LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — Charles Goldberg, a senior partner with Denver law firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons,will receive the Civis Princeps (First Citizen) Award on May 8 at Regis University’s spring commencement ceremony.
Goldberg has been with Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons since 1978, has served as general counsel for the Archdiocese of Denver for more than 25 years and the diocese of Fargo, N.D. for the past 10 years. Goldberg, who served five years as a Denver County District Court judge, is a civil litigator and also represents religious organizations of all faiths across the country.
The Civis Princeps award, Regis’ highest honor, “is more significant than an honorary degree,” said Father Michael Sheeran, the school’s president. “It is only given to Coloradans who have made over a long period of time a very significant impact on the good of the Colorado community.”
Goldberg, along with Martin Nussbaum in the firm’s religious institutions practice, has advised organizations “whether you’re Jewish or Catholic or Presbyterian or Evangelical,” Sheeran said.
“Personally, I was so impressed by him when I realized the skill with which [Goldberg], who is Jewish, has learned Catholic canon law, and his ability to understand what canon law is getting at and provide the best options under Colorado law.”
Goldberg has spent most of his 40-plus years in the law defending First Amendment rights. He focused mainly on the free speech clauses at the beginning of his career, starting at Schmidt and Van Cise in the 1960s defending newspapers and radio stations in defamation lawsuits. He focused more on the religious freedom clauses after he finished his five-year stint on the bench in 1978. Goldberg, who said he thinks freedom of religion is at least as important as freedom of speech, has no plans of ending his practice anytime soon.
“People say to me, ‘When are you going to retire?’” Goldberg said. “My mother is 94, and she still gets to work every day of her life.” His mother, Miriam Goldberg, is the longtime publisher and editor of The Intermountain Jewish News. “How can I possibly retire until she retires?”
