2018

HBC Welcomes Seasoned Trial Attorneys Daniel Williams and David Driscoll

HBC is delighted to welcome two well-known and experienced trial attorneys to the firm.

Dan Williams - Dan brings to the firm over 17 years of litigation experience in a wide variety of commercial, business, securities and consumer disputes, including bet-the-company and other complex cases for emerging and established companies of all sizes.  Dan's clients come from a diverse range of industries, including natural products and outdoor industry, technology firms, life sciences/medical device companies, financial services and energy companies.

David Driscoll - David's practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation, plaintiff's personal injury, environmental torts, and insurance litigation of all types.  He also regularly serves as an AAA arbitrator.  David is a past president of the Boulder County Bar Association and has been listed in Colorado Super Lawyers and Colorado Best Lawyers.

HBC's John Clune and Lauren Groth File Title IX Action in Montana High School Case

HBC has filed a lawsuit in Missoula, Montana alleging violations of Title IX for a high school's mishandling of repeated reports of a teacher's sexual misconduct toward two students.  The suit alleges that the school received a report in 2014 that a Frenchtown, MT music teacher, Troy Bashor, was reported for unlawful sexual contact with a young student.  The school took no action against the teacher who went on to sexually assault another student in the fall semester of 2016, according to the complaint.  The suit also alleges that the second student was forced to transfer schools afer reporting the abuse due to the horrible retaliation from several of the other students who described Bashor as their "favorite teacher."  Along with the lawsuit, Bashor is being criminally prosecuted by the Missoula County Prosecutor's Office for his behavior toward both of the students.

HBC attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth are handling the matter.  See media coverage at:

"The country's top legal talent joins the Frenchtown Title IX suit," Missoula Independent, 1/11/18.

HBC Welcomes Newest Associate Colleen Koch

Our newest associate, Colleen M. Koch, joined the firm after graduation from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2017.  Colleen served as the Managing Editor of the Law Review and she was selected as a member of the Order of the Coif, which honors those graduating in the top 10 percent of the class.  With her background as an educator, she will join the firm's nationally-recognized Title IX practice group.  She will focus on personal injury, Title IX and general commercial litigation.

HBC Welcomes Lauren Carpenter to the Firm as an Associate Attorney

HBC is very pleased to welcome Lauren E. Carpenter as an associate with the firm.  A 2006 Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Lauren brings to the firm over 11 years of legal experience in both private practice and as a JAG in the United States Air Force.  At HBC, Lauren will emphasize corporate work, business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, financing and counseling emerging companies.

HBC Attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth File Petition for Certiorari

HBC attorneys John Clune and Lauren Groth filed a Peititon for Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Title IX matter of Ross v. University of Tulsa.  HBC client Aibgail Ross was raped by a student athlete at Tulsa and learned thereafter that another female student had previously reported the same offender to the Campus Security office for an earlier rape.  No action was taken by the school following the first report and the security department threw the first victim's written statement in the garbage.  On appeal, the 10th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the case ruling that notice of a dangerous campus offender given to Campus Security is insufficient to put the school as a whole on notice.  The court concluded that despite Tulsa's deliberate failure to respond to the earlier report, there is no liability without showing notice to a higher official.

HBC has argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that where the school policy instructs students to report sexual misconduct to Campus Security and where Tulsa's security officers are the school's Title IX investigators, the school was sufficiently on notice and should be held responsible for their deliberate inaction.  A copy of HBC's Petition can be found here or at http://www.hbcboulder.com/pdf/RossPetition.pdf

HBC's Bill Meyer Prevails in TTAB Cancellation Proceeding

In December 2017, HBC seasoned litigator Bill Meyer prevailed in a trademark cancellation proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).  Bill represented Survival Swim Development Network, Inc., which sought cancellation of the mark SELF RESCUE registered by J. Barnett Holdings, Inc.  After lengthy proceedings, a three-judge panel of the TTAB in Washington, D.C., ordered cancellation of the registration on the ground that it is merely descriptive of the identified services and has not acquired distinctiveness.