Attorneys
Jerry Raisch | Michael Shimmin | Eugene Riordan | Paul Zilis | Stuart Corbridge | Gabe Racz | Áine L. Durkin
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 American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, and the Colorado Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, serving as its Chair in 1980. He has served as Chairman of the Water Policy Committee of the Colorado Association 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."
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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 specializes in water rights and water quality issues, with an emphasis on water rights. 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 American Bar Association, Environment, Energy, and Resources Section, 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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Áine L. Durkin
Áine is the newest associate at Vranesh and Raisch. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Black studies from Boston College, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis. She is admitted to practice in the State of Colorado and a member of the Colorado Bar Association. During law school, Ms. Durkin clerked at two firms specializing in water rights and environmental law, and served as an associate articles editor on the UC Davis Law Review