HBC is pleased to report that two of its attorneys, Dan Williams and Lauren Groth, successfully partnered with the ACLU of Colorado and a team of civil rights lawyers to resolve a class-action lawsuit brought in the US District Court for the District of Colorado regarding the need to protect medically vulnerable inmates in the Weld County Jail from COVID-19. The resolution includes important safeguards for inmates, and also contains measures to reduce the number of persons detained in the jail during the COVID-19 crisis. Click here for an article appearing in the Denver Post that describes the settlement. https://www.denverpost.com/2020/12/01/aclu-weld-county-sheriff-covid-19-lawsuit/
HBC Settles Title IX Lawsuit with University of Arizona
This spring, HBC partners Lauren Groth, Kimberly Hult, and John Clune settled a Title IX lawsuit against the University of Arizona for claims arising from its failure to respond to notice that a UA football player, Orlando Bradford, had engaged in serious dating violence directed toward HBC’s client and other undergraduate women at the school. For nearly six months after high-ranking officials first documented specific accounts of Mr. Bradford’s dating violence, HBC’s client continued to suffer from severe physical and emotional abuse while the University failed to take action to assist her. In February 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, in an important ruling for Title IX law, found as a matter of law that the University had the required notice of Mr. Bradford’s dating violence and was deliberately indifferent to that sexual violence. In its ruling, the court concluded that Mr. Bradford’s dating violence was gender-based discrimination that fell squarely within the protections offered by Title IX. The settlement, which is public, is the largest known settlement of Title IX claims against a public university involving a single plaintiff in a dating violence case. The full article from the Arizona Daily Star may be viewed here.
Kimberly Hult and Lauren Groth publish article for ABA Civil Litigation Section on Title IX and Dating Violence
This summer, HBC attorneys, Kimberly Hult and Lauren Groth, wrote an article published by the ABA Civil Right Litigation Section of Litigation that discusses some important and helpful new Title IX rulings that treat interpersonal violence – or dating violence – as actionable under Title IX. Among other notable developments, the article discusses the Arizona federal court’s decision in DeGroote v. Arizona Board of Regents, an HBC case that resulted in a significant ruling recognizing that IPV is sexual discrimination under Title IX. See the full article below.
HBC IS DELIGHTED TO WELCOME MARIANNE LUU-CHEN AS OF COUNSEL TO THE FIRM
Continuing to build its depth of expertise in the field of estate planning and trust and estate administration, Hutchinson Black and Cook trumpets the arrival of Marianne Luu-Chen, Esq., as a new member of our team. Marianne’s experience in estate planning was honed as a solo practitioner in Boulder and as an attorney in Denver at both Ballard Spahr, LLP and Donelson Barry, LLC. An active member of the Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado Bar Association, Marianne has spoken on topics such as use of life insurance in estate planning, and serves on the prestigious Committee on the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. We are thrilled to add Marianne’s knowledge, energy and enthusiasm to HBC.
HBC Recognized by Boulder Community Foundation
The Boulder Community Foundation recognizes Hutchinson Black and Cook for its contribution to the Foundation’s COVID-19 Boulder County Response Fund. Read the full article here
Case Advisory - COVID-19 at Weld County Jail
HBC is pleased to report that two of its attorneys, Dan Williams and Lauren Groth, successfully partnered with the ACLU of Colorado and a team of civil rights lawyers to secure a precedent-setting ruling from the US District Court for the District of Colorado regarding the need to protect medically vulnerable inmates in the Weld County Jail from COVID-19. Click here for the press release from the ACLU of Colorado.
HBC Welcomes Randi Grassgreen as Of Counsel
HBC is thrilled to announce that Randi M. Grassgreen, Esq., has joined Connie Eyster, Susan Boothby, Jane Paddison and Lisa Willcox as part of the Trust and Estate team. Randi’s expertise in family wealth planning has been honed through 25 years of experience as a lawyer, accountant, and advisor, most recently as Shareholder and Managing Director of Family Wealth Planning at Crestone Capital in Boulder. Given Randi’s deep, long-standing relationship with Crestone and its clients, she will continue providing guidance to those clients on complex wealth planning matters in her role at HBC. As an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado and frequent speaker on estate planning topics, Randi has further developed a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding counselor to high net worth families. We could not be more excited to enhance our estate planning group with Randi’s creative and sophisticated approaches to planning.
Client Advisory - Contracts in the Era of COVID-19
Coronavirus: Planning for Contractual Disruptions
By: Lauren Groth, Member
With the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) changing daily, businesses in Boulder and throughout the Front Range are grappling with an increasing number of unpredictable events. Declarations of state emergencies, widespread cancellations, and social distancing measures all have an impact on business operations and revenue. While no one can predict where we will be in the coming weeks and months, planning and preparation are essential to weathering these uncharted waters.
Force Majeure Protections
For businesses providing goods and services pursuant to existing contracts, the first place to look when planning for the unpredictable is your contract’s force majeure provision. Force majeure provisions, by definition, address the parties’ options when dealing with circumstances outside of their control, for example, war, famine or other “acts of God.” Force majeure provisions provide protection to parties unable to perform by allowing the party facing unexpected difficulties to suspend, postpone, or end performance of its duties under the contract.
The language in your contract will provide guidance as to (1) what circumstances allow a party to be excused from performance of obligations under the contract and (2) what the party must do to seek the protection of a force majeure clause. In most contracts, a force majeure clause cannot be invoked simply because an unexpected event occurs. Rather, a party seeking relief must show that an event covered by the contract has occurred and was out of the party’s control and that the event had an effect on the party’s ability to satisfy its obligations under the contract.
If your business is anticipating difficulty in meeting its obligations under a contract in the coming months, it is important to look closely at existing contract language to determine whether the force majeure language is likely to cover current circumstances. While some contracts may explicitly mention plague or pandemic as triggering events, others may have more broadly inclusive language under which coronavirus could arguably fall. From there, you can evaluate what evidence or information you might need to establish the effect of coronavirus on your ability to perform, and when and how your contract requires you to provide notice to the other party.
Proactive Negotiations
We all know that business continues even in the midst of uncertainty. Companies and individuals negotiating new contracts and deals can also reduce their risk of future liability by being sensitive to the need to account for issues such as shutdowns, quarantines, and supply chain shortages in their contract language. Think carefully about whether existing schedules have built in the time necessary to account for possible delays, and whether anticipated costs reflect the likelihood that prices may rise in the coming months. If you are not the party responsible for obtaining the necessary materials or completing a project on time, you may want to consider adding provisions requiring the other party to take reasonable steps to minimize the impacts of a force majeure event such as coronavirus or place a limit on the allowable scheduling changes that can occur.
Although no one can fully anticipate what the future will bring, businesses can review existing contracts with an eye towards possible performance issues, and proactively negotiate to reduce the risk of contractual disputes down the road. If you have questions or concerns about your contractual obligations and how coronavirus may impact your business, please contact us.