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Zhonette Brown of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Appointed to Food Bank of the Rockies Board of Directors

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Zhonette M. Brown, a shareholder at the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors at the Food Bank of the Rockies. As a board member, Brown will provide strategic direction to the organization and help with fundraising efforts. Brown, who grew up on a farm, says that she was drawn to the organization as it will allow her to help address hunger in a meaningful way.

Originally founded in 1978 as the Colorado Food Clearing House, the Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) has grown from distributing food supplies to one agency to more than 1,100 hunger-relief programs throughout Northern Colorado and Wyoming. FBR serves an area where nearly 400,000 people live in poverty and struggle to meet their basic food needs. Last year, FBR distributed 35.7 million pounds of food—76,000 meals each day—to children, seniors, and families in need. The organization operates with a staff of more than sixty and more than 6,000 volunteers.

Thank you, Ms. Brown, for your dedication to the Food Bank of the Rockies and your commitment to our community.

Click here for more information about the Food Bank of the Rockies.

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ALJ Fines Insurance Agent $1.245 Million for Violating Colorado Insurance Law

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

At the end of last month, an administrative law judge at the Colorado Office of Administrative Courts fined Salies “Kwann” Perry $1.245 million for violating Colorado insurance law, including committing unfair trade practices and fraud. According to DORA, the fine is believed to be one of the largest in state history ever handed down to an insurance agent (known as producers under state law).

The case dates back to early 2010, when Bankers Life and Casualty Company notified the Colorado Division of Insurance that Perry had submitted approximately fifty fraudulent applications for life insurance in 2009 and 2010. Those fraudulent applications included false Social Security numbers, addresses, and bank account numbers and were submitted in order to receive advanced commissions from Bankers Life.

The Division of Insurance’s Compliance and Investigations Section performed an investigation in which it also discovered that Perry failed to disclose his criminal background in his application for a Colorado insurance producer license. Perry’s license was summarily suspended in November, concurrent with the notice of charges filed with the Office of Administrative Courts. In his June 24 decision, Judge Robert Spencer permanently revoked Perry’s license and ruled that Perry had committed 415 violations of the state’s insurance laws.

Perry’s whereabouts are unknown; his last known address was in Thornton. Perry did not file an answer to the charges.

Click here to read the full press release from DORA regarding the decision.

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Weld County DUI Court to Celebrate its First Graduation

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Weld County DUI Court in Greeley will celebrate its first graduation in a ceremony on Thursday, July 7, when two participants are slated to complete their obligations with the court.

Judge Michele Meyer will preside over the graduation ceremony, which is set for 11:30 am in Division 17. A reception will follow.

The problem-solving court opened over a year ago, in early 2010, with the mission to promote public safety by providing intensive court supervision and prompt treatment for qualifying DUI offenders. The court’s participants receive help in maintaining their sobriety through education, incentives, encouragement for individual responsibility, and sanctions for violations. Support comes from a network of agencies, including the Nineteenth Judicial District, District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, counseling and treatment providers, and private legal counsel. The program’s five phases of treatment take a minimum of eighteen months to complete.

The court currently has nineteen participants. Slated for graduation on Thursday are Alberto Herrera-Antuna, who was the first person accepted into the program on February 4, 2010, and William Bourassa.

More than sixty problem-solving courts are in operation in seventeen of Colorado’s twenty-two judicial districts. Problem-solving courts in the state include adult and juvenile drug courts, family/dependency and neglect courts, DUI courts, adult and juvenile mental health courts, a veteran trauma court, and truancy courts.

The full press release from State Judicial regarding the DUI Court graduation can be found here.

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Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Reshaping Class Certification

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When it issued its decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, the Supreme Court did much more than simply end one of the largest class action suits in American history. It also set a host of new ground rules for federal courts to evaluate class certification, both in employment discrimination cases and in other types of class actions.

You may have already read some discussion and analysis of the case here at Legal Connection, thanks to one of our Featured Bloggers, Paul Karlsgodt.

Now you can join Mr. Karlsgodt and Todd McNamara on July 12 when they present a program on the case, “Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Reshaping Class Certification.”

This program will discuss the significant potential impacts of this landmark decision on a number of issues, including:

  1. Evaluation of merits issues at the class certification stage;
  2. The potentially broadened scope of the commonality element of FRCP 23(a);
  3. The standards for evaluating expert testimony at the class certification stage;
  4. The threshold standard needed to establish “common proof” of an employment or other business practice;
  5. The use of statistical evidence in support of class certification; and
  6. The standards for adjudicating claims for monetary relief under FRCP 23(b)(2).

The program will examine what the Court had to say about these and other topics, and will also explore the questions that remain unanswered following the decision.

For more information about the case and its ramifications on the legal landscape and your own legal practice, join us for this one-hour CLE program on Tuesday, July 12, “Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Reshaping Class Certification,” presented by Paul G. Karlsgodt, Esq. and Todd J. McNamara, Esq.

CLE Program: Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Reshaping Class Certification

This CLE presentation will take place on Tuesday, July 12, at 8:30 am. Participants may attend live in our classroom or watch the live webcast.

If you can’t make the live program or webcast, the program will also be available as a homestudy in two formats: video on-demand and mp3 download.
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Department of Health Care Policy and Financing Amends Rule Concerning the Colorado Indigent Care Program

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has amended the the medical assistance rule concerning the Colorado Indigent Care Program. These proposed amendments will align the definition of health care providers qualified to participate in the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) with state law.

Legislation passed in the 2011 session, House Bills 11-1101 and 11-1323, and signed into law by Governor Hickenlooper changed the definition of “general provider” to include Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers. This rule change adds those two provider types to the list of qualified CICP providers.

A hearing on the amended rule will be held on Friday, August 12, 2011 at The Capitol Center, 225 E. 16th Ave., 6th Floor, Denver, Colorado 80203, beginning at 9:00 am.

Full text of the proposed changes with red line edits to the rule can be found here. Further information about the rule and hearing can be found here.

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Department of Health Care Policy and Financing Amends Rule Regarding Telehealth Services for Medicaid Recipients

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has amended the medical assistance rule concerning telehealth home health services. The purpose of these proposed amendments is to implement SB 07-196, updated by HB 10-1005, to allow telehealth as a covered service for Colorado Medicaid Home Health recipients.

Home health telehealth is the monitoring of health care data through information processing technologies. It includes the collection of clinical data in a clients home, and the transmission of that data to a home health agency for a clinical assessment and review, and action as needed. These amendments are seen as necessary to initiate the service and comply with CRS 25.5-5-321.

Several items within the proposed rule have also been updated to decrease ambiguity and clarify the intent of the current rules.

A hearing on the amended rule will be held on Friday, August 12, 2011 at The Capitol Center, 225 E. 16th Ave., 6th Floor, Denver, Colorado 80203, beginning at 9:00 am.

Full text of the proposed changes with red line edits to the rule can be found here. Further information about the rule and hearing can be found here.

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Colorado Supreme Court: Week of July 3, 2011 (No Opinions)

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Colorado Supreme Court issued no opinions for the week of July 3, 2011.

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Tenth Circuit: Conviction for Drug Conspiracy Supported by Sufficient Evidence, Including DEA Agent’s Knowledge, Telephonic Intercepts, and Daughter’s Testimony

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in United States v. Keck on Friday, July 1, 2011.

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s conviction and sentence. Petitioner was found guilty by a federal jury on eight counts relating to a drug and money-laundering conspiracy. Petitioner appeals his conviction, contending the jury’s verdict rests on insufficient evidence and improper evidentiary decisions by the district court; he also contends that the district court erred in applying the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The Court disagreed with Petitioner and found no basis for reversal or prejudicial error in applying the guidelines to his sentence. “[T]he record amply demonstrates the DEA agent had personal knowledge of [Petitioner]’s criminal activities. When combined with the telephonic intercepts, his daughter’s testimony, and the drugs themselves, the evidence was sufficient to support [Petitioner]’s drug conspiracy conviction.” Additionally, none of the evidentiary decisions of the district court were in error or prejudiced Petitioner. Lastly, any sentencing error was harmless.

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Tenth Circuit: Unpublished Opinions, 7/1/11

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On Friday, July 1, 2011, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued one published opinion and four unpublished opinions.

Unpublished

Zinna v. Cook

United States v. Broemmel

Qualls v. Astrue

Kerchee, Jr. v. Jones

No case summaries are available for unpublished opinions. However, published opinions are summarized and provided by Legal Connection.

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