J.D. Snodgrass - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Construction Law; Real Estate; Business Representation; Civil, Commercial and Construction Litigation; Mediation and Arbitration
J.D. handles a broad range of matters that include litigation involving commercial, construction, real estate and contract disputes. J.D. has handled complex real estate transactions and has represented clients in the sale and purchase of business interests. He advises clients regarding construction contract issues, including the negotiation and drafting of construction contacts, and has been involved in construction claims issues and litigation. He also acts as a neutral party in mediation and settlement conferences and as an arbitrator.J.D. serves on the Community Advisory Board of the combined Wells Fargo Banks in Grand Junction. He also serves on the panel of volunteer judges for the Colorado Attorney Regulation System and is a former member of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission.

J.D. is admitted to practice in Colorado and before the U.S. District Court for Colorado and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association (past Executive Committee member, past Regional Vice President and former Chairman and Member of the Litigation Council), the Mesa County Bar Association (past president, board member), the American Bar Association Litigation Section, the American Judicature Society, the Colorado Bar Foundation and the Mesa County Pro Bono Project, Inc. (past board member). He received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 1972, with honors, his Masters of Science in Sociology at Colorado State University in 1968, and his Bachelor of Science in Business from Emporia State University in 1966. J.D. has received training as a mediator from the American Arbitration Association.
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William D. Prakken
Emphasizing: Business Representation; Mediation and Arbitration
Bill helps businesses with the legal aspects of their operations, including sales of assets and stock. Bill also is an experienced civil trial attorney and represents clients in commercial disputes.

Bill serves as President of the Board of the Mesa Land Trust, and as Chairman of the Board of the Colorado Riverfront Foundation, Inc. He has served on the Board of Governors and the Executive Council of the Colorado Bar Association. He is a past president of the Mesa County Bar Association. He formerly served as co-chairman of the Colorado Riverfront Commission, on the Board of the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado, Inc., on the Committee on Conduct for the United States District Court, on the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, on the El Pomar Center Advisory Board, on the Board of Trustees of the Canyonlands Field Institute, on the Board of the Grand Junction Musical Arts Association, and he is a former member of the Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code Commission. He is admitted to practice in Colorado and before the U.S. District Court for Colorado. He received his law degree in 1967 and his B.A. in 1964, both from the University of Michigan.
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Mark A. Hermundstad - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Water Rights, Natural Resources and Real Estate Law
Mark's primary area of practice is water law. He advises his clients on a variety of water rights and water related issues. Mark represents and has represented a wide array of clients on water rights issues, including:

• Major domestic and irrigation water providers in the Grand Valley of Western Colorado;
• Local governments in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah who provide municipal water supplies for their residents;
• Mutual ditch companies and other irrigation entities;
• Major energy companies with oil, gas and oil shale interests in Western Colorado; and
• Individuals, businesses, farmers, and ranchers.

In addition to his water law practice, Mark maintains a general civil practice, offering services such as advising clients in their general business operations, drafting contracts, and assisting clients in real estate transactions and issues. Mark also provides advice to his local government clients on various issues affecting them.

Mark is a member of the Colorado Water Congress and belongs to the Colorado, Mesa County, and American Bar Associations and the Utah State Bar. Mark currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Mesa Developmental Services and of the Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation (COLTAF). In addition, Mark is a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Water Court Committee, which is charged with reviewing and suggesting revisions to the rules of practice relating to water courts, and the Executive Council of the Water Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association. He also serves on the various committees for the First United Methodist Church, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Mesa County Bar Association Pro Bono Project, the Executive Council of the Colorado Bar Association, and the Board of Directors of the Grand Junction Downtown Development Authority (where he served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman). Mark has given numerous presentations on water and governmental law to various professional, community and business organizations.

Mark is admitted to practice in Colorado and Utah, before the U.S. District Courts for Colorado and Utah, and before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mark received his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1980, and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif. He received a Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in political science and minors in math and environmental studies, from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1977.

Mark was born in San Antonio, Texas, while his father was stationed there during his military service. However, Mark was raised in Stoughton, Wisconsin, a small community of Norwegian heritage located near Madison. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Mark decided to venture out west. He applied to the University of Colorado for law school, and when he found out that CU would admit him, he readily accepted. While in law school, he met his future wife, Sara, who was also a law student. Upon graduation from law school, Mark and Sara thought that the Front Range of Colorado was too crowded, and so they settled on Grand Junction as a place to live, practice law and raise a family. They have two daughters: Ann, who is currently a graduate student in physics at the University of California-Santa Barbara, and Amy, who is a senior at Colorado State University, studying mechanical engineering.
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Susan M. Corle - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Business Representation; Employee Benefits; Estate Planning and Administration
Susan Corle serves as general counsel for many local businesses. She helps clients choose and create the most effective structures for their businesses. She assists with the negotiation and drafting of employment agreements, buy-sell agreements, and other corporate and business documents. Susan has handled many business purchase transactions, representing buyers and sellers in the acquisition or sale of operating businesses. Her clients also rely upon Susan's guidance with respect to employment law questions. Susan counts many local health care practices among her business clientele, and provides legal advice about the complex regulatory environment for these businesses.

For many years, Susan has spoken to "The Leading Edge" classes course offered by the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center, discussing the types of business entities available to small businesses and the factors involved in selecting the appropriate entity.

Susan also helps businesses design, implement, and operate retirement, cafeteria, and other employee benefit plans, as well as nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for key employees. Susan's clients in the employee benefits field have included private companies, local governments, and tax exempt organizations.

And as if the federal tax code provisions on employee benefits did not provide sufficient challenge, Susan's practice also includes estate planning and estate administration. She advises clients on estate planning –  including planning for estate taxes – for small and larger estates. After working with the client, the client's financial advisor and accountant, to design a plan, Susan prepares customized wills, trusts, powers of attorney, beneficiary forms, and related documents to provide for incapacity and disposition of property during lifetime and after death.

Susan currently serves on the board of directors of the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center and on the Planned Giving Council associated with Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado. In past years, her community involvement has included service on the boards of directors for Western Slope Center for Children (president, 2001 and 2002); St. Mary's Hospital Development Foundation; and Mesa County Bar Association (president, 2002-2003).

Susan is a member of the Mesa County and Colorado Bar Associations and the American Health Lawyers Association. She is admitted to practice in Colorado and in the U.S. District Court for Colorado. She received her law degree from the University of Colorado in 1983, and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif. Susan majored in Romance Languages at Carleton College, where she received a bachelor of arts degree, summa cum laude in 1979.

Susan is a native Coloradan, born in Denver. She and husband, Greg, moved to Grand Junction after law school for the quality of life and outdoor opportunities. They have two sons, Sam and Nathan. As a family, they spend their free time enjoying the famous natural beauty and great outdoors of Western Colorado. She also bakes a mean apple pie and can identify most of the wildflowers found in this region.
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James M. Colosky
Emphasizing: Real Estate, Oil & Gas, and Natural Resources
Mr. Colosky limits his practice to real property and natural resources law, emphasizing oil and gas exploration and production issues. He received his B.A. from Michigan State University in 1968 and his law degree from the University of Denver School of Law in 1971. Mr. Colosky is admitted to practice in Colorado and Nebraska.

He is a member of the Denver Association of Oil and Gas Title Lawyers and Mr. Colosky has lectured to industry trade groups on a variety of matters relating to oil and gas exploration and development. He has also lectured on Antarctic law and policy. His published presentations include:

"The Reassignment Provision – The Agony in the Oversight," 30 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. (1984),

"The Implied Covenant for Diligent and Prudent Operations – Is It A Snake In the Green Grass of Environmentalism?", 39 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. (1993),

"Express Grants of Rights of Way: Drafting Considerations," Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst., Special Inst. on Rights-of-Way (1998).

Mr. Colosky received the Burlington Natural Resources Law Fellowship at the Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law, during the spring semester, 1993.
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Kirsten M. Kurath - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Civil Litigation, Construction Law, Water Rights, Employment Law and General Practice

Kirsten practices water law and represents clients on a wide variety of water related issues including water court applications to adjudicate and protect water rights. She has worked with energy companies, gravel pit operators, irrigation districts, water user associations, domestic water providers, farmers, ranchers, subdivision developers and individuals on their water law related issues.

In addition to her water practice, Kirsten practices in the area of construction law. She has represented general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers and owners in construction disputes. She advises clients on mechanics liens, the mechanics lien trust fund statute and other laws which relate to construction projects. She also reviews construction contracts for clients and assists in the drafting and negotiation of such contracts.

As to employment law, Kirsten primarily provides guidance to employers concerning employment policies, the hiring and firing of employees, and the multitude of federal and state laws governing employment.

Kirsten also maintains a general civil practice that includes litigation, drafting contracts, collecting debts, buying and selling businesses, and representing clients on a wide variety of issues.

Kirsten currently serves on the Board of Directors of Colorado Legal Services. While practicing law, she has been active as a volunteer and is a past president of the Board of Directors for the Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation; a past president of the Board of Directors of the Mesa County Bar Association Pro Bono Project, Inc.; a past chair of the Mesa County Bar Association Public Relations Committee and coordinator of the Mesa County Bar Association Call-A-Lawyer Night; and she served as a citizen advisor for the Grand Valley Air Quality Planning Committee. Kirsten has taught Negotiating and Writing Better Contracts at the Business of Law conference sponsored by the Colorado Lawyers for the Arts and the Grand Junction Commission on Arts & Culture and has lectured on various employment law issues at seminars produced by Lorman Education Services.

Kirsten obtained her undergraduate degree in cellular and developmental biology from the University of Arizona in 1985, with high distinction, and was a research technician and manager of a cancer research lab for several years before deciding to go to law school. She received her law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1994 with high honors and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining the firm, Kirsten completed a one-year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Roxanne Bailin in the Twentieth Judicial District in Boulder, Colorado. Kirsten is a member of the Colorado, Mesa County, and Utah State Bar Associations. She is admitted to practice law in Colorado and Utah and in the U.S. District Courts for Colorado and Utah.

Kirsten was born in Pensacola, Florida while her father was stationed there in the Navy, but grew up in a small town in Connecticut and spent lots of time in New Hampshire and Vermont as well. Her parents uprooted her as a sophomore in high school and moved the family to the Sonoran Desert in Tucson, Arizona. There, after the initial shock, Kirsten fell in love with the desert and her husband, Derall. Kirsten and Derall are avid bicyclists who enjoy many of the outdoor activities available here in the Grand Valley, the Western Slope of Colorado and the red rock country of nearby Utah. Kirsten and Derall have two young sons who keep them on their toes.
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Kathleen Lyon
Emphasizing: Estate Planning and Business Representation
Since joining the firm in September 2004 as a new associate, Kathleen Lyon has begun to develop her practice in the areas of estate planning, estate administration and business formation and representation. Kathleen is the current President of the Board of Directors of the Pro Bono Project of Mesa County, Inc. and is a member of the Mesa County, Colorado and American Bar Associations. She is admitted to practice in Colorado and before the U.S. District Court for Colorado. Kathleen graduated summa cum laude with a BSBA in Business Administration and an MBA from the University of Southern Colorado in 2000. She received her juris doctorate in 2004 from the University of Colorado School of Law where she graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif.
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Phillip J. Jones - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Bankruptcy; Commercial and Civil Litigation
Phil Jones focuses his practice on bankruptcy and creditor's rights, representing both creditors and debtors, and commercial and civil litigation. Before moving to Colorado, Phil practiced for over 27 years in Florida. He was a member of the Southwest Florida Bankruptcy Bar and Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar. He assists his clients with their financial problems through the bankruptcy process or other means of financial workouts.Phil is a member of the Colorado Bar, the Florida Bar, and the Mesa County Bar Associations. He is admitted to practice before the Colorado Federal District Court, and the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Phil has served as chairman of both Florida Bar Rules of Civil Procedure Committee and the Florida Bar Code and Rules of Evidence Committee. He was a former assistant state attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit in Florida. He has lectured on behalf of the Florida Bar on the following topics: "Counseling the Judgment Debtor"; "Ethical Considerations in Debtor and Creditor Relations"; "Ethical Considerations in Collection of Judgments for the General Practitioner"; and "Ethical and Professional Considerations in Creditor/Debtor Representation-Collection Actions for the General Practitioner Seminar."

In 1998 Phil was selected as a Leading Florida Attorney in Bankruptcy Law: Individual and Commercial Creditor/Debtor. He was appointed as a General Master for the 20th Judicial Circuit in Florida. He was nominated for Florida Circuit Court Judge by the 20th Circuit Judicial Nomination Committee five times, and was nominated for Federal Magistrate for the Middle District of Florida by the Federal Nomination Committee. Phil currently is an arbitrator for the National Arbitration Forum. Phil received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary in 1974 and earned his juris doctorate degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1977.
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Jeffrey L. Driscoll - Shareholder
Emphasizing: Insurance Defense, Oil and Gas and Natural Resources, Civil Litigation
Jeff Driscoll serves as insurance defense counsel for individual's, companies and governmental entities in which he protects the insured's interests in the litigation process. Jeff also practices natural resources law with an emphasis on mineral, oil and gas exploration and production issues. In addition, Jeff handles general civil litigation and transactional matters.

Jeff's litigation practice regularly involves venues throughout Western Colorado and has allowed him the opportunity to gain insight into the local peculiarities. Jeff's natural resources experience has involved oil, gas and mineral projects throughout the United States and he has worked with both small and major companies.

Jeff received his law degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 1992, distinguished himself in mock trial/moot court and served as a regional team member. He received his undergraduate degree in 1979 from Colorado State University and spent the intervening years working as a Landman for oil, gas and mineral companies. Jeff is licensed in the State of Colorado and is admitted to the United States District Court, District of Colorado. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, Mesa County Bar Association and is a past member of the City of Grand Junction planning commission, City of Grand Junction board of appeals, and chair for the Mesa County Bar Association mock trial committee.

Jeff is married and has three children. He and his family enjoy the lifestyle and recreational opportunities available with living on the Western Slope.
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Douglas V. Johnson
Emphasizing: Oil and Gas, Real Estate and Mining
Doug practices natural resources law, with an emphasis on title and transactional work. He also has significant experience in litigation and dispute resolution, particularly in matters involving the interpretation of agreements and title disputes.

Doug received his A.B. degree from Kenyon College in 1967 and, after serving in the U.S. Navy, received his J.D. degree in 1974 from the University of Denver, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the law review. After graduating from D.U., he practiced natural resource law in Denver for eleven years, and then moved to Alaska where, from 1985 through 2000, he was Senior Counsel for Atlantic Richfield Company, responsible for all legal work for ARCO Alaska’s exploration program and for its Prudhoe Bay, Lisburne and Pt. McIntyre Oil Fields. When Atlantic Richfield was merged into BP, Doug “retired” and returned to Colorado – where he still shows up for work most days.

Doug has long been an active member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, including serving as a Trustee for six years and as Program Chair for the Foundation’s 43rd Annual Institute. He is a co-author of the American Law of Mining and, from 1989 through 1999 chaired the Foundation’s subcommittee which served as the surviving editorial board for that treatise. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Alaska Bar Association’s Mineral Law Section for four years.

Although his Alaska Bar membership is currently on “inactive” status, Doug is admitted to practice in Colorado and Alaska, and before the U.S. District Courts for Colorado and Alaska.
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