Owen Hathaway | Fort Collins Business Lawyer

• Member | Colorado Bar Association
• Member American Association for Justice
  2016 - Present
• Member Larimer County Bar Association
  2013 - Present
• Member American Bar Association
  2008 - Present

I don't normally practice family law, but an existing client ended up in a very sticky situation with a mentally ill teenage child. Due to a number of tactical mistakes on the client's part and misleading guidance offered by county officials, the child ended up in the temporary custody of a relative in another state. As soon as the child was with the relative, wild, unfounded accusations of abuse and denials of the mental illness began to surface. Faced with a jurisdictional conundrum and potential arrest of my client, I flew out to retrieve the child and return him to his family so that the issues raised could be dealt with in the home state. This case continues, so we have no final outcome. We did manage to save the client a ton of money by making sure the case remained exclusively in-state.

Word of mouth. Nothing helps build a successful practice like satisfied clients. My clients tell their friends and neighbors that they were treated with uncommon respect and dignity, that their problems were solved, and that they received great value for their money.

Communication and understanding. They go together. There are many lawyers who know the law, know the local procedures, have a library of documents to bring to bear. A good lawyer has all these things and also knows how to listen to a client and understand what they truly want. I don't practice one-size-fits-all law. Each of my clients is unique and has their own challenges, hopes and dreams. Through effective communication, I can understand those things and be a stronger advocate for them.

Local knowledge helps me advise small business clients as well as bankruptcy clients. With regard to small businesses, I know the little things about their vendor relationships, competition, and local regulations that affect them. For bankruptcy clients, there are the obvious state-specific rules that I need to know in order to help them effectively. It also helps to have worked with many of the local collection agencies before.

A free phone consultation can often solve a client's problem when it involves a simple question. I work with a lot of small businesses, and sometimes all they need is a quick answer. I'm happy to help in these situations as I truly believe in business karma. Of course, I certainly keep an eye out for traps that will make the situation more complex and not solvable on the phone.For my bankruptcy practice, I can less frequently offer a solution, but I can explain the bankruptcy process, the benefits, and the choices that need to be made early on. The client and I can usually get a basic outline of our strategy put together so that the client can make an informed decision about whether to proceed with the case.

Every practice area is different. For small business issues, I need to get to know the business a little, the ownership structure, the debt and equity positions involved, and any employment arraignments. For bankruptcy cases, I need to know income information, basic debt classification (secured or unsecured), and whether the client owns any property we need to protect in the case. Codebtors and marital status is also important early on.

Most lawyers in our community have been career attorneys for a long time. I came to the practice of law after a 17 year career in health care technology and business startups. I bring a perspective from the real world in addition to top notch legal training. I can relate to my clients, whether a small business or a bankruptcy client, in a personal way that most lawyers just can't. I believe it is critically important that a lawyer understand the client's needs as well as their hopes and dreams for the future. I look at a new client as the beginning of a new relationship in which we partner together to create a better life.

I live vicariously through the success of my clients. Just like my former employees who still come back and thank me for mentoring them to achievements they never thought possible, the greatest reward I feel is when my clients succeed. One example, I was helping a retired army quartermaster through a bankruptcy. During our case prep, the gentleman had a minor stroke. His son was there to help him out, and I told the son that his father was lucky to have him. The son replied, ""He's lucky to have you!""

Number one, I'm a dad to three awesome girls. We do a lot of outdoors things together like hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. I also like to build things. I build furniture for the house, landscaping, improvements for my '85 Jeep CJ7, and lots of other DIY stuff. I'm an avid homebrewer. I read economics professors' blogs and constitutional law blogs for fun. And occasionally, I'll get some hair brained idea for a new web application, so I'll cobble together some Ruby, PHP or Python code.

Not at this time, but it is something I value highly.