|
|
|
Colleen M. Rea
Shareholder
 Colleen M. Rea is a civil trial attorney with over twenty years of courtroom experience. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Rea held trial attorney positions in private practice, as Corporate Counsel at US WEST, Inc., and as a state and county prosecutor. Since joining the Firm, Ms. Rea’s practice emphasizes labor and employment law litigation, as well as general civil cases litigated in state and federal courts and before state and federal agencies. Currently, Ms. Rea is defending employers against a variety of employment discrimination claims, including two appellate cases for a major corporation. Ms. Rea also advises clients concerning day-to-day employment and labor law matters, revisions to outdated employee handbooks and policy and procedure manuals, compliance with federal and state statutes and policies, and issues involving workplace violence. She also conducts management and employee training seminars for clients on employment and labor law issues,
and offers clients proactive methods designed to minimize liability exposure and maximize the ability to successfully defend against discrimination and other employment-related claims. In addition, Ms. Rea seeks to utilize arbitration, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, where appropriate, to assist clients in minimizing legal fees and
expenses.disability retirement
Before joining the Firm, Ms. Rea’s civil litigation experience included a broad spectrum of contract, commercial, tort, wrongful death, and general litigation, with an emphasis on labor and employment law. Ms. Rea has successfully obtained pre-trial dismissals or summary judgments, defense verdicts from the jury, and directed verdicts from the judge on behalf of clients faced with claims of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, outrageous conduct, breach of employment contract, and other employment-related claims. At US WEST, Ms. Rea was responsible for all phases of labor and employment law litigation, including arbitration and trial, throughout the company’s fourteen-state jurisdiction, and taught numerous in-house seminars on employment law topics. As a prosecutor, Ms. Rea’s litigation experience included complex cases involving organized crime and racketeering, attempted murder, aggravated assault, felony theft, consumer fraud, and drug trafficking. She successfully appealed the first defense challenge to the Arizona Racketeering Act, shut down drug rings and auto theft rings, seized racketeering proceeds on behalf of the state, and obtained guilty verdicts against criminal defendants charged with a variety of criminal
felonies.
Education: J.D., University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall School of Law),
1980 B.A.,
magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, University of California, Irvine,
1977
Bar Admissions and Committees:
Arizona (1980), Colorado (1994)
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (1980)
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1986)
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado (1995)
APPLE MACBOOK 13 UNIBODY Model A1342 LAPTOP LCD SCREEN
U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (1995)
Member of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations
Co-chair of the Colorado Bar Association Court Reform Committee
(1999-2002)
Member of the Colorado Bar Association Court Reform Committee
(1997-1999)
Member of Colorado Bar Association Multi-Disciplinary Task Force
(1999-2002)
Member of Denver Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
(1997-1999)
Member of United States District Court Advisory Committee on Arbitration
(1994)
Member of Arizona State Bar Civil Practice and Procedure Committee (1986 - 1992)
Member of Maricopa County Superior Court Judges Civil Study Committee (1988 -
1991)
Judge for Hoffman Trial Advocacy Cup (1998-2001)
Publications and Seminars:
Speaker at SCCS Seminar, "Wolves at the
Door? Responding to Demands for Evidence by the Legal
System" (SCCS Seminar 2003)
"Employment Action Checklist"
(2002); Faculty Member for Perspectives on Depression Conference, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Depression: What Every Employer Needs to Know,” Denver, Colorado
(2001).
Speaker at Firm Seminar, “Provider Groups: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”
(2000).
Speaker at US WEST in-house employment law seminars, “How to Avoid Employment Law Litigation,” “Off-duty Misconduct Issues in the Workplace,” “How to Deal with Workplace Violence,” and “The Employment Law Trial: A Case Study” (1994 -
1997).
Faculty Member for “Employment and Labor Law in Arizona” seminar, Phoenix, Arizona (April 1991, 1992 and
1993).
Faculty Member for “H.O.T. Personnel Issues” seminar, Tempe and Tucson, Arizona (October and November
1992).
Co-author of “Manual for Processing Mandatory Arbitration Cases in Maricopa County”
(1991).
Return to more Attorney Profiles
|
|
