The CWBA joins the Denver legal community and Mary Hoagland’s family in grieving the loss of one the CWBA’s founding mothers, and one of the greats among the CWBA’s storied history.

Click here to read our message. 

(Video produced May 2019 for the CWBA by Denver Promo Studios: Laressa Watlington and Daniel Watlington)

CWBA Message in Remembrance of
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The CWBA joins the nation in grieving the loss of one of the greatest
and most impactful jurists of our time, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Congratulations to CWBA Past President Shannon Stevenson, a partner at Davis Graham & Stubbs, for receiving the 2020 Ms. JD Honors Woman of Inspiration Award! We are so proud of you for earning this national recognition. #leadersinlaw #CWBApride

Read more by clicking here.  

• DENVER (May 29, 2019) — The Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA), a nonprofit organization focused on advancing and promoting women in the legal profession and the welfare of all women in Colorado, announces its 2019 – 2020 Board Leadership.

  
  
  The CWBA’s 2019 - 2020 President is Sarah J. Parady of Denver who was sworn in May 18, 2019 for a one-year term as the organization’s 42^nd President.  Sarah is a partner at Lowrey Parady, LLC, where she practices plaintiff’s-side employment and civil rights law.

  Sarah joined the CWBA Board of Directors in 2014. She received her J.D. (Order of the Coif) from New York University School of Law. After law school, she received a Skadden Fellowship to build a foreclosure prevention program at Colorado Legal Services. Sarah is a past President of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association and a former law clerk to the Honorable Carlos F. Lucero of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In 2018, she received Case of the Year awards from the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association for two different cases.

  • Sarah Parady succeeds Catherine “Cat” Shea who remains on the board as Immediate Past President. Cat is an Assistant Regulation Counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. In that capacity, Cat investigates attorney discipline and disability and magistrate matters. 
  • President-Elect for 2019 - 2020 is Miranda Hawkins, a shareholder at Goddard Hawkins, P.C., where she specializes in estate planning, trust and estate administration, and estate and gift tax planning.

  Other CWBA Executive Committee Members for 2019 - 2020 include the following:

  • Vice President:  Gina Glockner, who has been practicing law since 2004. With bar licenses in Colorado, New York and Connecticut, she specializes in complex civil litigation where she represents individuals, businesses and large corporate entities in professional liability matters, health and business-related law, as well as regulatory, compliance and licensing issues. 
• • Secretary:  Kathryn Starnella, who is Special Counsel at Wells, Anderson & Race LLC, where she handles trial-level defense litigation and civil appeals in federal and state court in the areas of civil rights, employment law, products liability, insurance defense, and other commercial litigation. In 2018, Kathryn served as president of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association.
• • Treasurer:  Abby O’Connor, an Associate at Harper Hofer & Associates, specializes in litigation support services - forensic accounting, economic damages, and valuation analysis. She is a CPA, Certified in Financial Forensics, and Accredited in Business Valuation.
• • Historian:  Elizabeth Meck, a Vice President at The Northern Trust Company where she handles all aspects of estate and personal trust administration. She also works closely with individuals and families to identify and implement estate planning, business succession, and wealth transfer planning objectives.

Additional members elected to serve on the 2019 - 2020 Board of Directors are listed on our website at www.cwba.org/board. 

ADVANCING WOMEN AS LEADERS IN THE LAW – 
ABOUT THE COLORADO WOMEN’S BAR ASSOCIATION

The Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA) is a nonprofit organization focused on advancing and promoting the welfare of all women in Colorado since 1978. Dedicated to advancing women as leaders in the law, the CWBA brings together lawyers and legal professionals from all levels of experience for networking events, professional education, an annual convention, and community service projects focused on helping women help themselves. With nearly 1,500 members, the CWBA is the largest diversity bar association in Colorado and is one of the biggest and most influential women’s bar associations in the country.  To learn more, visit www.cwba.org. 

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Colorado Passes Comprehensive Equal Pay Law

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed what is one of the toughest enhanced state pay equity laws to date. Colorado has become the ninth state in the country to pass an equal pay law that is more demanding than federal law. The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2021.

Just before the close of the legislative session on May 22, and after months of debate and considerable amendment, two Republicans joined Colorado Senate Democrats in passing the “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” (SB 19-085). It shares similarities with other enhanced state equal pay laws, including provisions on pay equity, pay history, and pay transparency. However, unlike other states, the Colorado law contains unique notice requirements.

Unique to Colorado

The Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act includes the following two notice requirements, which are found in no other state equal pay law:

• Employers must make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees on the same calendar day.
• Employers must disclose in each posting for each job opening the hourly or salary compensation, or a range of the hourly or salary compensation, and a general description of all benefits and other compensation offered.

Key Provisions

The new law protects against discrimination because of sex (including gender identity) or sex in combination with another protected status. Employers may not pay an employee of one sex less than an employee of another sex for substantially similar work.

However, an employer can avoid legal liability under the new law if it demonstrates that the entire difference in compensation is based on at least one of the following:

1. A seniority system;
2. A merit system;
3. A system that measures earning by quantity or quality of production;
4. The geographic location where the work is performed;
5. Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question; or
6. Travel, if a regular and necessary condition of the work performed.

The new law creates a private right of action for employees. A successful plaintiff may recover up to three years of back pay and liquidated damages in the amount of the back pay, unless the employer can show the “act or omission giving rise” to the pay violations was made in good faith.

“Mini-Safe Harbor”

Similar to equal pay laws in Massachusetts and Oregon, the Colorado law provides an incentive for employers to conduct proactive self-evaluations of their compensation practices. While not a complete defense against lawsuits, employers may use evidence of a “thorough and comprehensive pay audit” with the “specific goal of identifying and remedying unlawful pay disparities” to avoid an award for liquidated damages.

Pay History

Colorado joins eight other states with statewide salary history bans applicable to both public and private employers.

Under the new Colorado law, employers may not:

1. Seek the wage history of a prospective employee;
2. Rely on the wage history of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate; or
3. Discriminate or retaliate against a prospective employee for failing to disclose wage history.

Pay Transparency

Finally, the new law prohibits employers from preventing their employees from discussing compensation information with others, or requiring any employee to sign a waiver that prohibits his or her ability to do the same.

ARTICLE BY

Laura A. Mitchell  James D. Mackey  Jackson Lewis P.C.  Pay Equity Advisor

Meet Law Week Colorado's 2019 Top Women Lawyers, who all but one are CWBA members! Congratulations to Past President Alison Zinn of Lathrop Gage, Charlotte Sweeney of Sweeney Bechtold, Regina Rodriguez of Hogan Lovells, Kelley Duke of Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC, Lauren Varner of Varner Faddis Elite Legal, LLC, and Rita Connerly of Fairfield & Woods.

Read about each of their extraordinary accomplishments in this week's issue. https://lawweekcolorado.com/section/news/features/ and click here to see the video: https://vimeo.com/335244224

The CWBA’s work on equal pay was highlighted with an article in the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations (NCWBA) April newsletter. 

Colorado Women’s Bar Association Announces

2018 - 2019 Board Leadership

 DENVER (June 4, 2018) — The Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA), a nonprofit organization focused on advancing and promoting women in the legal profession and the welfare of all women in Colorado, announces its 2018 – 2019 Board Leadership.

The CWBA 2018 - 2019 President is Catherine “Cat” Shea of Denver who was sworn in on May 19, 2018 as President for a one-year term.  Cat is an Assistant Regulation Counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. In that capacity, Cat investigates attorney discipline and disability and magistrate matters.

Cat joined the CWBA Board of Directors in 2010 and is a member of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations.  She is also a member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Ethics Committee and Professionalism Coordinating Council. Cat is a 2015 graduate of the Colorado Bar Association’s Leadership Training Program (COBALT) and served as Chair of its Sessions Committee for 2016-17. She received her undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

• Cat succeeds Wendy Weigler who remains on the board as Immediate Past President. Wendy is Of Counsel with Winzenburg, Leff, Purvis & Payne, LLP, where her practice focuses on community association law, including the representation of condominium communities and homeowners associations throughout Colorado.

• President-Elect for 2018 - 2019 is Sarah Parady, a partner at Lowrey Parady, LLC, where she practices plaintiff’s-side employment and civil rights law.

Other CWBA Executive Committee Members for 2018 - 2019 include the following:

• Vice President:  Alison Zinn, CWBA 2014 - 2015 Past President and a partner at Lathrop Gage where she is a trial attorney focused on trust and estate litigation and elder law. She also serves on the Colorado Attorney Regulation Committee, and on the Executive Counsel for the Colorado Bar Association.

• Secretary:  Megan Garnett, who is an associate attorney with Polsinelli LLP where her practice focuses on general commercial litigation, with experience in representing clients involved in the energy industry as well as professional malpractice cases. Megan also serves as a committee member in the Colorado IP Inn of Court, as a mentor to a college student in Law School Yes We Can, and on the American Bar Association House of Delegates as the Denver Bar Association liaison. 
• Treasurer:  Gretchen Moore, a Tax & Accounting Associate at Harper Hofer & Associates, LLC. Gretchen provides tax planning, tax preparation, and litigation support services related to tax and accounting.

• Historian:  Miranda Hawkins, a partner at Goddard & Hawkins, P.C., specializing in estate planning and administration. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Association and serves on the Board of Directors of the Denver Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association.

Additional members elected to serve on the 2018 - 2019 Board of Directors are listed on our website at www.cwba.org/board.

ADVANCING WOMEN AS LEADERS IN THE LAW –
ABOUT THE COLORADO WOMEN’S BAR ASSOCIATION

The Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA) is a nonprofit organization focused on advancing and promoting the welfare of all women in Colorado since 1978. Dedicated to advancing women as leaders in the law, the CWBA brings together lawyers and legal professionals from all levels of experience for networking events, professional education, an annual convention, and community service projects focused on helping women help themselves. With nearly 1,900 members, the CWBA is the largest diversity bar association in Colorado and is one of the biggest and most influential women’s bar associations in the country.  To learn more, visit www.cwba.org.

# # #

PHOTO ATTACHED:  Catherine “Cat” Shea, CWBA President 2018 - 2019

Article in Law Week Colorado -- March 7, 2018
http://lawweekcolorado.com/2018/03/cwba-encourages-women-fill-judicial-ranks/

Justice Monica Márquez can remember her dismay that many news headlines focused on her identity as a gay Latina after she received her appointment to the Colorado Supreme Court. But in time, she realized the historical gravity of her appointment and understood she could relate to diverse communities in ways her colleagues could not as effectively. She said she is often asked to speak publicly and has met members of the Latino, LGBTQ and rural communities that way.

“As an ambassador of our legal system, the diversity that I bring as a justice is an asset because I can connect with so many different communities,” Márquez said Tuesday at the CWBA’s Storming the Bench panel discussion, in which she and other female jurists urged women to pursue judgeships. “I get to see firsthand in their faces what a difference it makes for them to meet a Supreme Court justice who reflects some part of their experience.”

She added she understands she does not fit the archetype of a Supreme Court justice, which has helped her realize the importance of diversity on the bench. It carries extra importance now, during a time when many people seem to have dwindling trust in government institutions, she said.

Including Márquez, 11 female panelists including judges, nominating commission members and Gov. John Hickenlooper’s chief legal counsel, gave some of their top advice for judicial hopefuls.

Click the link to get access to the full story.