Hensley Kim & Holzer has added patent attorney Chirag Patel to the firm. Patel received a B.E. in electrical engineering from Gujarat University in India in 1990 and got his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002.

Chirag Patel PR Release

Energy attorney Carol Harvey is the new executive secretary of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien announced. The executive secretary acts as a liaison between the Southern Ute Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the urban American Indian population and the State of Colorado. The position was created by the Colorado General Assembly in 1976.
“We are fortunate to have found Carol, who has the depth of experience and passionate commitment to Native American issues. The Commission of Indian Affairs deals with natural resources, revenue, education, health, cultural, legislative and many other issues. We have worked hard to develop healthy relationships with both the Ute tribal councils and the urban community and know that Carol has the talent to develop new avenues of cooperation,” said Lt. Gov. O’Brien, who chairs the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs.
Harvey, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, has a law degree and MBA from the University of Denver. She comes to the Commission of Indian Affairs from her law practice in Santa Fe, N.M. She also holds undergraduate degrees in political science and economics from DU and in Spanish from the University of Houston.
In addition to her career in energy law, she has held small business formation seminars for Native Americans and is a museum and college lecturer on Native American history and culture.

John Baker, Lucy Marsh and Fay Matsukage are this year’s honorees.

The University of Denver Sturm College of Law announced the alumni and faculty who will be named “Law Stars” at an annual gala event at the Hyatt Convention Center on Sept. 16. The winners are:

John T. Baker, JD’73, Alumni Professionalism Award:
In addition to a host of accomplishments in the courtroom, Baker has been a dedicated member of the Denver community. He has been president of the Denver Bar Association and led numerous Colorado professional associations, led the Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council and was president of the board of directors for Denver Kids, dedicated to at-risk students. Professionally, he continues his career in complex product liability cases involving pharmaceuticals and vehicles, and has served as an adjunct professor of law at DU.

Lucy Marsh, Excellence in Teaching Award:
Marsh, who teaches trusts and estates and civil procedure, has been teaching at the Sturm College of Law (SCOL) since 1973. In addition to directing the Wills Lab, a practicum where law students work with practicing attorneys to provide services to low-income clients, Marsh has led professional organizations, including service on the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association.

Fay Matsukage, JD’79, Outstanding Alumni Award:
Upon passing the bar exam in 1980, Matsukage became one of the first Asian-American women attorneys admitted to practice in Colorado. She soon found a niche in corporate and securities law and is currently a partner at the Denver firm Dill Dill Carr Stonbraker & Hutchings. She is a founding member of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Colorado and has served many professional organizations in leadership roles. In 1999 she accepted the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award.

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Harris Law Firm family law attorney Jennie Wray is a climber with a cause.
She and her team, “Heavy Breathers,” on Feb. 28 climbed 56 floors and 1,098 steps of Denver’s Republic Plaza for “The Anthem Fight For Air Climb,” formerly “Run the Republic.” In December, Wray spent a day on the slopes at the Keystone Resort for the Pink Chase Fundraiser for breast cancer research — and raised over $30,000. Last August, she ascended Mount Blanc with her husband, Caleb. And prior to moving to Colorado, she helped to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by climbing North America’s tallest mountain, Mount McKinley, a.k.a. Denali.

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Gregory O’Connor has joined Denver law firm Hensley Kim & Holzer. Most recently, he was senior intellectual property counsel and innovation evangelist at Samsonite Corp. He has also provided counsel in IP matters for the U.S. Air Force, JAG and Johns-Manville Corporation. O’Connor received his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1970 from Iowa State University and his law degree from The George Washington University in 1975. He is a member of the USPTO Patent Bar and a Senior Member of AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics).

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Two special counsel recently joined Faegre & Benson locally.
Bob Comer joined the firm’s environmental and natural resources practice as a special counsel in the Denver office. Comer previously served as associate solicitor for mineral, energy, land and water resources with the U.S. Department of the Interior.
“Bob will be an invaluable resource to our national environmental and natural resource clients,” Jim Spaanstra, leader of the firm’s environmental and natural resources practice, said in a statement.
Thomas L. DeVine joined the firm’s finance and restructuring practice. DeVine’s practice includes real estate development and real and personal property secured finance, including general and specialized commercial finance transactions and real property transactions.
Michael S. McCarthy, a partner in the Denver office and a member of the firm’s management committee, said DeVine adds depth and expertise. DeVine received his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
The firm said its restructuring practice has grown significantly since 2009, with the addition of attorneys Larry Bass, Elizabeth Flaagan and Bradford Dempsey to the Denver office and Richard Curtain and Sarah McLennan to the London office.

Michael Burg

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Michael Burg, founder and shareholder of Denver firm Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine was appointed the 2010 president of The American Trial Lawyers Association.
“As a trial lawyer for the last 34 years, I firmly believe that trial lawyers can make a real difference in people’s lives,” Burg said in a press release announcing his appointment. “The public needs to be aware that trial lawyers are there to make sure that large corporations, banks, insurance companies and individuals are held accountable when they act in a negligent or willful manner.”
Membership to the organization is limited to the top 100 trial lawyers in each state.
Burg founded Burg Simpson in 1977. He also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law and currently serves on the school’s Alumni Council.
Burg’s one-year term became effective on Feb. 15.
For more information on Burg’s appointment, as well as some details on his experience, check out the press release here:

Michael S. Burg Appointed President of The American Trial Lawyers Association

Kerri J. Atencio

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Kerri J. Atencio has joined Denver insurance law firm Roberts Levin Rosenberg.
Atencio will focus her practice on representing individuals and entity policyholders in insurance bad faith, personal injury and commercial litigation matters.
At Holland & Hart, she handled matters in insurance bad faith, ERISA, employment law and commercial litigation. Additionally, she is the past president of the executive council for the Colorado Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.
Atencio earned her J.D., with distinction, from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1998, and her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from the University of Nebraska in 1993. She is licensed to practice in Colorado and Montana state courts, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Her new firm is a boutique insurance recovery firm that focuses on civil trial and appellate practice, representing individual and entity policyholders on coverage and bad faith claims for all types of insurance, commercial litigation and personal injury law.

By Allie Winter, LAW WEEK COLORADO
The American Bar Association has chosen Coloradan James Carr along with eight others to its board of governors.
Carr, who retired in June of this year, worked in the Colorado Attorney General’s office for 27 years. He’s now in private practice, here and there; he is trying to form an arbitration and mediation firm.
“I’m sort of retired, but not really retired,” he said.
Carr will serve a three-year term on the board starting immediately after the conclusion of the 2010 annual meeting in August. He is in charge of District 11, which covers Colorado, Arizona and Oklahoma. The board of governors meets four or five times a year, and Carr said he’s excited to begin working with the association.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be more involved with the ABA.”
The other nominees are Cheryl I. Niro, Chicago, District 7, Illinois and Ohio; Edith G. Osman, Miami, District 8, Florida and Texas; James S. Hill, Bismarck, N.D., District 10, North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming; Carlos A. Rodriguez Vidal, San Juan, P.R., District 13, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Montana and Oregon; James Dimos, Indianapolis, District 18, Indiana, Maryland and Washington; Mary Ell Coster Williams, Bethesda, Md., ABA Section of Public Contract Law; Peter A. Winograd, Albuquerque, N.M., ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar; and Michelle A. Behnke, Madison, Wis., Woman Member-at-Large.

Mike McGinnis, a shareholder with Denver firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, was named chair of the Jefferson Economic Council, a business and development organization for Jefferson County.