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 SETH J. BENEZRA is a 1980 graduate of Stanford University (A.B. with distinction) and a 1983 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, where he served as Articles Editor of the Colorado Law Review. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Benezra worked as a trial and appellate attorney for the Colorado State Public Defender. Mr. Benezra has been repeatedly recognized as a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and 5280 Magazine, and as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in Colorado by the National Trial Lawyers. Mr. Benezra is an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer in Employment Law at the University of Denver and has published and spoken extensively to legal professionals on employment issues. Mr. Benezra has tried numerous jury cases. Recent victories include Wilson v. Alamosa School District, a disability discrimination case which was tried to a jury in July 2008 and which resulted in a $300,000 verdict; Crowe and Ford v. South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, a Title VII retaliation case which was tried to a jury in September 2007 and which resulted in a jury verdict of $150,000 in compensatory damages; Doe v. Avaya Communications, Inc., a gender discrimination and retaliation case, which was tried to a jury in June 2003 and which resulted in a jury verdict of $300,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and a judgment of $4,800 per month in front-pay over the remainder of her lifetime; Drake v. TalMor Capital Management, L.L.C., and Edmund Melhado, Case No. 01-CV-211 (Boulder 2002), a fraud case that resulted in a jury verdict of approximately $3.0 million; Kulikowski v. Boulder County Board of County Commissioners, 231 F.Supp.2d 1053 (D.Colo. 2002), a retaliation case that settled for $400,000; Holeman v. City of Commerce City, a whistle-blowing case that was tried to a jury in 2000 and resulted in a plaintiff’s verdict and settlement of approximately $400,000; Vaszlavik, et al. v. Storage Technology, an age class action case which settled in 1999 for $5.0 million; and Carr v. Ft. Morgan School District, a disability discrimination case which resulted in a total judgment in 1997 of approximately $300,000 plus an order of instatement. Mr. Benezra was the President of the Boulder County Bar Association for 2002-03 and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boulder Bar Foundation. Mr. Benezra is a member of the National Plaintiffs Employment Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Criminal Justice Act Panel, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, the Boulder County Bar Association, and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Benezra's practice focuses on all elements of employment law and criminal defense work at the trial and appellate levels.
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ACHIEVEMENTS
- Mr. Benezra was a Co-Author of the Colorado Employment Law Practitioners’ Handbook, Chapter on Public Employees.
- Mr. Benezra was a Panel Member on the Law and Justice Program on Employment Law, Boulder Channel 8, August 2010.
- Mr. Benezra spoke on Workplace Privacy at the Employment Law Conference, Colorado Bar Association, May 2011.
- Mr. Benezra spoke on the ADA Amendments Act of 2009 at the Boulder County Bar Association Conference, September 2010.
- Counsel for the Plaintiffs in obtaining several significant six figure settlements in cases alleging discrimination and constitutional violations.
- Adjunct Professor/Lecturer in Employment Law at the University of Denver College of Law.
- Mr. Benezra has given speeches to the College of the Federal Advocates, the Colorado Bar Association, the Boulder County Bar Association, the Arapahoe County Bar Association, and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association on employment law issues.
- Mr. Benezra organized the Colorado Trial Lawyers 2001 Convention on Employment Law and Litigation and has served as co-chair of the Boulder County Bar Association Employment Law Committee.
- Mr. Benezra has been recognized as and testified as an expert in a number of employment law areas.
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 JOHN
A. CULVER graduated from the University of Kansas with honors
in 1987 and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1992. Since 2006, Mr. Culver has been recognized as one of Colorado's top attorneys through Law & Politics and 5280 Magazine's "Super Lawyer" nominations. From 2008 to the present, Mr. Culver has been voted one of the top 100 trial lawyers in Colorado by the National Trial Lawyers. He has also received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell for pre-eminent skill and ethics. Mr. Culver has considerable experience
with multi-party and class action litigation, including as lead
counsel in the certified age and benefits discrimination class
action Vaszlavik, et al. v.
StorageTek, which settled for $5.0 million and significant
affirmative relief. Mr. Culver is an experienced trial lawyer
who obtained a $2.9 million Judgment (exclusive of attorney fees
and rights) in Drake v. TalMor
Capital Management, LLC and Edmund Melhado, a case involving
fraud and breach of employment contract. Mr. Culver has extensive
experience representing governmental employees, as well as with
constitutional civil rights litigation. Mr. Culver is an active
member of the American Civil Liberties Union, is a member and
former Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the National
Employment Lawyers Association, and the Denver, Colorado, and
American Bar Associations. Mr. Culver has been an adjunct professor
of employment law at the Denver University College of Law since
1997. He regularly instructs members of the bar regarding employment
law and civil litigation, including at the National Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Annual Retreat of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission's "Technical Assistance and Training Program," CLE
International's "Employment Law Update," CLE International's "Employee
Handbook Seminar," Lorman's "Federal Civil Litigation Seminar,"
the Colorado Bar Association's "Employment Law Update," the Plaintiff
Employment Lawyers Association's seminar regarding public sector
employees, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association's Annual Convention
Employment Law section, and the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies
seminar regarding "False Claims and Whistleblowing." He has appeared
on Denver's local network affiliates, as well as ABC Nightly News,
HBO Inside Sports, the Reggie Rivers Show, and the Bradshaw Difference
concerning his representation of the disabled.
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ACHIEVEMENTS
- Named
"Super Lawyer" as one of Colorado's top attorneys by Law
& Politics and 5280 Magazine since 2006.
- Since 2008, voted one of the top 100 trial lawyers in Colorado by the National Trial Lawyers.
- Recipient of AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell for pre-eminent skill and ethics.
- Adjunct
Professor of Employment Law at the Denver University College of
Law since 1997.
- Member of Workplace Law Advisory Board at the Denver University College of Law.
- Member,
Madison's Who's Who.
- Author, "Workplace Privacy," The Practitioner's Guide to Colorado Employment Law, 2d Ed. (2008).
- Lead
counsel in Drake v. TalMor Capital Managment, LLC and Edmund
Melhado, in which the jury awarded the Plaintiff $2.9 million
(exclusive of attorney fees and costs) on claims of fraudualent
breach of employment contract.
- Lead counsel in Vaszlavik,
et al. v. StorageTek, 183 F.R.D. 264 (D. Colo. 1998), a class action lawsuit which settled for $5 million
and a commitment by the employer to include human resource training
and policy amendments including age and benefits administration.
- Lead counsel in Doe v. Lucent Technologies and Avaya, Inc., 01-WM-2240 (MJW), (D.Colo. 6/27/03) in which Plaintiff received a total award in excess of $1.8 million on novel and diffficult claim that Plaintiff, a woman, was discriminated against on the basis of her gender by another woman.
- Co-counsel
for Plaintiff in Carr v. Fort Morgan School District in which
the Plaintiff prevailed in unusual failure to hire case under the
Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
- Co-counsel
for 22 Plaintiffs in Carbone, et al. v. Public Service Company
in which Plaintiffs obtained a nearly $900,000 judgment based upon
claims for the breach of a lifetime employment contract.
- Co-counsel
for Plaintiffs in obtaining several significant six figure settlements
in cases alleging discrimination and constitutional violations,
including settlements in excess of $450,000, $650,000, and $950,000.
- Counsel
for Plaintiffs in Nash, et al. v. City and County of Denver where Court held that Defendant's Ordinance violated the Colorado
Open Records Act and awarded nearly $60,000 in attorney fees and
costs.
- Counsel
for the Plaintiff in Howard v. U.S., for which the District
of Colorado published its opinion at 864 F.Supp. 1019 (D. Colo.
1994), in a novel and precedent-setting case in which a prisoner
at the Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood, Colorado obtained
a preliminary injunction of an unconstitutional Bureau of Prisons'
policy which infringed upon the Plaintiff's freedom of religion.
- Instructor at numerous legal seminars including the National Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Annual Retreat of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission's "Technical Assistance and Training Program",
CLE International's Employment Law Update," CLE International's
"Employee Handbook Seminar," the Colorado Trial Lawyers
2001 Convention, the 2000-2003 Federal Civil Litigation Seminar,
the Boulder County Bar Association Employment and Labor Law Monthly Meeting,
the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association Monthly Meeting, and
the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies seminar regarding "False
Claims and Whistleblowing."
- Guest
on local Denver News, ABC Nightly News, HBO Inside Sports, the Reggie
Rivers Show, and The Bradshaw Difference concerning his representation
of civil rights plaintiffs.
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 Sarah Parady is a graduate of Simon’s Rock College (B.A. 2003, summa cum laude) and New York University School of Law (J.D. 2007, Order of the Coif), where she was an Executive Editor of the NYU Law Review and a Hays Civil Liberties Fellow. During law school, Ms. Parady was an intern at civil rights organizations including the ACLU Racial Justice Project, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Legal Resources Center in Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to joining the firm, she served as a clerk to Judge Carlos F. Lucero of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, then received a Skadden Fellowship to represent low-income homeowners in foreclosure at Colorado Legal Services. Her article in the Nov-Dec 2010 Clearinghouse Review, “Enforcing the Home Affordable Modification Program Through the Courts,” was widely relied upon by consumer advocates. Ms. Parady is a member of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association, the Denver Bar Association, and the Colorado Women’s Bar Association, and serves as a volunteer mentor for The Bridge Project. At Benezra & Culver, she represents employees, civil rights plaintiffs, and criminal defendants.
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Benezra
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