Speakers Bios
Julie M. Behrman is an associate at Burns, Figa & Will,
P.C. where her practice focuses primarily on commercial and real estate
litigation. She also represents attorneys in disciplinary matters and
provides ethics advice. Prior to joining Burns, Figa & Will, Julie worked
for the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. During law school, Ms.
Behrman was an editor for the University of Denver Water Law Review. She
currently serves on the executive board for the Colorado Bar Association's
Young Lawyers Division.
Justice Michael L. Bender was appointed to the Colorado
Supreme Count in January of 1997. He was the President and shareholder of
Michael L. Bender, P.C. from 1993 until his appointment. Previously, he
practiced law with firms in Colorado and California. From 1981 until 1986 he
was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver College of Law,
teaching criminal law, criminal trial advocacy, and employment
discrimination law. He has served on many committees including as Liaison
Member to the following Supreme Court Committees: Co-Chair, Colorado Supreme
Court Standing Committee of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, 2003- ;
Caseflow Leadership Taskforce, 2002-; Attorney Regulation Advisory
Committee, 1997-; Public Education Committee, 1998-; Unauthorized Practice
of Law Committee, 1997-; Colorado’s Attorney Fund for Client Protection,
1998-; Committee on Ethical Issues in Family Law, 2000-; Colorado Judicial
Branch Mentoring Committee, 2001-. Chair, District Court, County Court and
Magistrate Need Committees of the State Court Administrator’s Office, 1998-;
Member, Office of Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee, 2000-; Co-Chair,
Committee to Review and Revise Attorney Regulation System, 1997-1998.
Member, Governor's Task Force on Civil Justice Reform, (1999); Colorado Bar
Association: Board of Governors, 1989-1991, 1980-1982; American Bar
Association: Member ABA Criminal Justice Standards Committee, 1997-2000;
Chair, Criminal Justice Section, 1990-1991. Member, Law Alumni Board,
University of Colorado School of Law, 1999-2001; Member, U.S. District Court
Committee for Criminal Justice Act for District of Colorado, 1991-1993;
Colorado Trial Lawyer’s Association, Board of Directors, 1985-1987.
Justice Bender received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1964 and his
J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1967. In 1967, he
attended the Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure, Masters Program at
Georgetown Law Center and participated in the Barrett E. Prettyman
Fellowship Training. Honors include the Outstanding Judicial Officer of the
Year in 2000 and he was co-winner of the Denver Bar Association’s Volunteer
Lawyer of the Year in 1988.
Cynthia F. Covell graduated from the University of
Colorado in 1974 and from the University of Denver College of Law in 1977.
She has been a director and shareholder of Alperstein & Covell P.C. in
Denver since 1985. Her practice emphasizes water rights matters,
representing municipalities, non-profit organizations, individuals and
businesses in the acquisition, transfer, sale, change and adjudication of
water rights and water supplies, and in administrative proceedings regarding
water matters. Ms. Covell has been a member of the CBA Ethics Committee since
1986, has chaired that committee, and is a member of the Colorado Supreme
Court Standing Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct. She is also
a member of the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Advisory
Committee, and a member of the Court’s hearing board panel for disciplinary
cases. Ms. Covell lectures frequently on ethics matters, particularly as they
relate to water and natural resource law practices.
Justice Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr. was appointed by Governor
Roy Romer to the Colorado Supreme Court on April 18, 1996 and subsequently
retained by Colorado voters for a ten-year term, commencing January 1999.
Previously, Justice Hobbs practiced law for 25 years, with emphasis on
water, environment, land use, and transportation. He was a former Senior
Partner at then Hobbs, Trout & Raley P.C. and a Partner at Davis, Graham &
Stubbs. Justice Hobbs has served in the following: Adjunct Professor,
Environmental Law, Master's Program in Environmental Policy and Management
at the University of Denver; First Assistant Attorney General, Natural
Resources Section, State of Colorado; Enforcement Attorney, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; and Law Clerk for Judge William E. Doyle,
U.S. Tenth Circuit Court. He taught sixth grade in New York City and served
with the Peace Corps in South America (1967-68 Colombia). He received his
B.A. Magna Cum Laude from University of Notre Dame with a major in history
and his J.D. from the University of California Berkeley, 1971. He holds an
Order of the Coif, and was Supreme Court Editor and California Law Review
while at Berkeley. He is admitted to practice in Colorado and California.
He is currently serving as: Vice-President, Colorado Foundation for Water
Education; Co-Convener, Dividing the Waters (Western Water Judges
Educational Project); Member Colorado Author’s League. He is a member,
American, Colorado, and Denver Bar Associations; Fellow, American Bar
Foundation and Colorado Bar Foundation; Former Vice Chair, Colorado Air
Quality Commission and Metropolitan Air Quality Council; Former Member,
Governor's Water Roundtable, Governor’s Transportation Roundtable,
Metropolitan Transportation Development Commission, Wilderness Air Quality
Related Values Task Force. Environment 2000 Citizens Advisory Committee.
Jennifer H. Hunt is a shareholder with Hill & Robbins, P.C., where her practice emphasizes both complex commercial litigation and water and natural-resources law. In her water practice, she has represented both individual water users and government entities (including the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, the Southwestern Water Conservation District and the Republican River Water Conservation District) in water-rights adjudications and related litigation. Jennifer was born and raised in Ohio. She received a B.A. from the Ohio State University in 1992, and her J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1998. She is a board member and serves on the Executive Committee of the Colorado Lawyers’ Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Colorado Common Cause and the the Colorado Women’s Bar Association.
Melinda Kassen directs Trout Unlimited’s Western Water Project. The Project seeks to conserve, protect and restore good quality river flows for healthy coldwater fisheries in six Western states by participating mostly in state proceedings and by partnering with diverters. She also serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the Inter-Basin Compact Commission representing environmental and recreational interests. Ms. Kassen came to TU from ICF Kaiser International, where she helped negotiate the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement and lobbied for funding to execute it. In the 103rd Congress, she was Environmental Counsel to the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. Before that, she worked at the Environmental Defense Fund, Rocky Mountain Office on water and toxics, including as part of the team that secured EPA’s veto of the Two Forks Dam. During a sabbatical, she taught environmental and administrative law classes at the University of Denver, College of Law. Her first Colorado job was with the Office of the Attorney General representing state agencies on water quality and water rights matters, including the instream flow program. She started her career as a Los Angeles prosecutor. Raised in Ohio, she received her AB from Dartmouth College
magna cum laude and her JD from Stanford Law School.
Stephen H. Leonhardt is a shareholder with the law firm of Burns, Figa & Will, P.C., in Greenwood Village. He works primarily in the area of water law, as well as environmental and governmental law and related litigation and appeals. Steve represents the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District and various other public agencies and private parties on a variety of water and governmental matters. Steve grew up in Colorado Springs, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis (B.S.C.E. with honors, 1982) and Stanford Law School (J.D., 1985). He has spoken and written articles on water law issues, and on the initiative and referendum process in Colorado. Steve was a member of the Ethics Committee of the Colorado Bar Association from 1988 to 1996, and lectures frequently on issues of legal ethics.
Jamie Sudler has worked in the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel since 1992. With a law degree from the University of Denver, he was licensed to practice in 1977. His undergraduate degree is from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1989, he took three years off from the practice of law to pursue graduate studies in sociology at the State University of New York.
Early in his career he was a Denver Deputy District Attorney. He was an associate in the firm of Rothgerber, Appel & Powers and then was with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in its Special Prosecutions Unit.
He has taught Legal Profession at the University of Denver, College of Law. Currently, Jamie teaches Ethics School and regularly lectures to lawyers about various issues including trust accounts, fees and fee agreements. Jamie designed and developed Trust Account School which is offered 4 times a year to Colorado attorneys and office administrators. This half-day course helps lawyers understand and avoid trust account problems that arise in everyday practice.
James S. Witwer is a shareholder at the Denver law firm of Trout, Raley, Montaño, Witwer & Freeman, P.C. He represents municipal, business and agricultural clients in the areas of water rights, eminent domain, public lands and environmental law, and is a frequent speaker on these topics. Jim graduated from Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude and with distinction in Political Science). He received his J.D. from the University of Colorado with Order of the Coif. Jim serves on the Colorado Supreme Court's Water Court Committee.