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::: 4th Quarter - 2004 :::
Cases
We've had some interesting cases this quarter. Recent victories are highlighted below. We are proud of our track record in court, but by giving these examples we do not mean to imply that we win every time. Jim Hubbell, Freddie Alvarez, and Christy Murphy represent the defendant in a multimillion dollar arbitration proceeding arising out of its acquisition of an investment service provider. Alleging breach of contract, negligence, and other theories of recovery, the plaintiffs contend that the defendant caused it millions of dollars in lost revenue by mismanaging the investment service provider. The litigation team has obtained summary judgment against the plaintiffs on their claims of breach of contract, substanially reducing the value of the claims. The sheer volume of the data and documents generated in the case posed substantial challenges to the litigation team; together, the parties have produced nearly 400 boxes of documents and tens of thousands more documents in electronic format. Using the firm's document management programs and along with another acquired specifically for the purposes of this case, the litigation team organized the documents into an accessible, searchable format that proved effective and efficient in identifying and retrieving the key documents. A few years ago, that kind of organization and review would have required a large firm using a team of associates. In this case, the litigation team has been able to level the playing field with a far larger firm by making effective use of technology. Martha Tierney and Norman Haglund filed an elections action in Denver District Court against Colorado Secretary of State Donetta Davidson seeking injunctive relief prior to the November 2, 2004 election. The case challenges portions of Colorado's election statute and regulatory scheme which require identification of all voters at the polls, limit the counting of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct to votes for president only, and eliminate the option of a provisional ballot for those eligible voters who previously asked for, but did not cast, an absentee ballot. The case has attracted local and national attention, including editorials in the Denver Post and New York Times. Download a copy of the New York Times article here. Download a copy of the Denver Post article here. Terry Kelly, Jim Hubbell and Jerremy Ramp (with law clerk Brooke McKinley's able assistance) represented student editors of the University of Northern Colorado student newspaper, The Mirror, in a federal court First Amendment action against the University's Board of Trustees. The Mirror and UNC's Student Government had several conflicts last school year, including The Mirror's successful lawsuit against Student Government for holding a series of closed meetings in violation of Colorado's Open Meeting Law. Student Government then recommended to the Board of Trustees that The Mirror's funding be reduced by 40% for the 2004-05 school year, and the Trustees adopted the recommendation. The basic issue as stated by Chief Judge Lewis Babcock of the U.S. District Court of Colorado involved determining the motivation of the trustees in voting to accept the Student Government's recommendation, i.e. did the motivation materially include negative response to the paper's content or bringing a lawsuit to vindicate rights. The editors' motion for a preliminary injunction was resolved when UNC agreed to restore the funding pending the resolution of the litigation. The permanent injunction trial was stricken and the case was dismissed when UNC agreed to permanently restore the entire 2004-05 funding cut, and UNC and The Mirror entered into a contract under which University funding for The Mirror is based for the next five years upon student enrollment, and not upon the recommendations of Student Government. Terry Kelly and Jerremy Ramp, with the help of paralegal Kim Timmons, tried a divorce, parenting, maintenance and property division case before Jefferson County Chief District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson. The case involved the valuation of several businesses and several real estate properties, including the separate or marital property characterization of the same. For e.g., the home of Husband's parents was titled in the parties' names. However, based on the evidence and the law, the court found that the home was held by the parties in a constructive trust for the parents. The case also required the prosecution of a complex depletion argument stemming from Wife's abandonment of one of the family businesses and the transfer of all of its assets to a third-party. Dennis Brown of Hein + Associates and John Connell of Causey, Demgen and Moore valued the businesses for the parties. Terry Kelly, with help from Jerremy Ramp, provided an expert witness report to and testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Daniel on behalf of Arcenio Garcia's application for attorney fees. Mr. Garcia had been fired as Grounds Superintendent after forty years of employment with the Pueblo Country Club. Jim Carleo, a well-known Pueblo civil rights attorney, secured a civil rights jury verdict before Judge Daniel in an amount of $674,285. Judge Daniel ordered the Country Club to pay an additional $672,000 in attorney fees, as well as a $167,781 tax enhancement to protect Garcia from the IRS's position that attorney fees in civil rights cases are taxable to Garcia, while the cost of the fees are not deductible to him. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently granted certiorari to resolve the split in the Circuit Courts on this issue, which under the IRS' position effectively wipes out more than all, all or most of any plaintiff's award. Ed Kahn is co-counsel in a major case challenging the implementation of the State of Colorado's Computerized Benefits Management System. The implementation of the severely flawed multi-million dollar system has adversely affected thousands of recipients of public benefits. The firm won the dismissal of a housing discrimination case brought in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado against an El Paso County homeowners association and landowners. Terry Kelly, Jerremy Ramp and paralegal Kim Timmons completed an eve-of-trial settlement of a complex divorce case set in Arapahoe County District Court. The settlement resolved post-divorce ownership and values of multiple commercial and residential real estate interests, as well as a professional practice. Complexity was added by the parties' execution of a pre-nuptial agreement two days before their marriage and their execution of a "nullification" of the Agreement seven years later without the formal exchange of financial disclosures. In addition, one of the parties suffered from a chronic, progressive medical condition which doctors concluded made it impossible for the party to be employed. Brian Campbell, CPA, Mitch Hoffman, CPA, Dennis Ginther, MAI, Dennis Roelker SRA and Dona Mason, personal property appraiser assisted the parties. Freddie Alvarez and Terry Kelly have sued the Larimer County Sheriff and the California's Santa Clara County District Attorney alleging an illegal search and seizure of our client's home near Lyons, Colorado. The Sec. 1983 action (violation of Fourth Amendment rights) is before Judge Wiley Daniel and Magistrate Judge Patricia Coan in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges that the California law enforcement officers instigated the search as part of an unsuccessful effort to defend against a habeas corpus action brought by the client's nephew, who had been convicted of a serious crime because of prosecutorial misconduct. The conviction was overturned in California, and the civil rights action is proceeding in Colorado. A California deputy district attorney instigated this search after being expressly ordered by a Santa Clara County judge to refrain from such searches without the judge's permission. Upon review of the documents provided by California officials to Colorado law enforcement people in support of the Colorado search warrant, the California judge presiding over the post trial proceeding described the documents as patently misleading. Steve Lass settled a case involving assets valued at more than $20 million and a complicated challenge to the validity of a marital agreement. Steve Lass resolved a case involving the valuation and division of complex stock options and restricted stock in a large, publicly traded company. Terry Kelly and Jerremy Ramp are prosecuting an appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals of a trial court's decision to impute income to a party for purposes of dividing property and ordering maintenance and child support. The party's peak income during the marriage was generated from employment and an ownership interest in a business, both of which were terminated by the party's employer-majority owner prior to trial, and from secondary employment which was no longer available according to expert testimony. The case was tried before Hon. Robert Russell, Arapahoe County District Court After her request for a domestic relations restraining order was denied in Arapahoe County Court, Jerremy Ramp's and Terry Kelly's entertainer client received a money settlement and a formal apology after filing a civil defamation suit in Denver District Court. The client's former boyfriend falsely accused her of illicit conduct in a letter he gave to her employer and shared with media people. David Fine represented the Colorado Democratic Party in its legal challenge to Ralph Nader's candidacy for President of the United States for the Colorado Reform Party. As an arbitrator, Freddie Alvarez has now issued seven decisions in underinsured motorist, consumer, residential real estate: homeowner/builder and homeowner/remodeler, telecommunications, franchisor/franchisee and commercial cases. Steve Lass represented a mediator in moving to quash a subpoena by which a party sought to compel the mediator to testify about statements made in mediation, in contravention of a Colorado statute that make such mediation communications strictly confidential.
At the Podium
Steve Lass made a presentation regarding the issues of "fault" and "contributions" in divorce cases to a conference of lawyers and accounting professionals in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Around the Firm
Woody Garnsey has been appointed President and Jim Hubbell has been appointed Vice President of the Denver Chapter of the newly formed International Network of Boutique Law Firms (INBLF). The INBLF is an organization of top boutique law firms throughout the United States. The INBLF in the process of establishing chapters in other countries. Kelly|Haglund|Garnsey+Kahn will represent the Denver Chapter in the specialties of commercial litigation and family law. Woody and Jim are in the process of building the Denver Chapter through the membership of boutique law firms that specialize in other areas of the law. The INBLF website is www.inblf.com. Kate Swan starts as an associate this October. Kate just finished clerking for Wiley Daniel, United States District Court Judge for the District of Colorado. Kate is a graduate of Georgetown Law School. Before law school, Kate served on Senator John Kerry's legislative staff. Kate will focus on civil litigation and family law. Brooke McKinley, who was our law clerk this past summer, is a third-year student at the University of Colorado Law School where she is Editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. Next year, she will clerk for Wiley Daniel, United States District Court Judge for the District of Colorado. Steve Lass continued to serve as Immediate Past Chair of the Family Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association. In that capacity, Steve coordinated the efforts of the Section to respond to extensive revisions to Rule 16.2 being proposed by the Colorado Supreme Court. Steve also continued to serve on a task force analyzing the possibility of legislation to manage the use of private companies involved in the collection of child support. In the Community
Ed Kahn received the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award from the Rocky Mountain Business Journal. KHGK was sponsor of August fund raising event for El Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores http://centrohumanitario.net/volunteers.htm. El Centro is a is an immigrant day laborer organization in Denver that consists of immigrant day laborers and community advocates united to defend the human rights of Denver's immigrant day laborers. |
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