Loren Brown Elected to MVL & COBALT Boards

Congratulations to Loren Brown who was elected this week to Chair the Board of Governors for the Metro Volunteer Lawyers (MVL) and as Marketing Chair for the Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training (COBALT) Executive Committee.

Loren is a COBALT graduate and has followed a tradition of many DCG attorneys who continue to volunteer their time for MVL. In fact, DCG Family Law attorney Katie (Laughlin) Tolison will continue to join Loren on the MVL board which oversees their operations. MVL provides pro bono legal services to people who could not otherwise afford them.

COBALT is an interactive leadership training program designed specifically for lawyers with demonstrated leadership skills and commitment to the legal community.  Congrats Loren on your new roles within each organization!

Tournament Champs!

Dan Goodwin, a founding shareholder and a senior attorney in the litigation group, was part of the winning team at yesterday's Colorado Trial Lawyers Association's (CTLA) golf tournament at Green Gables Country Club.  Dan was teamed with James Peters, Kevin Cahill, and Richard Poorman and ended up with a winning score of 61.

This win followed the firm's Championship trophy for the Westminster Rotary Bocce Ball Tournament last week benefitting a number of great Rotary programs. DCG was proud to join Vectra Bank, Pro Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, and Mickey's Top Sirloin as sponsors for the event. Read more about the event here.

Family Law – Overview of Divorce (Part 4/4)

Phase 4: Post Decree: After your decree is entered you may have a few tasks left to manage. The Judge/Magistrate might order that you set up an account with the Family Support Registry for child support or spousal support, or that you prepare a Qualified Domestic Relations Order to divide any retirement accounts. Usually, the post-decree process is not extremely labor intensive, but it sets up how the case will be managed in the future. If any maintenance, child support, parenting time or property distribution issues were addressed, this is the time where these Orders are managed in such a way that they are organized and clearly followed. Be sure to diligently follow the Court's directions from the beginning of the process all the way through the end. This way, you can try to avoid returning to Court any time in the near future.

If you have any questions and would like to consult with a Family Law Attorney during any step of the process, please contact Donelson Ciancio & Goodwin, P.C. We have a number of representation options ranging from full representation to assistance on an hourly basis if you intend to represent yourself as a pro se litigant. Call (303) 450-1665 for more information or use our online contact form here.

Family Law – Overview of Divorce (Part 3/4)

Phase 3: Resolution: If the case does not settle during the period of time leading up to your court date (discovery/waiting period), then the resolution phase of your divorce will begin approximately one month before trial. At this point, you will begin preparing witnesses, testimony, and assemble the necessary evidence to litigate your case in front of a Judge. Generally, the collection of evidentiary documents has ended, and you spend this time preparing for trial. At trial, you present your case, your spouse will present his or her case, and a Judge or Magistrate will make a final decision regarding the issues that were addressed at trial. The Order might be made at the end of the trial, or the Judge/Magistrate may render the Order after trial. Most likely, this will be the date that a Judge/Magistrate enters your Decree of Divorce, the document officially granting your request for a divorce.

Family Law – Overview of Divorce (Part 2/4)

Phase 2- Discovery/Waiting Period: After you have filed for divorce or been served with the Petition, it is time to prepare your Sworn Financial Statement. Both parties are required to report their income, assets, debts, expenses, and provide all supporting documentation. These forms are due 20 days after the Response has been filed, or, if no Response was filed, 40 days after the Petition was filed. After all financials have been disclosed, the parties (and/or attorneys) should address the major issues in the case. Often the issues to be addressed include a) property distribution; b) maintenance or spousal support; c) child support; and/or d) allocation of parental responsibilities, which includes parenting time and decision-making. If these issues cannot be resolved on a permanent or temporary basis, the parties can request a Temporary Orders Hearing, where the Magistrate or Judge will hold a brief hearing on the time-sensitive issues, and make a temporary order that will last until Permanent Orders, or final resolution. Additionally, during this time the parties may choose to engage in discovery. Discovery is the process in which a party requests additional documentation and/or specific answers to questions (called interrogatories). During this time you may engage in numerous settlement negotiations and attempt to resolve the case without going to court. This may include attending mediation and/or settlement conferences. This period of time usually lasts between 3-12 months.

Family Law – Overview of Divorce (Part 1/4)

Overview of the Divorce Process in Colorado

    So you are considering divorce in Colorado and want to know more about the process? This blog post offers a general overview of the process and anticipated timeline that you might expect when navigating through the courts in Colorado. Before going forward, we need to offer the following disclaimer: Keep in mind that many issues arise that are case specific and may affect your particular case in a different manner. Your case might be much more complicated, and require more judicial intervention than is typically proscribed. As such, it is recommended that you seek the advice of an attorney regarding your particular circumstances.

     Generally, the process can be broken down into four phases:

1. Phase 1- Beginning the Process: To initiate a divorce proceeding one of the parties will need to file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. Legally speaking, you are asking the Court to break an existing contract between you and your spouse in an equitable manner. The party who files the Petition is known as the "Petitioner." If both parties file the Petition together, they are considered "Co-Petitioners." However, filing the Petition is not enough for the Court to recognize that a divorce proceeding has begun. If the Petitioner files the Petition on his or her own, he or she will need to effectively serve his or her spouse with the Petition. Service can be achieved by having a process server physically serve the party, serving the other party's attorney, or having the other party sign a "Waiver of Service" in front of a notary, acknowledging acceptance of the Petition. Once the Petition has been filed, and the other Party (known as the "Respondent") has been served, the Respondent should file a Response to the Petition. Generally, the Response is due to the Court 20 days after being served with the Petition (or 30 if the Respondent is outside the State of Colorado). Once the Court has accepted these filings, they will contact you with a date for your Initial Status Conference. This is the court date where the Judge, Magistrate, Court Clerk, or Facilitator will give you a road map and timeline for your entire case. If you have questions about the process, this is the time to ask them.
   

Friday Kudos!!!

This week has been filled with good news. To start off the group simply known as "The Law" swept the competition at last week's Westminster Rotary Bocce Ball Tournament. Jamie Rutten, Katie Laughlin, and Mike Sandstrum took to the court early on Saturday morning and left with a well-deserved victory… Congrats team!

Jamie continued her winning ways with another victory on Friday, June 10^th, at Adams/Broomfield Bar Association's (ABBA) Annual Meeting & Election.  She was elected to ABBA's Executive Board as secretary. Additionally, Loren Brown was re-elected as one of ABBA's three representatives to the Metro Volunteer Lawyers Board.