The Legal 500

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), tier 4

Holland & Hart LLP is ‘an excellent sounding board for a variety of issues, and service is fabulous’. The largest firm in the Mountain West region, the M&A practice is ‘extremely responsive to inquiries and effective in dealing with unusual and complicated matters. It is also very generous in its approach and willing to explore various alternatives so as to resolve business issues successfully’. The team represented Admiral Beverage Corporation, a 30-year client of the firm, in its acquisition of the Maloof families’ beverage distribution business in New Mexico. The transaction was the largest in Admiral’s history, and included a debt financing by Admiral with a syndicate of lenders, led by Wells Fargo. The ‘creative and knowledgeable’ practice also advised atebits and its founder, Loren Brichter, in its acquisition by Twitter. Associated Content was assisted in its acquisition by Yahoo! and Renewable Energy Systems Americas was advised in the sale of its 250 MW Cedar Point Wind Energy Project in Colorado to Enbridge Energy Company. Colorado-based Scott Berdan is a key contact. When Cheyenne-based Teresa Buffington ‘takes on an assignment’, clients are ‘confident that it will be completed’. Buffington is also ‘a pleasure to work with and offers thoughtful and well reasoned positions’.

Within Construction (including construction litigation), Holland & Hart LLP is a third tier firm,

Holland & Hart LLP predominantly handles instructions in Colorado and Nevada, with a strong regulatory practice in Washington DC. The construction group includes more than 20 full-time lawyers and has a strong focus on contentious matters, handling multiple cases for engineering firms and design professionals, among others. The firm is representing a Fortune 100, multi-industrial company on various disputes across the US, relating to engineering and design issues, bidding disputes and performance contracts. Work highlights also include a number of cases relating to hospitality projects on the West Coast; it is notably handling complex contract litigation relating to the development and construction of a well-known hotel in California, defending claims brought by the general contractor against the owner. Practice head Kevin Bridston represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of construction, real estate, and commercial cases. He has handled appeals before the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Aside from Bridston, a key contact is David Zimmerman, in Salt Lake City. In June 2010, the highly regarded Daniel Frost left the firm to join Snell & Wilmer LLP. In the same month, another significant departure took place at the Denver office when former litigation practice chair Scott Barker, who has experience in handling contentious work in the construction industry, left for Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP.

Within Real estate, tier 4

At Holland & Hart LLP, Marcus Painter leads a 30-partner team located in 11 offices across Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. This ‘outstanding’ group recently acted as local counsel on several major transactions, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s $1.8bn loan modification relating to the mixed-use CityCenter project, and on a client’s $8bn acquisition of a 40-acre parcel of land and its proposed $5bn development project involving 150 residential lots. The ‘exceptional’ Carl Barton led a team that represented Careage and its affiliates on a $40m transaction involving financing, workout, foreclosure and bankruptcy matters, and advised the subsequent owner of this Utah chain of skilled nursing facilities on licensing issues. Rebecca Dow is regarded as ‘one of the best overall real estate attorneys in Colorado’, and is praised for her deep and ‘unparalleled industry knowledge’; she has ‘guided clients through some tough negotiations and battles’. Clients also recommend Beat Steiner, Mona Burton and Elizabeth Sharrer.