HBC Title IX attorney John Clune recently went on air to discuss and debate the impact of the Department of Education’s proposed regulations for school responses to sexual abuse. A founding board member of the largest Title IX training body for school administrators, Clune criticized the new regulations, explaining that they will only create more tolerance for gender-based violence in schools and make it harder for schools to discipline offenders. Colorado Public Radio’s article on the debate can be found here.
HBC Welcomes Ken Robinson, Meghan Hungate and Lucy Walker
HBC is delighted to welcome Ken Robinson, Meghan Hungate and Lucy Walker (all formerly of Robinson Hungate, PC) to the firm as of September 1, 2018. Ken, Meghan and Lucy bring to HBC their decades of wisdom and experience in the areas of construction, real estate and commercial litigation.
Ken Robinson - Before opening his own firm in 1999, Ken was a partner in the Boulder real estate and construction firm of Wells, Love and Scoby. His practice emphasizes design and construction litigation, construction contracts and documentation, mechanic's liens, real estate litigation, road law, drainage law, collections and real property boundary and access disputes. Ken has been a Registered Professional Engineer in Colorado since 1977 (now inactive). Ken has had a Martindate-Hubbell AV®Preemient™ Peer Review attorney rating for 25 years.
Meghan Hungate - Meghan's practice focuses on construction, real estate, and business disputes, including construction litigation, construction contracts, mechanic's liens, access and boundary disputes, and real estate and commercial litigation. Prior to joining HBC, Meghan was a partner at Robinson Hungate, PC.
Lucy Kennedy Walker - Lucy's primary focus is construction litigation, representing both owners and contractors in defect and contract disputes. She also represents clients in a wide range of real estate litigation, covering issues ranging from property rights and boundary disputes, to homeowners' association and road and access issues.
HBC's Jim Carpenter Honored as 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Boulder
HBC's Jim Carpenter was selected as a 2019 "Lawyer of the Year" for Boulder by The Best Lawyers in America. Only a single lawyer in each practice area in a community is honored each year. Jim was named for his exceptional work in Mergers and Acquisitions.
This honor follows other HBC's lawyers selections as "Lawyers of the Year": Brad Peterson's selection for Denver/Boulder for Construction Law in 2013, Connie Tromble Eyster's selection for Trusts and Estates and Chris Ford's selection for Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs both in 2017.
HBC Congratulates its Ten 2019 Best Lawyers
HBC is delighted to announce that ten of its lawyers were selected as "Best Lawyers in America" for 2019. Here are the lawyers and the practice areas for which they were selected:
Jim Carpenter: Corporate Law and Governance, Mergers and Acquisitions
Maureen Eldredge: Corporate Law
Bill Meyer: Commercial Litigation
Brad Peterson: Construction Law
Connie Tromble Eyster: Trusts and Estates
Kimberly Hult: Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
Baine Kerr: Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
Chris Ford: Personal Injury Litgation - Plaintiffs
Glen Gordon: Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
David Driscoll: Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
HBC's Baine Kerr, Jonathan Boonin and Lauren Groth Obtain Landmark Settlement with EEOC Against DU Law School
HBC's Baine Kerr, Jonathan Boonin and Lauren Groth represented Professor Lucy Marsh in a landmark equal pay case against DU Law School. HBC represented Professor Marsh in filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, convincing the EEOC to "find cause" and take her case not only on her behalf but on behalf of all female full professors at DU Law School. HBC then joined with the EEOC in representing Professor Marsh in a lawsuit that resulted in the entry in May 2018 of a Consent Decree. After initially refusing to pay Professor Marsh anything, in the Consent Decree, DU agreed to pay Professor Marsh and the other affected female professors a total of $2,660,000 in back pay, compensatory damages and attorneys' fees. In addition, all of these professors are getting substantial pay raises going forward. Moreover, as part of the Consent Decree, DU Law School agreed to the appointment of an external monitor for six years and to annual gender equity studies from an outside labor economist to ensure the problem does not arise again.
Media coverage: Ward, Stephanie Francis, "After Previously Defending Lower Pay for Female Profs, DU Law School enters EEOC Consent Decree, ABA Journal, May 17, 2018.
HBC Welcomes Seasoned Trial Attorneys Daniel Williams and David Driscoll
HBC is delighted to welcome two well-known and experienced trial attorneys to the firm.
Dan Williams - Dan brings to the firm over 17 years of litigation experience in a wide variety of commercial, business, securities and consumer disputes, including bet-the-company and other complex cases for emerging and established companies of all sizes. Dan's clients come from a diverse range of industries, including natural products and outdoor industry, technology firms, life sciences/medical device companies, financial services and energy companies.
David Driscoll - David's practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation, plaintiff's personal injury, environmental torts, and insurance litigation of all types. He also regularly serves as an AAA arbitrator. David is a past president of the Boulder County Bar Association and has been listed in Colorado Super Lawyers and Colorado Best Lawyers.
HBC's John Clune and Lauren Groth File Title IX Action in Montana High School Case
HBC has filed a lawsuit in Missoula, Montana alleging violations of Title IX for a high school's mishandling of repeated reports of a teacher's sexual misconduct toward two students. The suit alleges that the school received a report in 2014 that a Frenchtown, MT music teacher, Troy Bashor, was reported for unlawful sexual contact with a young student. The school took no action against the teacher who went on to sexually assault another student in the fall semester of 2016, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that the second student was forced to transfer schools afer reporting the abuse due to the horrible retaliation from several of the other students who described Bashor as their "favorite teacher." Along with the lawsuit, Bashor is being criminally prosecuted by the Missoula County Prosecutor's Office for his behavior toward both of the students.
HBC attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth are handling the matter. See media coverage at:
"The country's top legal talent joins the Frenchtown Title IX suit," Missoula Independent, 1/11/18.
HBC Welcomes Newest Associate Colleen Koch
Our newest associate, Colleen M. Koch, joined the firm after graduation from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2017. Colleen served as the Managing Editor of the Law Review and she was selected as a member of the Order of the Coif, which honors those graduating in the top 10 percent of the class. With her background as an educator, she will join the firm's nationally-recognized Title IX practice group. She will focus on personal injury, Title IX and general commercial litigation.
HBC Welcomes Lauren Carpenter to the Firm as an Associate Attorney
HBC is very pleased to welcome Lauren E. Carpenter as an associate with the firm. A 2006 Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Lauren brings to the firm over 11 years of legal experience in both private practice and as a JAG in the United States Air Force. At HBC, Lauren will emphasize corporate work, business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, financing and counseling emerging companies.
HBC Attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth File Petition for Certiorari
HBC attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth filed a Peititon for Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Title IX matter of Ross v. University of Tulsa. HBC client Aibgail Ross was raped by a student athlete at Tulsa and learned thereafter that another female student had previously reported the same offender to the Campus Security office for an earlier rape. No action was taken by the school following the first report and the security department threw the first victim's written statement in the garbage. On appeal, the 10th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the case ruling that notice of a dangerous campus offender given to Campus Security is insufficient to put the school as a whole on notice. The court concluded that despite Tulsa's deliberate failure to respond to the earlier report, there is no liability without showing notice to a higher official.
HBC has argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that where the school policy instructs students to report sexual misconduct to Campus Security and where Tulsa's security officers are the school's Title IX investigators, the school was sufficiently on notice and should be held responsible for their deliberate inaction. A copy of HBC's Petition can be found here or at http://www.hbcboulder.com/pdf/RossPetition.pdf