On May 21, 2013, Maki Iatridis, BHGR Partner, will be speaking on FTC Guidance Regarding the FTC’s current view of the types of environmental claims the agency may find deceptive under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

This is a joint effort of the Business Law and Natural Resources sections of the Boulder County Bar Association.

Particulars TBA. CLE credit will be available.

May 18, 2013   BHGR attorney Ann Rhodes participates in the rescheduled Earth Day Tree Planting in the Fourmile Canyon area of Boulder County.

On May 1, 2013, Maki Iatridis, BHGR Partner, is presenting at the annual Colorado Brownfields Foundation Conference 2013 to be held at the Denver West Sheraton Hotel in Lakewood, Colorado. Mr. Iatridis will be speaking on Recent Developments in Environmental Due Diligence. He will review recent developments in environmental due diligence for commercial real estate transactions, including: ASTM guidance on Phase II sampling; case law interpreting CERCLA defenses; continuing obligations; soil vapor intrusion; EPA tenant guidance; green buildings guidance; and ASTM guidance on acquisition of rural and forested properties.

For more information and to register, go to Register Here!

A photograph taken by BHGR's very own Linda D. Smith has been featured on the cover of the May 2013 edition of The Colorado Lawyer magazine.

http://www.cobar.org/tcl/tcl_vol.cfm?issue=current

Delphic Investigative Services has agreed to be a Sponsor at the Inaugural Private Investigators Awards Banquet presented by FirstBank of Colorado and hosted by the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado.

The event is Saturday, April 20th 2013, at the Heather Ridge Golf and Country Club, located at 13521 E. Iliff Avenue in Aurora, Colorado. The evening will begin with a reception and silent auction, followed by a dinner and program.

In addition to a PI of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award, the honorees will include Public Servant of the Year (Senator Linda Newell), the Law Firm of Berg Hill Greenleaf & Ruscitti, Law Enforcement (Detective Sue Wynn, Aurora PD) and specialty investigators from around Colorado.

Email chris@delphicinfo.com for details.

Peter Nichols, Of Counsel with BHGR, will present at the University of Denver Water Law Review Symposium “Addressing Supply and Demand Imbalances in the Colorado River Basin” on April 12, 2013.

Mr. Nichols’ topic is "The future of transfer from agricultural to municipal use: Changing Colorado legislation to allow for more flexible water leases."

The Symposium will focus on the groundbreaking Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study. It will be held at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in the Ricketson Law Building.

The study, jointly funded and prepared by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the seven Colorado River Basin states, projects startling supply and demand imbalances throughout the basin and its adjacent areas over the next 50 years. Water law and policy experts from around the nation will discuss implications of the study, as well as a broad range of adaptation strategies as the West continues to rapidly grow into the 21st century.

The Symposium will be keynoted by Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. Contact Jonathan King at jking13@law.du.edu.

COLORADO RIVER BASIN

4/4/2013

Rick Greenleaf was recommended by the Membership Committee as a Fellow to the College of Commercial Arbitrators. His application was unanimously approved.

The Boulder County Business Report hosted a CEO Roundtable panel on the essential consumer motivations for buying into renewable energy products or signing up for pilot programs that save energy and money.

Apparently, consumers are willing to change their behavior when there is an immediate benefit in the form of lower prices.  If renewable energy can ensure increased cost savings, objections virtually vanish.

Government dollars and tax credits provide incentives to renewable energy businesses such as wind energy and converting gas-powered cars to electricity.  However, these incentives are not available indefinitely and when terminated, negatively impact renewable energy research and the availability of energy conversions.

Panelists at the conference included principals and consultants from Xcel Energy, Inc., Navigant Consulting, Inc., Boulder Hybrid Conversions, LLC, Siemens Energy Inc., eGauge Systems, LLC, Zam Energy, LLC, and Homer Energy, LLC.

Berg | Hill | Greenleaf | Ruscitti LLP is a sponsor of the CEO Roundtable, along with EKS&H PC's Boulder office.

For more information, see Panelists cite keys for renewable energy

On February 27, Katie Pratt, BHGR attorney, participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Education Committee of the American Subcontractors Association of Colorado (ASAC). The presentation was titled Pot on the Jobsite, Amendment 64 Impact!

The 8-person panel, composed of professionals from a wide range of industries including construction, safety, medical, legal, workers’ comp, law enforcement, and the State of Colorado, responded to questions seeking to assess the impact of Amendment 64 to business policies and practices:

     • What if a company has a no tolerance drug policy and also an EAP for their employees – is this viewed as a contradiction in policy? 
     • How are workers’ comp and unemployment benefits impacted when an employee is injured on the job/injures someone else on the job or terminated due to medical or recreational marijuana use?
     • Is recreational marijuana legal?
     • How will OSHA handle marijuana in the workplace?
     • Can employers in Colorado ask job candidates about their marijuana use?
     • Do the answers change if we are talking about medical marijuana?

The panel discussion was facilitated by Jeff Wasden, business owner.

(Photo By Joe Amon / The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Heidi Potter, Partner at BHGR, argued the first case before the Supreme Court to be held in the new chambers at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center on January 23, 2013.

Ms Potter has argued cases before the Court of Appeals, but not the Supreme Court.

Upon learning her case would be up first, Ms Potter stated “I was already excited, but now I’m really excited.”

Read more at Supreme Court Holds First Arguments In New Courthouse

The Colorado Bar Association (CBA) congratulates David Hill, Founding Partner, on his more than 50 years of outstanding service to the legal community. In appreciation of his continued support, the CBA is giving Mr. Hill an honorary lifetime membership.

On Thursday, January 17, 2013, at Laudisio’s in Boulder, CBA president Mark Fogg will present Mr. Hill with a lapel pin and certificate.

On Thursday, November 29, 2012, Peter Schaub, Associate, will be presenting on the topic, The Anatomy of an Oil & Gas Lease.   The event is sponsored by the Boulder County Bar Association (BCBA), and will take place at noon at the offices of Bryan Cave HRO, 1801 13th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado.

The event is part of the November series of events sponsored by the BCBA, and offers one CLE credit.

For more information and to register, see: http://www.boulder-bar.org/calendar.php?m=1#event_888

On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, BHGR Partner Maki Iatridis presented his summary of the new FTC Green Guides to the CEO roundtable. The roundtable is sponsored by the Boulder County Business Report.  The topic was Natural Products.

For more information see:Maki Iatridis Green Guides Summary.pdf

Ann Rhodes plants a tree in the Fourmile Canyon burn area.

On Saturday, November 10, Ann Rhodes, Associate, presented a proposal for a 2013 Tree Planting Project to the Colorado Bar Association (CBA) Board of Governors. After her presentation, the CBA endorsed a statewide tree planting project and committed funds. The Project will organize attorneys and community members to plant trees in 5 areas of Colorado devastated by fires in 2012. The Project is sponsored by the Environmental Law Section of the CBA, of which Ann is a member of the Advisory Council.

Estate Planning Opportunities and Pitfalls 

David G. Hill, Partner, and Jonathan A. Lehmann, Associate, are giving two presentations in October at The Community Foundation of Boulder County's Continuing Education Seminar for Attorneys, Trust Officers, Insurance Professionals and Accountants.  Mr. Hill will be speaking on The Buy-Sell Agreement as well as on the topic Charitable Giving: A review of charitable and philanthropic techniques for today's financial and political environment. Mr. Lehmann will join Mr. Hill for this offering.

For more information and to register, see http://www.commfound.org/proadv/ContEdSeminarFlyer2012.pdf

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
7:30 am - 12:30 pm, breakfast included
Spice of Life Event Center
5706 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder 

George V. Berg, Jr. Founding Partner,  and Alan C. Friedberg, Of Counsel, have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 Colorado Super Lawyers list.  Mr. Berg is recognized for his outstanding contributions in the practice of construction litigation, and Mr. Friedberg is acknowledged for his achievements in the practice of business litigation.

Mr. Rudy Verner, Associate, has been named as a 2013 Colorado Rising Star in the practice of civil litigation defense.

Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

Kathleen Alt, Partner, and Cory Helton, Associate, participated in the Boulder County Business Report CEO Roundtable held Tuesday, October 16, 2012. This month’s topic focused on the tech industry.

For more discussion, see http://www.bcbr.com/article/20121016/NEWS/121019930/0/SEARCH

Becky Rigo (front, in black sweater) joined the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce in 2012. Wanting to give back to the community, Becky joined the Chamber when she moved to the Evergreen area. She looks forward to becoming an integral member of the Evergreen business community and the neighboring mountain foothills by serving their real estate, business, and corporate legal needs.

We are pleased to announce that Rick Greenleaf has been named to The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 in the practice area of Construction Law. Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 39,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.1 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."

This September 8, BHGR participants Kathleen Alt, John Banashek, George Berg, Alan Friedberg, Rick Greenleaf, Patrick Haines, Jason Pink, Peter Schaub, Staci Stark and Rudy Verner were among the 2,445 registrants who rode in the 2012 Elevations Buffalo Bicycle Classic, a cycling fundraiser. Since 2003, more than $1.6 million in scholarships have been awarded to promising students in CU-Boulder’s College of Arts and Sciences. The ride is the single largest source of scholarships within the CU College of Arts and Sciences, which is the largest and oldest college at the university. BHGR is proud to support the Elevations Buffalo Bicycle Classic.