Brownstein Attorneys Make 2025 List of Best Lawyers in America

Eighty-nine attorneys from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America, the legal profession’s oldest and most respected peer-review publication. Attorneys from nine of Brownstein’s offices were recognized in 42 different law categories ranging from bankruptcy, litigation and gaming to corporate, real estate and government relations.

Four attorneys received “Lawyer of the Year” recognition. In Denver, Airina L. Rodrigues was recognized for copyright law, and Carolynne C. White was recognized in the municipal law category. In Las Vegas, Peter H. Ajemian was recognized for copyright law, and Andrew S. Brignone was recognized in the litigation - ERISA category.

Attorneys from nine of the firm’s offices included:

• Steven E. Abelman, litigation – bankruptcy
• Pacifico Agnellini, gaming law
• Adam J. Agron, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law, securities/capital markets law
• Peter H. Ajemian, copyright law, trademark law
• Nicole R. Ament, real estate law
• David R. Arrajj, gaming law
• Sarah Auchterlonie, banking and finance law, corporate compliance law
• Richard B. Benenson, commercial litigation, corporate compliance law, mass tort litigation/class actions - defendants
• Gregory W. Berger, tax law
• Andrew S. Brignone, litigation - ERISA
• Norman Brownstein, government relations practice
• Adam K. Bult, commercial litigation, litigation - construction 
• Eric R. Burris, product liability litigation – defendants
• Justin L. Cohen, commercial litigation
• Beth Collins, land use and zoning law
• Ross L. Crown, construction law
• David A. Curfman, real estate law
• Diane C. De Felice, environmental law, land use and zoning law
• Steven C. Demby, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law
• Marc Diamant, real estate law
• Tal Diamant, real estate law
• Amy J. Diaz, real estate law
• William J. Downey III, gaming law
• Jason R. Dunn, commercial litigation, government relations practice
• Affie Ellis, Native American law
• Frank M. Flansburg III, commercial litigation
• Wayne F. Forman, land use and zoning law, water law
• Matthew D. Francis, litigation - intellectual property
• Emily R. Garnett, government relations practice
• Erin E. Grolle, copyright law, trademark law
• Benno M. Guggenheimer, patent law
• Dulcinea Z. Hanuschak, litigation - environmental, natural resources law, water law
• Stephanie Osler Hastings, water law
• S. Craig Hemenway, patent law
• Bradley J. Herrema, water law
• Christopher M. Humes, litigation - ERISA
• Aaron M. Hyatt, real estate law
• Bruce A. James, real estate law
• Gregory M. Janssen, corporate compliance law 
• Carrie E. Johnson, commercial litigation 
• Robert Kaufmann, real estate law
• Michael W. King, corporate law, health care law
• Albert Z. Kovacs, business organizations (including LLCs and partnerships), corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law
• Mitchell J. Langberg, First Amendment law, media law
• Kirk B. Lenhard, bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation
• Mark F. Leonard, family law
• Blair E. Lichtenfels, real estate law
• Avi Loewenstein, mergers and acquisitions law
• Bryce Loveland, employee benefits (ERISA) law, litigation - ERISA
• Janae Magee, real estate law
• Mark J. Mathews, environmental law
• Gino A. Maurelli, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law
• Andrew Meyers, construction law, real estate law
• Rebecca L. Miltenberger, real estate law
• Alfred E. Mottur, communications law
• Sarah A. Murray, gaming law
• Christopher L. Ottele, employment law - management, litigation - labor and employment
• Angela Turriciano Otto, real estate law
• Michael J. Pankow, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law
• Elizabeth D. Paulsen, corporate law
• Jonathan G. Pray, litigation - construction
• Mark L. Pryor, government relations practice 
• Caitlin Quander, construction law, real estate law
• Patrick J. Reilly, commercial litigation
• Airina L. Rodrigues, copyright law, trademark law
• Christine A. Samsel, employment law - management
• Robert J. Saperstein, water law
• Scott Scherer, gaming law
• Frank A. Schreck, gaming law
• Ellen L. Schulhofer, corporate governance law, corporate law
• Adam P. Segal, litigation - ERISA
• George G. Short, trusts and estates
• Steven O. Sims, water law
• Scott S. Slater, water law
• Ryan A. Smith, Native American law
• Jay Spader, corporate law
• David M. Spaulding, employee benefits (ERISA) law
• Andrew L. Spielman, energy law, environmental law, natural resources law
• Amy M. Steinfeld, water law
• Nancy A. Strelau, employee benefits (ERISA) law
• Russell W. Sullivan, tax law
• Jamie L. Thalgott, real estate law
• Gregory A. Vallin, real estate law
• Sonia Church Vermeys, administrative/regulatory law, corporate law, gaming law, land use and zoning law
• Eric Waeckerlin, environmental law, litigation - environmental, natural resources law
• Kevin P. Walsh, litigation - construction
• Carolynne C. White, government relations practice, land use and zoning law, municipal law, real estate law
• Ashley B. Wingfield, real estate law
• Arthur Zorio, commercial litigation, litigation - intellectual property

In addition, 36 attorneys from six of the firm’s offices were listed in the fourth edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America in 20 different law categories. They included:

• Jena Shoaf Acos, environmental law
• Matthew C. Arentsen, commercial litigation
• Courtney E. Bartkus, commercial litigation 
• James A. Carter, land use and zoning law, real estate law
• Travis F. Chance, commercial litigation, litigation - labor and employment
• Jessica L. Diaz, energy law, environmental law, land use and zoning law, litigation - environmental, natural resources law
• Kayla D. Dreyer, labor and employment law - management
• Emily L. Dyer, commercial litigation
• Erin Elliott, land use and zoning law
• Emily A. Ellis, commercial litigation
• Elisabeth Esposito, environmental law, land use and zoning law, litigation - environment, natural resource law
• Maximilien D. Fetaz, commercial litigation, litigation - securities
• Andrew J. Freyer, intellectual property law
• Shane C. Griffin, real estate law
• Christopher R. Guillen, environmental law, natural resources law
• Justin M. Hahn, mergers and acquisitions law, health care law
• Christopher J. Hand, banking and finance law, leveraged buyouts and private equity law, mergers and acquisitions law
• Mackenzie Warren Kay, government relations practice
• Maliq I. Kendricks, commercial litigation, corporate law
• Nicholas J. Larson, real estate law
• Brendan T. Leanos, corporate law
• Evan Leitch, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law
• Lindsey A. McDougall, intellectual property law
• Jia D. Meeks, government relations practice
• David B. Meschke, commercial litigation, litigation - securities
• Peter J. Nagle, intellectual property law
• Debashree (Reema) Nandy, commercial litigation 
• Hirsch L. Neustein, real estate law
• Charlotte S. Phelps, mergers and acquisitions law
• Julia E. Rhine, energy law
• Paige Samblanet, environmental law
• Connor H. Shea, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law
• Courtney Shephard, energy law, environmental law
• Eric Simpson, real estate law
• Michael P. Smith, energy law
• Eric D. Walther, appellate practice, commercial litigation

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which tens of thousands of leading attorneys cast almost 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”