Partner
1675 Broadway, Suite 2300
Denver, Colorado 80202
Telephone: (303) 825-7000
Fax: (303) 825-7005
lpotter@kaplankirsch.com
Vcard
Ms. Potter has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of environmental, public lands, land use, and water law. She has extensive experience with Section 404 permitting, endangered species, NEPA, FLPMA and transportation law issues and local land use regulation. Her practice involves both litigation and counseling. She has practiced in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies across the country. Her practice also includes advice and litigation in the areas of access to information under open records and open meetings laws, administrative law and the public involvement process. Her clients include governmental and quasi-governmental entities, businesses, ranches, citizens' organizations and individuals.

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Potter served as Regional Director of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund's Rocky Mountain Office, handling and supervising high-profile environmental litigation throughout the western states. She was a Fulbright Professor of environmental law in India in 1993 and has taught at the University of Denver College of Law.

Ms. Potter's recent practice has involved representation of local governments adopting and enforcing 1041 regulations; trial of a claim to enforce the right to quietude under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act on behalf of the City of Minneapolis; counseling a transportation authority on environmental issues associated with extending its light rail service; and defending a legal challenge to a local government's use of a moratorium during the revision of its comprehensive plan.

Recent Publications and Seminars

Publications

  • "Legal Underpinnings of the Right to Float Through Private Property in Colorado," University of Denver Water Law Review (Spring 2002) (co-authored with Steven Marlin and Kathy Kanda)
  • "Build It and They Will Come for Gravel," 31 Colorado Lawyer 67 (March 2002) (co-authored with Star L. Waring)
  • "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation and Petition Clause Immunity," Environmental Law Reporter (July 2001)

Seminars

  • Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee, A Boater’s Right to Float Through Western Rivers, Colorado Water Workshop (July 2009) and CBA Environmental Section (May 2011)
  • Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in Environmental Cases During the 2008 Term, Colorado Bar Association CLE (May 2009)
  • Litigation Under 1041, CLE International Land Use Law (November 2008)
  • Recent Developments in 1041 Litigation, Colorado Bar Association CLE (May 2006)
  • Tolled Highways and Transportation Issues, panel moderator, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (March 2006)
  • Bypass Flows, panel moderator, Colorado Bar Association CLE (November 2004)
  • R.S. 2477 Access Issues, panel moderator, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute
    (March 2004)

Education and Clerkships

  • B.A., summa cum laude, University of Illinois, 1973
  • M.A., with honors, University of Illinois, 1975
  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1980
  • Judicial Law Clerk, Justice Jean Dubofsky, Colorado Supreme Court

Bar Admissions

  • Colorado
  • Texas
  • Many federal district courts, Courts of Appeal, and U.S. Supreme Court

Professional and Civic Activities

  • Best Lawyers in America, all editions (2001 - Present) (environmental law)
  • Co-Founder and Board Member, Faculty of Federal Advocates (1996 - 1998)
  • Chair, Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group, U.S. District Court for District of Colorado (1994 - 1997)
  • Adjunct Professor, University of Denver College of Law
  • Neighborhood Advisory Committee to the Denver Botanic Gardens (1996 - 2009)
  • FrontRange Earth Force, Board of Directors (2006 - 2010)
  • Colorado Environmental Coalition, Board of Directors (2007 - present)
  • Colorado "Super Lawyers," (2006 - present)