Real Estate Law for Non-Lawyers Course

Faculty List

Matthew R. Cushing

Academic Director
Director of Executive and Community Learning Programs
University of Colorado Law School
Boulder, CO

Matthew Cushing organizes the White Center’s Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, in conjunction with the course Education and the Constitution. He also runs the Appellate Advocacy Practicum and administers Colorado Law’s Mini Law School program, an eight-week series that introduces non-lawyers to interesting legal issues that impact their day-to-day lives.

Henry Bangert

Instructor
Henry Bangert
Founding Partner
BBG Construction Law
Greenwood Village, CO

Henry Bangert grew up in the construction business, working alongside his family in heavy civil construction throughout the Midwest and Mountain West. His first jobs were on airport and bridge projects in and around St. Louis and Denver. Henry’s close family members still work in various sectors of this industry. Consequently, Henry’s work for construction and engineering clients is a personal passion. Having lived through the ups and downs of the industry, he understands what critical negotiations, disputes and litigation mean from the perspective of the business owner, management, operations, as well as the litigator.

Following law school at the University of Colorado, Henry joined the construction practice group at Sherman & Howard, L.L.C. in Denver. It is with Sherman & Howard that Henry received his legal training from Mike Cook, Bret Gunnell, Charlotte Wiessner, and many other well-respected construction attorneys. For six years, up until opening day of Beltzer Bangert & Gunnell LLP, Henry worked as Legal Counsel – U.S. Operations for PCL Construction Enterprises, Inc. As Legal Counsel for PCL, Henry worked with the most talented construction attorneys and consultants across the US, on both sides of the table.

Today, Henry counsels clients in contract planning, negotiation, administration, and dispute resolution nationally in the construction and engineering industry. He frequently advises clients in contract and legal risk management through the project life-cycle. He has represented clients in the drafting and negotiation of numerous complex construction contracts priced between $1 million and $1.7 billion. Henry has significant experience in government contracting issues and has represented clients nationwide in dispute review boards, mediations, arbitrations, trials, and state and federal court.

Prof. Rabea Benhalim

Instructor
University of Colorado Law School

Rabea Benhalim is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Law School. Prior to joining the Colorado faculty, she was the 2017-2019 William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She teaches a variety of law courses including Contracts, Secured Transactions, and Islamic Law. Her research focuses on two areas of inquiry: (1) The development of Jewish and Islamic law in the modern era and (2) the application of Islamic law in commercial contexts. Within these areas, her current work investigates how secular environments affect interpretations and development of religious law, especially for minority religions.

Professor Benhalim's prior work experience as a lawyer and policy expert includes positions at the Brookings Institution, Mayer Brown LLP, Maersk Oil, and the Carter Center. She holds a J.D. from the University of Texas, an L.L.M. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, a Master of Public Policy Degree from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a PhD candidate in Islamic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Educational Background:
L.L.M. The University of Wisconsin Law School 2019
J.D. The University of Texas Law School 2009
M.P.P. The University of Michigan 2005
B.A. The University of Texas at Dallas 2004

Nick Budor

Instructor
President
Wall Street Insurance
Edwards, CO

Nick Budor is the President of Wall Street Insurance, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Edwards, Colorado. As a full-service, independent insurance agency, Wall Street Insurance serves clients from coast-to-coast with all of their business and personal insurance needs.

Before founding, acquiring and growing several insurance agencies beginning in 2015, Nick practiced law for 15 years following graduation from The University of Michigan Law School. Beginning in 2000 in San Francisco, Nick was an associate with the international law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, working on mergers & acquisitions, capital market transactions and general corporate matters. In the mid-2000’s, nick transitioned to an in-house counsel practice, beginning as Associate General Counsel to Orange Glo International, Inc. Following the successful sale of Orange Glo, Nick founded the legal department at Rally Software Development, based in Boulder, CO. After 7 years of growth, Nick was part of the leadership team that executed Rally’s IPO on the NYSE in 2013. It was during his time at Rally that Nick began guest lecturing at CU Law as well as his alma mater in Ann Arbor. Following his professional transition to insurance, Nick modified his guest lectures and has been introducing insurance and risk management concepts to students at CU Law, Leeds and Michigan Law for the last several years.

Prof. Michael Pappas

Instructor
University of Colorado Law School

Michael Pappas is a Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Professor Pappas teaches primarily in the areas of property, natural resource, and environmental law. His scholarship draws upon interdisciplinary influences associated with economics and political economy, and his work explores the nature of property expectations, governmental responsibilities, and private rights in managing resources such as land, energy, water, wildlife, fisheries, and food.

Prior to joining CU, Professor Pappas spent a decade on the faculty of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where he served as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development from 2017-2020 and where he was voted Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year in 2014. Professor Pappas was also a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center in 2021, and he has taught at Tulane University Law School and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

Professor Pappas holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English Literature from Stanford University, and he received his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He clerked for the Hon. James L. Dennis, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Prof. Sloan Speck

Instructor
University of Colorado Law School

Sloan Speck joined the University of Colorado Law School faculty in fall 2015 as an Associate Professor. Professor Speck's research interests are in tax law and policy, with an emphasis on corporate and international tax, legal and business history, and the ways in which taxation informs and structures the relationship between state and society.

Before joining Colorado Law, Professor Speck was an Acting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at New York University School of Law. Previously, Professor Speck practiced in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, where he advised on tax aspects of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, joint ventures, real estate transactions, bankruptcy restructurings and workouts, and financings. While at Skadden, Professor Speck taught as an adjunct professor at the DePaul University College of Law.

Professor Speck received an LL.M. in taxation from NYU School of Law, a J.D. and M.A. (History) from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from Rice University. During law school, Professor Speck was an articles editor for The University of Chicago Law Review and a board member of the Japan Law Society. Before law school, Professor Speck taught mathematics at Salesian High School in Richmond, California, where he also coached football.

Prof. Gabrielle Stafford

Instructor
University of Colorado Law School

Prior to joining the faculty at the Colorado Law School in 1999, Gabrielle Stafford taught legal writing at Chicago-Kent College of Law and practiced law for eight years. During her four years in private practice, she focused primarily on commercial litigation and bankruptcy law. She specialized in public and private housing law during her years as a legal aid staff attorney and as counsel for the City of Albuquerque's housing authority.

Professor Stafford received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 and her JD from Boston University School of Law in 1991.

Jennifer Sullivan

Instructor
Mediator and Senior Assistant Dean for Administration & Program Development
University of Colorado Law School

Jennifer Sullivan is the Senior Assistant Dean for Administration and Program Development at the University of Colorado Law School. Prior to joining Colorado Law, Jennifer was a commercial litigator at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, where her practice focused on claims of breach of contract, fraud, misappropriation and other business torts, and fiduciary relationship disputes. Twice named a Rising Star by Colorado Super Lawyers magazine, Jennifer served as a law firm associate, partner, and counsel, and maintained an active pro bono practice devoted primarily to asylum and post-conviction work. Jennifer graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1999, and clerked for the Honorable W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Jennifer serves on the Advisory Council to the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, as well as the board of directors of Focus Reentry, a Boulder-based non-profit that helps people integrate into society following incarceration. In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys her husband and four children, and occasionally escaping them to swim, read, and write.

Josh Widoff

Instructor
Partner, General Counsel, Real Estate Industrial
ARES Management Corporation

Mr. Widoff is a Partner and General Counsel, Real Estate Industrial in the Ares Legal Department. He also serves on the Ares Real Estate Combined Industrial Advisors Committee (CIAC) Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2021, he was a Managing Director, Chief Legal Officer at Black Creek Group, where he oversaw the legal, compliance and internal audit departments and provided strategic guidance on transactions, growth initiatives and company operations. Previously, he was a Partner at Brownstein Hyatt & Farber, where he was active in the management of the firm and oversaw an integrated team serving clients primarily in the commercial real estate business. Mr. Widoff chairs the board of commissioners for the Denver Urban Renewal Authority. Mr. Widoff is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, where he teaches a course on commercial real estate transactions. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of the U.S. subsidiary of a publicly traded Canadian oil and gas company, Enerplus Resources. Additionally, he is an alumnus of Leadership Denver, a premier leadership program for the region, and has served on many charitable and community boards during his career.

Mr. Widoff holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Trinity University in Economics and Political Science and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Coif.

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Real Estate Law for Non-Lawyers Course

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Real Estate Law for Non-Lawyers

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - December 13, 2023
Every Wednesday
6 - 8 p.m. MST

Key Takeaways from the course:

Faculty List