Attorneys
Jerry Raisch | Michael Shimmin | Eugene Riordan |
Paul Zilis | Stuart Corbridge
Gabe Racz | Leila C. Behnampour
| Dan Platt | Aaron Ladd
Jerry W. Raisch
Jerry represents municipalities and industries in complying with federal and state water quality requirements. He has a B.S. degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology,
M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Colorado. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association and Environmental Law Section. He has served as Chairman of the
Water Policy Committee of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry since 1985 and has been an active participant
in the Colorado Water Congress and Colorado Mining Association in water quality matters. Prior to his partnership in Vranesh and Raisch, he was an attorney with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region VIII from 1972 to 1978 serving as its Acting Regional Counsel in 1977-78. Jerry is a Colorado Bar Fellow, and is listed in the "Best Lawyers of America" and Colorado "Super Lawyers."
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Michael D. Shimmin
Mike has been a full time lawyer since 1978, focusing his practice almost exclusively on water law. Mike's interest in water issues began while growing up on an irrigated farm
in northeastern Colorado. He obtained his bachelor's degree from CSU in 1975 and his law degree from CU in 1978. His professional career has included extensive practice before
the water courts, the Colorado Groundwater Commission, and the Colorado Supreme Court. He has also worked on legislation involving water issues, and has been a member of the
Colorado Water Congress State Affairs Committee since 1985. Mike represents a broad range of clients which include municipalities, special districts, ditch companies, ground
water management districts, and individual water users. Mike is a member of the South Platte Basin Round Table and was elected by the Round Table to serve on Colorado's
Interbasin Compact Committee. In 2007 Mike was selected by the Colorado Supreme Court to serve on its Court Committee.
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Eugene J. Riordan
Gene's practice focuses on environmental issues with an emphasis on solid and hazardous waste, water quality, and wetland matters. Particularly helpful in Gene's work is his engineering background. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California and is a licensed civil engineer with three years of engineering design and management experience. Additionally, Gene earned his PhD. in water resources planning and management from Colorado State University. Gene understands the physical systems that are regulated by environmental laws and is able to communicate directly with the technical experts about these systems. Gene has used this to his advantage in negotiating environmental permits and consent agreements with the regulatory agencies for a broad range of municipal and private clients.
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Paul J. Zilis
Paul represents municipalities, counties, water authorities, and individual water users in all water rights matters. He has a B.A. from the University of Colorado in environmental biology
and a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Environment, Energy, and Resources Section, and the Colorado Bar Association,
Environmental Law Section and Water Law Section. Paul is also a past chair of the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Committee of the Boulder County Bar Association. His professional
career has included extensive practice before the Water Courts and the Colorado Supreme Court beginning in 1983. Prior to his law career at Vranesh and Raisch, Paul worked as an aquatic
biologist at the University of Colorado.
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Stuart B. Corbridge
Stuart's practice focuses primarily on water rights issues, including water rights litigation and transactional matters, and includes the representation of
municipalities, water and sanitation districts, mutual ditch companies, irrigation districts and other types of water users. He has B.A. and J.D. decrees from the University of Colorado.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, and the Colorado Bar Association, Water Law Section.
After graduating from law school and prior to joining Vranesh and Raisch, Stuart worked for two years as the law clerk for both Division 1
Water Judge Jonathan W. Hays and 19th Judicial District Chief Judge/Division 1 Water Judge Roger A. Klein.
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Gabe Racz
Gabe specializes in water quality, water rights, environmental, and eminent domain matters. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College and a Juris Doctor
degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, Environmental Law, Water Law, and Real Estate Law Sections and Eminent Domain Committee, and has been active in the
Colorado Water Quality Forum. Gabe has appeared frequently before the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, and in the water courts and district courts, beginning in 2001.
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Leila C. Behnampour
Leila specializes in water rights issues. She received her law degree in 2010 from Lewis and Clark Law School, in Portland, Oregon, where she also earned a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. She has a B.A. from Whitman College, in Walla Walla, Washington. Leila is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, Water Law Section. After graduating from law school, Leila served as the law clerk for the Honorable James F. Hartmann, Water Judge, Water Division No. 1, and Chief Judge, Nineteenth Judicial District, State of Colorado.
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Dan Platt
Dan's practice focuses on water rights and eminent domain matters. He received his law degree from the University of Denver College of Law in 1997 and a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado in 1980. Prior to joining Vranesh & Raisch in March, 2013 Dan served for 12 years as special counsel to Duncan, Ostrander & Dingess. Dan has a hereditary interest in water law as his grandfather and great-grandfather served as water commissioners for Water District 6 (Boulder Creek), and his father managed the City of Boulder Watershed.
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Aaron Ladd
Aaron represents a range of clients from municipalities to individual water users in a host of water rights matters including transactions and water court litigation. He has a B.A. from Miami University (of Ohio) in Environmental Science and Geography and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. During and before law school, he was a law clerk for two business litigation law firms in Denver and Michigan, gaining valuable experience with contracts and complex civil litigation. Aaron has been practicing Colorado water law since 2009.
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