GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP DENVER

Transcription

1 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP DENVER

2 Established in 1981, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher s Denver office provides big-firm work and resources, but small-firm collegiality and feel. Currently with about 35 lawyers, Gibson Dunn s Denver office has the friendly atmosphere of a smaller firm, but all the advantages that a large international law firm can command in its legal market. Although there are other national firms with offices in the Denver-Boulder area, few match Gibson Dunn in terms of longevity, breadth of practice, office size, and stability. As with Gibson Dunn s other offices, Denver s new associates participate in a rotation program that provides the opportunity to work in several different practice areas before requesting formal assignment to one of the firm s departments. Once assigned to a department, our associates remain part of a free market system that offers associates the freedom to work with many different partners and clients. The Denver office is eager to hire bright and talented lawyers who will contribute to the depth and breadth of its various practice areas.

3 summer program associate development Access to challenging work and high-profile clients in a relatively small legal community is a key reason I chose Gibson Dunn over other firms in Denver. As a junior associate, I ve enjoyed responsibility for a full spectrum of activities depositions, oral arguments, briefing. At the same time, Gibson Dunn has shown great respect for my personal life. As a working mother, I appreciate Gibson Dunn s flexible approach to raising a family and maintaining a legal career. MONICA LOSEMAN Associate, Denver The Denver office summer associate program offers summer associates the opportunity to experience challenging, national-scale legal work in a relatively small legal community. Each year, the Denver office employs approximately two to five law students for the summer. Summer associates in the Denver office work on matters in a variety of fields including general litigation (such as securities class actions, antitrust, media-entertainment law, and general commercial litigation), corporate, intellectual property (both litigation and transactional), and labor and employment. The office also strives to provide summer associates with a hands-on experience. Summer associates accompany attorneys to court proceedings and hearings; attend and observe depositions; and meet with clients to the extent practicable. Of course, the Denver program also recognizes how important it is for summer associates to get to know the attorneys in the office. Summer associates enjoy meeting attorneys through a variety of social activities, such as concerts and shows, dinner parties, and a weekend golf and spa retreat in the Rocky Mountains. Denver summer associates also attend the Summer Academy, the firm-wide summer associate weekend in Los Angeles, where they have a chance to meet attorneys and summer associates from other Gibson Dunn offices across the country. Overall, the Denver office summer associate program is a fantastic opportunity for summer associates to get a real glimpse of life as an associate at Gibson Dunn. As in most Gibson Dunn offices, new associates in Denver begin their associate development with the New Associates Program, a formal orientation regarding firm policies and procedures. In addition, new associates are assigned an associate buddy, who provides new associates with informal advice regarding the firm and the Denver office, and helps integrate the new associates into the office by arranging various social events with attorneys at all levels. Associates also may take advantage of the formal training and continuing legal education opportunities that Gibson Dunn offers. The Denver office has a designated training coordinator who is responsible for organizing and informing attorneys of the in-house training and continuing legal education opportunities that are available to them. These in-house training sessions include video conferences and Webcasts of the latest developments in specific areas of practice. In addition, associates in the Denver office have access to Practicing Law Institute s on-demand Web programs and Webcasts. The Denver office also provides less formal training opportunities through its Behind the Case/Deal training series. This training series provides a forum for attorneys in the Denver office to gather as a group and hear the back-story of recently completed litigation or transactional matters Denver lawyers have handled. Each session provides the opportunity to learn about a different area of law. Finally, in addition to assisting associates with the development of their professional skills, the Denver office helps its associates develop and maintain client relationships by subsidizing associate participation in client, community, and marketing events. Denver associates also have access to tickets to the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Rockies games for use in client development.

4 primary practice areas The most important aspect of any law firm is the people. From my first interview with Gibson Dunn, it was clear that this was an extraordinary group. As my career has progressed, I continue to feel fortunate to have been able to practice law, and become friends with, so many outstanding people. STEVE TALLEY Partner in Charge, Denver The Denver office attorneys practice law in three primary areas: Corporate, Intellectual Property and Litigation. Denver Gibson Dunn corporate lawyers work on local and national corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings in both the public and private markets, as well as securities and disclosure advice, for clients such as Qwest Communications, The Williams Companies, First Reserve Corporation, and CSK Auto, Inc. The Denver office boasts the highest concentration of Intellectual Property lawyers in the firm, specializing in trademarks, patents, and complex IP litigation. Our litigators handle cutting edge antitrust cases, appellate matters, complex commercial litigation, securities fraud, media-entertainment, white collar crime, and employment cases for clients such as Tenet Healthcare, Flying J, and well-known accounting and investment banking firms. Some representative transactions and litigation matters include the following: After a several-week trial, Denver IP lawyers obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict on behalf of an affiliate of the University of Colorado on a medical diagnostic patent. Gibson Dunn successfully defended the appeal of the judgment to the Federal Circuit and defended the controversial case in the United States Supreme Court. In a complex case where discovery and trial preparations lasted more than four years and involved over 100 depositions and 34 experts, our Denver litigators obtained a favorable settlement on the eve of trial for our investment bank clients. The case concerned deepening insolvency claims by the Plan Trustee for Boston Chicken, Inc., who was seeking more than $1 billion in damages. Our corporate attorneys advised Denver-based Medicine Bow Energy Corporation in its acquisition by El Paso Corporation for $834 million. They were assisted by tax lawyers from our Los Angeles office. A team of Denver and Los Angeles litigators won a 6-day jury trial in August 2005 for Hewlett Packard Company in a case alleging that HP breached a multi-million dollar oral agreement to sell HP s Open Mail system to plaintiff, an unfunded start-up company. The jury rejected virtually every claim, as well as plaintiff s request for over $19 million in damages, awarding plaintiff only $100,000 and even finding in favor of HP on its business interference counterclaim. Less than a month before trial, Denver litigators won summary judgment in an age and gender discrimination lawsuit that was set for a five-day jury trial in federal court. The plaintiff was a company vice president who alleged that she was forced to either accept a demotion from the senior management team or resign her position. The court found that she could not show that younger male executive employees were treated better than her and thus issued a 21-page opinion in our client's favor, dismissing the plaintiff s federal and state law claims.

5 pro bono When asked why I choose to work for Gibson Dunn, my answer is always the same: it's the people and the firm's commitment to community. I choose Gibson Dunn for the people because each of the firm's attorneys brings a wide range of values and perspectives to the practice of law. As well, I choose Gibson Dunn because the firm encourages its attorneys to be actively involved in the community through pro bono legal work or participation in community organizations. TAGGART HANSEN Associate, Denver The Denver office has an active and varied pro bono practice, involving a significant number of attorneys. In addition, Denver-office lawyers actively participate in a number of charity events and bar association activities. The pro bono practice in Denver has always been driven by the interests of the lawyers, and has included the handling of environmental disputes, prisoners rights cases, and civil rights claims, as well as after-hours community service projects such as tutoring elementary school students in Denver Public Schools. Representative pro bono clients include Trout Unlimited, United Way, and Colorado Lawyers for the Arts. Some representative pro bono matters include the following: A SWAT team stormed the small Pueblo home of the Unis family without a warrant in August 2000, and arrested the Unis's teenage sons. The Denver office accepted the ACLU s request to pursue Bivens and tort claims against the officers and their government supervisors. That action involved over a dozen depositions, including experts, and major summary judgment briefs argued by participating associates before the same judge who handled the Oklahoma City bombing trial. The case settled in Fall 2005 for a record $230,000 and earned the Denver office the Firm s inaugural Frank Wheat Memorial Award for outstanding pro bono team project. A domestic violence victim was denied a transfer to another federally subsidized housing unit while the man who had brutally attacked and raped her in her apartment was still at large. The denial was based on her status as a victim of domestic violence. Denver office lawyers are representing her in federal court in connection with claims for gender discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A number of years ago, the Forest Service failed to follow its own statutes and regulations under FLPMA, leaving an important Northern Colorado fish habitat waterless during the winter months. Gibson Dunn's Denver associates achieved a first-in-circuit enforcement of FLPMA s duty to mitigate harm from human activity and a new plan is now being negotiated. Our efforts earned Gibson Dunn the 2005 Colorado Trout Unlimted Conservation Award. A federal prisoner at SuperMax in Southern Colorado was assaulted by two guards on the way to the recreation yard and attempted to pursue his civil rights claims pro se. A Denver associate accepted the opportunity to help this prisoner pursue his claims through the motions stage, and ultimately first-chaired a 3-day federal jury trial in February 2006 finding the client s rights violated. In addition, two Denver Gibson Dunn attorneys helped form the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado s Young Professionals Advisory Council, which was created to friend-raise and fundraise for Make-A-Wish among the young professional community in Denver. And the entire office is working with the mayor on his initiative to end homelessness in Denver as part of its 25th Anniversary celebration.

6 small office, BIG opportunity With about 35 lawyers, Gibson Dunn s Denver office has the friendly atmosphere of a smaller firm, but all the advantages that a large, international law firm can afford in terms of clients, technology, training, and support. It truly is the best of both I joined Gibson Dunn in January 1995, following a clerkship, and made partner in Fall I chose Gibson Dunn out of law school because of its sophisticated practice and warm, collegial atmosphere. And I have never second-guessed my decision. I have thoroughly enjoyed my work, my colleagues, my clients, and my committee work during my tenure at the Firm. JESSICA BROWN Hiring Partner, Denver worlds. Denver-office lawyers and summer associates work in a number of different practice areas, including litigation, corporate, real estate, labor and employment, and intellectual property. They also work on various types of pro bono matters, and are encouraged to choose matters of personal significance to them. Denver-office attorneys frequently work with partners and associates in the firm s Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Bay Area, Dallas, and Orange County offices. The firm s technology and one-firm philosophy make working across offices seamless and fun. This interaction allows associates the opportunity to learn from many different talented lawyers, while working on a wide variety of cases and deals. In addition, Denver lawyers attend spectacular all-firm and departmental retreats and participate in the firm s committees, such as the Hiring Committee, the Associates Committee, the Professional Development Committee, the Diversity Committee, the Pro Bono-Community Affairs Committee, the Cross-Marketing Committee, and the Executive Committee. As noted, Gibson Dunn is unmatched by other national firms in Denver in terms of breadth of practice, office size, longevity, and stability. These and other features highlighted above, coupled with Gibson Dunn s nationally competitive compensation package, allow Gibson Dunn Denver to attract the best and brightest new attorneys.

7 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 1801 California Street Suite 4200 Denver, Colorado Tel: (303) Fax: (303)