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Editor’s Note

Seasons Greetings From Colorado Lawyer

December 2023 By Susie Klein, Managing Editor

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The Colorado Lawyer editorial department is excited to be wrapping up its tenth and final issue of 2023. As we prepare for the year ahead, we have a few items of business we’d like to share with our membership.

Our Heartiest of Thanks

First and foremost, we’d like to thank everyone who donated their time, talent, and expertise to our publication this past year. This includes our dedicated roster of coordinating editors, who solicit authors and peer review articles; our cover photographers, who send us the spectacular shots of Colorado that grace our covers; our advisory board members, who meet quarterly to make sure we continue to meet the needs of our membership; and our authors, whose willingness to put pen to paper to share their thoughts and wisdom never ceases to amaze us.

We’re incredibly grateful for their efforts and would like to shout their names from the rooftops. But we’re practical people, so we’ve printed their names here instead. If you happen to bump into one of these amazing volunteers, please consider giving them a quick word of thanks. We also invite you to let authors know when you read an article that helps or entertains you in some way. A short note can really make someone’s day.

A Writing Pitch

Moreover, we encourage anyone who enjoys Colorado Lawyer to consider writing for us. We’re currently in need of articles in all subject areas. The good news is that we’re welcoming shorter articles in all practice areas, so if you’ve always wanted to write but find yourself strapped for time, then this is your opportunity to get published.1 Consider reviewing recent caselaw, summarizing recent rule changes, providing practice updates and pointers, or converting your CLE presentation or legal blog post into an article. To get started, simply reach out to a volunteer coordinating editor in your area of interest to discuss your topic and arrange for peer review.

If you need some incentive to write, here are a few of the biggest benefits:

  • Our readership is extensive and includes the CBA membership, law library patrons, website visitors, and legal research subscribers (Westlaw, Hein Online, and Fastcase). Authors also maintain copyright of their own arti­cles, so they can shop them to other publications, and we frequently get requests from publishers to include past articles in their legal publica­tions. All of this adds up to valuable exposure for both attorneys and their firms.
  • Writing is an excellent op­portunity for mentorship. Experienced practitioners can pair up with newer attorneys to make the writing process easier and have a concrete project to work on together. Often, the younger attor­ney can help with the legwork, while the seasoned attorney can provide expertise the younger attorney does not have. It’s a win-win situation that often leads to future collaboration.
  • Most Colorado Lawyer articles are peer reviewed, making them eligible for CLE credit through the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education. Conversely, self-published works, including blog articles or articles written for the attorney’s own firm, are not eligible for CLE credit. See RCLE-FORM 6A for more information.

And if these reasons aren’t compelling enough, we have a brand-new section where CBA members can share their creativity with the legal community (working title: the Creative Corner). Creative works related to the law or law practice are specifically encouraged, but all works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, and artwork will be considered for either print or online publication. Email sklein@cobar.org for the Creative Corner guidelines (currently in beta mode).

December Highlights

Getting back to the issue at hand, we’d like to call your attention to a couple of articles featured this month. The first is an eye-opening opinion piece called The Deserving Disabled, by Kevin Rhodes, who practiced law until MS made that no longer possible. The author told me he wrote the article to do some much-needed “assumption busting” in the area of disability—and we were happy to give him a forum to do so. On a somewhat related note, the Colorado Disability Bar Association is up and running and also intent on helping overcome the historical stigma associated with disabilities.2 Please email codisabilitybarassn@gmail.com if you’d like to learn more about Colorado’s newest specialty bar.

The second article is a real estate law feature on exclusionary zoning laws—a hot topic these days, both in Colorado and across the nation. The article is largely substantive but contains some author advocacy, so we’ve included a note upfront alerting readers to that fact. We’ve always been careful to limit opinion and advocacy in our feature articles, and we’ll continue to do so. But if you ever think we’ve missed the mark, please let us know. While we think there’s room for measured self-expression in Colorado Lawyer, we want all of our members to feel respected (and calm) when they open our pages. There are plenty of places to go for the other stuff.

A Mea Culpa

And finally, a correction: Last month’s Trust and Estate Law article contained an editing error. On page 44, under “Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions,” the second sentence refers to the figure $12.9 million; it should have read $12.92 million.3 The text has been corrected on our website. We apologize for the error.

Warm Wishes for the New Year

That’s all for now. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic new year. Thank you for being a member of the CBA and for your continued support of Colorado Lawyer!

Susie Klein joined the Colorado Lawyer editorial staff in 2005 and has worked in print and online publishing for the past 25 years—sklein@cobar.org.

Explore This Issue

Notes

1. To maintain our editorial standards, citations will always be required—but shorter articles mean fewer citations. Hooray!

2. See Kalousek, “Introducing the Colorado Disability Bar Association,” 52 Colo. Law. 14 (Sept. 2023), https://cl.cobar.org/departments/introducing-the-colorado-disability-bar-association.

3. Chamberlain, “Don’t Get Burned: Estate Tax Considerations for Certain ‘Hot Powers’ Under Colorado’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act,” 52 Colo. Law. 42, 44 (Nov. 2023), https://cl.cobar.org/features/dont-get-burned. The corrected text reads: “In 2023, a decedent may transfer up to a combined $12.92 million during life or at death without incurring federal estate tax.”