Legal Lasso: Going Green To Get Into The Black | Law Week Colorado

Posted on 02 February 2012.

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TO BUILD GREEN OR NOT TO BUILD GREEN??It?s not much of a question anymore, experts argued Wednesday during a discussion in downtown Denver. By factoring in all costs, not just those associated with energy savings, sustainable construction is more often making financial sense.??It?s not just a feel-good issue anymore, it?s a bottom-line issue,? said Carolynne White, a partner specializing in real estate and natural resources at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.?White was one of four panelists who spoke to about 80 attorneys and developers at the lunch event hosted by Brownstein at the Ritz-Carlton Denver.?The energy savings associated with green building have long been known, said Nick Rumanes, a sustainable development executive at design and consulting firm Gensler. For instance, Rumanes said, cutting 20 percent of energy costs in a 500,000 square foot building would yield roughly $35 million in savings.?It?s the hidden savings, however, that have shifted green building into a financially sustainable venture. Rumanes flipped through a PowerPoint presentation that showed newer green buildings can increase worker satisfaction which translates into increased productivity.

SUITS AGAINST LAW SCHOOLS GROW:?The team of lawyers behind proposed class actions against the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law and New York Law School have followed through with their threat to sue even more schools, reports the National Law Journal.??New York attorneys David Anziska and Jesse Strauss ? along with consumer-protection lawyers in Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Sacramento and New Jersey ? on Wednesday filed suits against 12 law schools in state and federal courts around the country, claiming that they inflated their graduate employment data.?The targeted schools were Albany Law School of Union University; Brooklyn Law School; California Western School of Law; Chicago-Kent College of Law; DePaul University College of Law; Florida Coastal School of Law; Golden Gate University School of Law; Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law; The John Marshall Law School; University of San Francisco School of Law; Southwestern Law School; and Widener University School of Law.

IN MEMORY OF MIKE HODGES, a longtime Colorado Trial Lawyers Association member who passed away at the end of last year, the CTLA donated $55,000 to his alma mater, the Sturm College of Law. DU matched the donation, effectively creating a $110,000 endowed scholarship for future students at the law school.

IT?S A LANDLORD?S MARKET OUT THERE: The apartment vacancy rate dropped to 5.4 percent in the 4th quarter, the lowest it?s been in 12 years, reports the Denver Business Journal. No wonder real estate attorneys have been busy lately, helping clients create more rent-ready places. While the occupancy rate is on the rise, so are rents, which had a 2.8 percent increase over last year.

OTHER THINGS ON THE RISE: Earnings for Colorado?s newest corporation, Arrow Electronics. As well as profits for burrito giant and Colorado native, Chipotle.

AND SPEAKING OF ECONOMICS: Buckley Air Force Base has continually been a source of more than $1 billion annually for the local economy, reports the Auror Sentinel.?During the annual State of the Base speech, Col. Daniel Dant, the base commander, said Buckley cracked the $1 billion mark for eighth straight year in 2011.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE HEATING UP IN FORT COLLINS: Where owners of six medical marijuana businesses are going to court in an effort to derail a voter-approved ordinance that bans marijuana dispensaries and growing operations from the city, reports the Coloradoan.?A lawsuit filed last week in Larimer District Court seeks a temporary restraining order in enforcing the ban, which goes into effect Feb. 14, as well as a hearing on a preliminary injunction on implementing the ordinance.

WILLIE SHEPARD PLEADED GUILTY YESTERDAY to third degree assault charges stemming from an incident with his wife in September, reports the Denver Post. Shepherd was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation, according to state court documents.

BOULDER JURY IS HANDED CASE of Kevin McGregor, who is accused of shooting and killing University of New Hampshire football player Todd Walker.

DAVIS GRAHAM & STUBBS ADDS OIL AND GAS COMMISH: They added?David Neslin to expand their oil & gas and public lands practice group. Neslin is the current director of the Colorado Oil & Gas Comission, where he has been for the previous four years. Prior to heading the commission, Neslin was an attorney with the Denver office of Arnold & Porter. He?has worked with federal and state legislators, regulators, industry representatives, environmental groups and other stakeholders to encourage responsible regulation of the energy industry, and is a frequent speaker and witness on Colorado?s fracking regulations, which are cited as a model for states that are just beginning to regulate such operations.

SHERMAN AND HOWARD GROWS:?The Denver-based firm added Joseph Daniels to its commercial litigation and trial practice group. Daniels will focus on representing business and individual clients in all aspects of litigation. He previously worked with the Denver office of Faegre Baker Daniels. He attended the University of Iowa College of Law.

GOOD FOR YOU: Two Sherman & Howard attorneys join local nonprofits.

TODAY?S 10TH CIRCUIT DECISIONS

TODAY?S ANNOUNCEMENTS from the Colorado Court of Appeals

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COLORADO?S OWN CENTER FOR LEGAL INCLUSIVENESS got a huge partner this week with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, which has asked the nonprofit to help provide national programming about creating more inclusive workplaces. Pick up next week?s paper to learn more about the partnership and what CLI?s executive director, Kathleen Nalty, will be doing.

SHE SAID IT: ?We are surprised that we are being sued over this issue without ever having been asked to see our documentation,? Interim Dean at the Albany School of Law Connie Mayer in response to news that the school was being sued by former students.

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