the Interior Department she had oversight of three organizations: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), which together have the responsibility for management of federal energy resources.

Watson has been a partner and counsel in two Washington D.C. law firms and served as managing partner for a firm in Helena, Mont. She received her J.D. from the University of Denver Law School, as well as a M.A. and B.A. from the University of Denver.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

Employment law attorneys Liza McKelvey and Charles Weese have joined Ducker Montgomery Lewis & Bess as partners. They were with the Denver office of Jackson Lewis.

Weese has practiced employment law exclusively for almost 20 years in leading national full service firms and employment law boutiques, and has in‐house experience with U S WEST/Qwest. He graduated from Rice University and received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston University School of Law. He is recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA and Colorado SuperLawyers as a
leading employer‐side attorney.

McKelvey’s practice is focused on proactive and preventive employment advice and counseling, as well as employment litigation. Liza has served as in‐house counsel for several large Colorado companies, and has prior experience with leading national full service firms and a national employment law boutique. She received
her undergraduate degree from Boston College and her law degree, cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She was recognized as a Rising Star by Colorado SuperLawyers.

The two have practiced together for more than 10 years.

The Ducker firm, founded in 1979, offers legal services in the areas of corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, real estate, finance, tax, energy, environmental, oil and gas, federal lands, ski
resorts, employment, and commercial and regulatory litigation.