Join Kevin Cheney and Mallory Hasbrook for a discussion about Mallory's career in oil and gas law along with estate planning and probate. They also discuss Mallory's term as chairwoman of the CBA YLD Executive Council. Finally, they discuss Mallory's advice for law students and young lawyers.

Christine Hernandez is a partner at Hernandez and Associates, the largest immigration law firm in Colorado. She is an active leader in the legal community and was recently appointed as Co-Chair of the CBA/CJI Diversity on the Bench Joint Initiative.  In this podcast, she shares with us her life growing up in Virginia, navigating her way to and through law school, and why diversity and inclusion is important to her.

Join host Kevin Cheney with guest Siddhartha Rathod as they discuss criminal justice reform, civil rights law, and running your own law firm. Siddhartha is the co-owner and co-founder of Rathod Mohamedbhai, LLC, one of the preeminent civil rights law firms in region.

What lessons from Colorado Access to Justice history do we need to remember? Our interview with Jon Asher, Director of Colorado Legal Services, Kath Schoen, Former Director of CBA Local Bar Relations and Access to Justice, and Penny Wagner, Statewide Sherlock Program Coordinator, explores where Colorado has been, some of the current access to justice challenges, and where Colorado is going. They discuss the history of legal aid, access to justice policy, and the history of Colorado’s nationally recognized Sherlock Program. They share what gives them hope for the future of access to justice in Colorado and share some success stories that stand out from each of their outstanding careers as access to justice champions. This episode also features Kathleen McCrohan, Associate Director of the Colorado Lawyers Committee on our pro bono corner. If you have a topic you would like to hear about or have a program or issue you want to discuss on Stairway to ATJ please email us at ATJPodcast@cobar.org

Sarah Parady is a partner at Lowrey Parady Lebsack and former president of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association. In this podcast, she discusses her upbringing and thirst for knowledge, and starting an early college at the age of 16. Sarah also candid with Courtney Holm and Nicoal Sperrazza about her decision to shift her focus away from litigation, as well as the importance of building a strong community around you, both in work and in life.

David Hersh is a senior shareholder at Burg Simpson and well-renowned in the legal community for his litigation skills and expertise. He has also spent countless hours and time on impressing upon the importance of attorney wellbeing through his work on the Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. In this podcast, he discusses his own personal struggles, re-prioritizing his life, and finding a healthy balance for himself and his family. Hosts: Courtney Holm  Nicoal Sperrazza    Guest: David Hersh   Continuing the Story: · David Hersh · Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being · Video: Focusing on Wellness

Kyle Robinson is in-house counsel for CommonSpirit Health, one of the largest healthcare non-profits in the world. On this week's episode of Gettin' Legal With it, join Kyle and your host Kevin Cheney as they discuss Kyle's career path into health law. They discuss what skills and education can be useful when considering going into health law and what Kyle's most valuable extracurricular activities were in law school. Additionally, they discuss the difference between being "in-house" and working for a traditional law firm. Finally, they discuss how COVID has impacted health care from the changing nature of where practicing medicine takes place to vaccine mandates.

Sumi Lee is the Head of Judicial Diversity Outreach for the Colorado Judicial Branch.  In this podcast, Sumi discusses immigrating to the United States, learning the English language by pocket dictionary in school, and her fearlessness in trying new things.  She also discusses the importance of family, authenticity, and why she decided to dedicate her career to increasing diversity on the bench.  Sumi is a past president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado, 2014 COBALT graduate, and is a tireless volunteer and leader in many other organizations.  Hosts:   Nicoal Sperrazza  Courtney Holm  Continuing the Story:  Article: Sumi Lee Tackles Diversity on the Bench  Law School…Yes We Can! 

After a long and illustrious legal career, Velveta Golightly-Howell is now the CEO of Sister-to-Sister: International Network of Professional African American Women, Inc. Listen in as Velveta sits down with Nicoal Sperrazza and Sumi Lee to discuss growing up in a tight-knit community in Alabama, her deep love of learning and education, and her personal experiences including being amongst the first students to integrate into formerly all-white public schools. Velveta was inducted into the Colorado Women‘s Hall of Fame in 2020, and received the Colorado Women’s Bar Association’s Mary Lathrop Award the same year.

Why does representation matter and is it enough? These questions are at the heart of this conversation with Alexi Freeman, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Denver Law, and Laura Maggio, an immigration attorney with Muhaisen & Muhaisen.

Established by former CBA President, Kathleen Hearn Croshal, the CBA’s Greater Colorado Task Force works to eliminate the barriers to participation in programs, leadership, and communications for CBA members who practice outside the Denver metro area, thereby improving the CBA’s value and relevance to its membership. In this episode, Kevin speaks with a member of the GCTF, Daniel St. John. Dan discusses the work of the GCTF, the ongoing lawyer shortage outside of the Denver metro area, and the legal needs of greater Colorado.   Community involvement is important to Dan. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Collins Breakfast and on the Executive Council of the Colorado Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Dan was the president of the Larimer County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and a member of the executive committee of the Larimer County Bar Association from 2016 to 2018. He is an active volunteer with all of these organizations. Dan is also a member of the Law Club of Denver, an organization dedicated to teaching legal ethics. Finally, Dan serves as a Commissioner on the Eighth Judicial District Judicial Performance Commission and, in that capacity, reviews local judges and makes retention recommendations when they stand for retention. Dan’s practice focuses on general civil litigation, common interest community law, landlord-tenant law, real estate law, general business law, and civil appeals. Dan is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Wyoming.

Halleh Omidi is a partner at Hogan Omidi and practices family law.  Raised by her Iranian parents and fully bilingual in Farsi and English, she discusses growing up as a Persian in Colorado and shares what it’s like to be judged for not being “diverse enough.”  Halleh is a member of the Executive Council for the CBA Family Law Section and is a 2020 Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training program graduate.   Hosts: Linda Moss Bonnie Schriner   Guest: Halleh Omidi   Continuing the Story: Hogan Omidi, PC CBA Family Law Section Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training program  

Pro se parties in family law cases are unfortunately not uncommon. Securing full representation, or even legal assistance can be unattainable for many families. However, on this episode of Stairway to ATJ, we discuss how attorneys can help without providing full representation and walk us through the resources available at the Court Resource Center. We welcome guests James Garts of Garts Law and Melissa Walter, 1st JD Self Representative Litigant Coordinator, as they give us some insight into what families go through when representing themselves and what attorneys can do to help.   Also, October is host to Pro Bono Week! In this episode’s Pro Bono Corner, we highlight three of our favorite programs taking place this month to celebrate: 4th JD/Pikes Peak region, Arapahoe/Douglas (email 18SelfHelp@judicial.state.co.us), and Denver (email Virginia Virginia@denbar.org).   If you have a topic you would like to hear about or have a program or issue you want to discuss on Stairway to ATJ please email us at ATJpodcast@cobar.org.  

In this episode, Bonnie Schriner and Nicoal Sperrazza sit down with current CBA President, Joi Kush, and former CBA President, Dave Johnson.  Joi and Dave discuss significant moments in each of their lives and how they manifested their individual passions for service and calls to leadership.  They also discuss how a chance encounter at a Bar Association function unfolded into an eventual professional partnership and the opening of their own law firm, Johnson Kush.   Hosts: Bonnie Schriner Nicoal Sperrazza   Guest: Joi Kush Dave Johnson   Continuing the Story: Colorado Lawyer, President’s Message by Joi Kush Peace Corps

Over the past few weeks, this podcast has looked at what Hispanic Heritage is, the dearth of Hispanic changemakers in the form of attorneys and politicians in this state, as well as topics that are of particular importance to the Colorado Latino community. In our final episode of ¡Bienvenidos! our discussion takes a forward-looking lens as we focus on what is happening in the community to change the status quo. Hispanic Latinos make up over 20% of the population in Colorado, but only 6% of the state’s attorneys. Therefore, it is obvious that the Colorado Latino community faces unique barriers to getting into college, getting into law school, and making a career in the law. Working to change that is Law School…Yes We Can. Today we are honored to have in the studio the founder of Law School…Yes We Can, Judge Christine Arguello and the organization’s Executive Director, Maria Arias.

Vikrama (Vika) Chandrashekar is the President of the South Asian Bar Association of Colorado (SABA) and a member of the Trial Section of Moye|White. He handles matters across a wide range of industries concerning general commercial litigation, with an increasing focus on bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and restructuring. Vika has significant experience in property, real estate, and landlord/tenant disputes, complex business disputes, construction matters, and with municipal/governmental issues. On the bankruptcy side, Vika has successfully litigated adversary proceedings and counseled clients through complex bankruptcy issues under both Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. He enjoys the intricacies of trial work and relishes the opportunity to appear in the courtroom. Before joining Moye White, Vika worked at a local firm where he represented cities, municipalities, school districts, and other public entities involving civil rights and tort claims. In this role, Vika defended government entities and employees against a variety of claims in federal and state court. He worked to identify and execute strategies that benefit his clients at all phases from pre-litigation through case resolution by dispositive motion, trial, settlement, or appeal. He has also worked for the Denver City Attorney’s Office and the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. In his conversation with Kevin, he discusses his day-to-day as a member of the trail section for a large firm, the South Asian Bar Association, the Supreme Court’s new rules on EDI and other professional responsibilities training for attorneys, and his advice on law students considering commercial litigation.  

In today’s episode, host Annie Martínez leads a discussion on what it means to be an agent of change in the Hispanic community in greater Colorado. From recent census data, we know that almost 22% of Coloradoans identify as Hispanic, which is up from past years. We also know that there is a large contingency of the Hispanic community living in the Aurora area. It is our honor to bring into the conversation two Hispanic members of the Aurora City Council: Crystal Murillo, Diversity Program Coordinator, Undergraduate Admission for the University of Denver who represents Ward I and Juan Marcano, BIM Manager and architectural designer who represents Ward IV.  

Jon Olafson is a partner at Lewis Brisbois in the Denver office and as part of his role on the CBA’s Executive Council, he chairs the Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee.  He also serves as co-chair of the newly formed Colorado Diverse Attorney Community Circle (CODACC).  He sits down with Courtney Holm and Nicoal Sperrazza to discuss his small-town upbringing, why inclusivity is important to him, and how he developed his own call to action.   Hosts: Nicoal Sperrazza Courtney Holm   Guest: Jon Olafson   Continuing the Story: Colorado Diverse Attorney Community Circle Denver Philharmonic Orchestra Opera Colorado

In the second installment of our limited series podcast honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, we discuss Hispanic women in the law, particularly in Colorado. As of a report issued in 2020 by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, 6.42% of the attorney population in Colorado identify as Hispanic. Per the census, we know that the Hispanic population in Colorado is 21.8%. While we don't know the number of Hispanic attorneys that identify as women, we do know that nationally the statistics are not great. Per a report by the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), women make up about 2% of US Hispanic lawyers. We also saw in these reports that women attorneys tend to leave the practice earlier — at around the 10-year mark. With these sobering statistics in mind, host Annie Martínez speaks with two Hispanic women attorneys practicing in Colorado to hear their insights and their experiences, what led them to the law, and what they've had to overcome. Both of our guests today own their own practices. Yuridia Bazan of Yuri Bazan focuses on family relations and personal injury and Cristina Uribe Reyes of Uribe Reyes Law works on family-based immigration, deportation defense, and citizenship applications.    

What is Hispanic Heritage Month? Who exactly is considered Hispanic? And is it Hispanic or Latin? What about latinx or latine? Is one more correct than the others? Introducing ¡Bienvenidos! A limited podcast series celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month brought to you by the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations.   Host, Annie Martínez, calls her legal practice a “defense-minded practice.” Her solo firm, Bridge Legal Solutions, handles family, criminal and juvenile defense law, and often her cases are at the intersection of those areas. Annie is the current 2nd Vice President of the Denver Bar Association and Past President of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. Each week, Annie will explore the backgrounds and careers of some of Colorado’s leading Hispanic and Latin lawyers while discussing a wide variety of topics relevant to the month’s celebrations.   On today’s inaugural episode, Annie speaks with Carlos Romo, President-Elect of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and a nationally recognized environmental and natural resources attorney with Williams Weese Pepple & Ferguson. Carlos discusses his professional journey as an attorney and his personal journey as the son of both Hispanic and Creole heritage. Annie and Carlos explore the history of Hispanic Heritage Month, the importance of community, and what being “Hispanic” means to them.