Private Practice Careers

To maximize opportunities for Colorado Law students and alumni, our Career Development Office (CDO) stays in close contact with law firms both in Colorado and across the country. Over the last two years, Dean Weiser and other members of the faculty and staff met with more than 150 law firms in Colorado and other states, including California, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington DC, and corresponded with many others. All employer outreach is systematically tracked to ensure timely and efficient follow up.

The CDO also developed a directory of law firms comprised of 2-30 attorneys in Boulder and the Denver metropolitan area. The Directory contains contact information and a list of specialty areas for each firm, all Colorado Law alumni currently employed by the firm, a list of the years in which the firm hired a summer law clerk from Colorado Law, and instances in the recent past when the firm has posted a law clerk opportunity with our school.

By getting to know our students' backgrounds and interests and understanding the needs of private law firm employers, we can serve as effective matchmakers.

Employment

Nineteen members of the class of 2015, and 58 members of the class of 2014, will spend the summer of 2013 working for a law firm. (Click here for 2012 employment information.)

Large firm (50+ attorneys) summer 2013 employers include:

  • Baker & Hostetler (Denver)
  • Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (Denver)
  • Bryan Cave HRO (Denver)
  • Davis Graham & Stubbs (Denver)
  • Fisher & Phillips (Denver)
  • Fulbright & Jaworski (Denver)
  • Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (Denver)
  • Hall & Evans (Denver)
  • Hogan Lovells (Washington, DC)
  • Holland & Hart (Denver)
  • Lathrop & Gage (Denver)
  • Patton Boggs (Denver)
  • Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons (Denver)
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (New York, NY)
  • Snell & Wilmer (Denver)
  • WilmerHale (Washington, DC)

Mid-sized and small firm summer 2013 employers include:

  • Balcomb & Green (Glenwood Springs)
  • Burns, Figa & Will (Denver)
  • Caplan and Earnest (Boulder)
  • Davis & Ceriani (Denver)
  • Foster Graham Milstein & Calisher (Denver)
  • Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein (Boulder)
  • Hatch Ray Olsen Sandberg (Denver)
  • Hill & Robbins (Denver)
  • Marsh Fischmann & Breyfogle (Denver)
  • Messner & Reeves (Denver)
  • Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti (Denver)
  • Reilly Pozner (Denver)
  • Sheridan Ross (Denver)
  • Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry (Anchorage, AK)
  • Stern & Curray (Denver)
  • Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley (Denver)

35% (56 students) of employed students in the class of 2012 reported working for law firms nine months after graduation. 82% of these law firm jobs were in law offices comprised of 50 or fewer attorneys. Seven 2012 graduates reported employment at some of the largest firms in the country, including Arnold & Porter, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Cooley LLP, Fulbright & Jaworski, and Polsinelli.

46 of these 56 students reported full time positions, and 40 reported a salary. The median private practice salary for those reporting was $70,000, and the mean was $83,524. One quarter of students reporting salaries earned more than $106,000, while one quarter earned less than $56,000.

Post-graduate employers included:

  • Archer Bay (Denver)
  • Arnold & Porter (Denver)
  • Berg Hill Greenleaf & Ruscitti (Boulder)
  • Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (Denver)
  • Cooley LLP (Broomfield)
  • Featherstone Petrie DeSisto (Denver)
  • Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein (Boulder)
  • Fredericks Peebles & Morgan (Louisville, CO)
  • Fulbright & Jaworski (Denver)
  • Gonnella Adamson (Jackson, WY)
  • Gordon & Rees (Denver)
  • Kilmer, Lane & Newman (Denver)
  • Merchant & Gould (Denver)
  • Messner & Reeves (Denver)
  • Miles & Peters (Denver)
  • Moses Wittemyer Harrison and Woodruff (Boulder)
  • Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti (Denver)
  • Robinson Waters & O'Dorisio (Denver)
  • Polsinelli (Denver)
  • Sheridan Ross (Denver)
  • Trout Raley Montano Witwer & Freeman (Denver)
  • White & Jankowski (Denver)

Programming

Recent CDO programs have highlighted career options in the private practice of law and provided students with information on topics related to private law firms, such as:

  • Bankruptcy
  • Civil litigation
  • Compliance
  • Energy law
  • Family law
  • General practice
  • Intellectual property
  • Law firm economics
  • Privacy
  • Solo and small firm practice
  • Succeeding in summer employment
  • Transactional practice

In January, 2013, the CDO sponsored the 2nd Annual JD Pathways, a career conference that brought together 60 students and 80 attorneys, over half of whom work for private law firms. The CDO also sponsors three program series to allow students additional opportunities to meet and learn from private practitioners:

  • Career Perspective Series: Speakers have included representatives of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Burns, Figa & Will; Polsinelli; and Pryor Johnson Carney Karr Nixon, as well as members of the judiciary with private practice backgrounds.
  • Hot Jobs: Speakers have included representatives of Davis Graham & Stubbs; Greenberg Traurig; Miles & Peters; and Onsager, Staelin & Guyerson; other firms located in Colorado such as Balcomb & Green (Glenwood Springs); Liley, Rogers and Martell (Fort Collins); and Myatt Brandes & Gast (Fort Collins); and firms from other parts of the country such as McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore in Austin and Houston, Texas.
  • Wednesday Morning Coffees: Speakers have included representatives of Hunton & Williams in Dallas; Fowler, Schimberg & Flanagan in Denver; Johnson & Repucci in Boulder; Donelson Ciancio & Grant in Broomfield; Kennedy Childs in Denver; and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Denver.

We also host approximately 70 employers each academic year through our fall and spring On-Campus Interview (OCI) programs. Forty OCI employers in the 2012-13 academic year represented private law firms. At least 26 first- and second-year students obtained paid summer employment at law firms through the OCI process, and others secured internships during the academic year.

Diverse 1Ls at Colorado Law have the opportunity to obtain summer clerk positions at Denver-area law firms through the Colorado Pledge to Diversity Program. Five members of the class of 2015 obtained summer associate positions with Davis Graham & Stubbs, Hall & Evans, Messner & Reeves, Patton Boggs, and Snell & Wilmer.