Dylan Harrison Metzner
Member Spotlight
September/October 2025
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Dylan Metzner is a trust and estate attorney who counsels individuals, families, and family offices throughout the United States and internationally. He is the immediate past chair of the CBA Trust and Estate Section.
Hometown: Unincorporated Arapahoe County
Law School: University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Lives in: Unincorporated Arapahoe County
Works at: Buchalter
Practice Areas: Trust and Estate Planning and Administration; Philanthropic Planning
What do you like the most about your practice area?
The clients! I’m so lucky to have clients who welcome me into their lives. Estate planning is a personal endeavor, and it’s important to understand a family’s triumphs and challenges in order to design a plan that achieves the client’s goals while reducing the risk of litigation when it’s time for the plan to be administered. I love discussing triumphs and setbacks with clients. It reminds me that we are all just people trying to do the best we can in this world.
What are the greatest challenges you face in your practice, and how do you manage them?
In the estate-planning world, anything can happen any day, any time. A client could have a stroke at 1 a.m. on a Saturday, and the family might need help finding the medical power of attorney. And during normal business hours, there are always numerous projects moving forward at the same time. Striking the balance of being available, keeping projects moving forward, and maintaining my own sanity is a challenge. The best way I have found to manage that challenge is to take personal time at the beginning and end of each day and surround myself with a team that can help share the load.
What kind of legal matter do you find most rewarding or personally satisfying?
Siblings, from time to time, do not get along, and parents can be pulled into those sibling fights. I enjoy helping my parent-clients create a structure that removes them from these toxic situations and allows them to be a loving parent and not a mediator.
How do you like to spend your free time?
With my family—Lyndsay, James, Rhett, and our three rescue dogs, Ellie, Maxwell, and Daphne.
Where is your happy place?
Western Maryland and the Colorado mountains.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Salt and vinegar chips.
Who is your favorite writer and why?
Stephen King. I’ve never read an author who can bring you into a brain the way he can.
On your desk right now:
My computer, a tablet with the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 on, a couple of legal pads with my to-dos, some sparkling water bottles (one full and two empty), a coffee cup (empty), and a red Swingline stapler.
If you had a warning label, what would yours say?
Speaks louder than needed.
People would be surprised if they knew this about you:
I consider myself an introvert.
What’s the first step you take to achieve a goal?
Write it down.
How has the CBA impacted your career?
The CBA has helped me be a better lawyer and leader. Early on in my career, I started attending the Trust and Estate Section’s monthly Probate Day meetings to try to learn the law and practice area. I learned things from brilliant attorneys that I never would have learned on my own. The CBA epitomizes the phrase, “The more you give, the more you get.” It’s been a privilege to serve the Trust and Estate Section, and I hope I was able to give the section just a fraction of all it has given me.
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