15-Year-Old Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell in Growth Spurt

DENVER: Since January 2012, the Denver-based civil litigation firm of Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP has added 21 lawyers, including three of counsel, 11 associates, and eight staff counsel. The firm, which now numbers 79 lawyers and 100 staff, relocated in June 2012 to new offices in Denver's Republic Plaza to accommodate the expansion.
 
The firm has quadrupled in size since it opened its doors with 19 lawyers in February 1998. Over the years, the addition of lawyers with diverse practices and industry backgrounds has resulted in a strong and deep base of experience. Today, Trial Tested™ WTO handles trials, appeals, arbitrations, and related areas of complex civil litigation, including class actions and multidistrict litigation, often as national or regional trial counsel, for many of the nation's best-known companies in a wide variety of industries and litigation practice areas.
 
In the past year, WTO has welcomed of counsel lawyers Reid Neureiter, Allison Cohn, and Michael Song; associates Anthony Barbe, Nathan Bruggeman, Cara Dearman, Ellen Herzog, Elizabeth Johnston, Cedric Logan, Mark Lyda, Nathan Murphy, and Thomas Werge; and staff counsel Carlo Bonavita, Anne Mangiardi, Daniel McParland, Kasey Meyer, Rebecca Graves Payne, Kimberly Still, Barbara Vaught, and Jeri Wettestad. See short bios below for the of counsel and associate attorneys.

Reid Neureiter joined the firm from Husch Blackwell and Jacobs Chase, where he was a partner and head of litigation. At WTO, his practice will focus on complex commercial litigation and class actions. He has practiced in Denver since 1996, when he moved to the city to serve as court-appointed defense counsel in the trial of Terry Lynn Nichols, a defendant in the Oklahoma City bombing case. Neureiter graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Texas School of Law where he was the associate editor of the Texas Law Review.

Allison Cohn returned to WTO as of counsel after spending the last two years at an international labor and employment law firm. Prior to that, she was an associate at WTO where she focused her practice on consumer class actions, breach of contract disputes, and medical malpractice matters. Cohn earned her law degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she was the articles editor for the Journal of Constitutional Law.

Michael Song has tried over 40 cases, including 15 jury trials, and conducted over 100 grand jury investigations. Prior to joining WTO, Song served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Hawaii and the District of Columbia. He served as a law clerk to The Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court in the D.C. Circuit. After earning an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, Song graduated from the University of Texas with a law degree and a master's degree in public affairs.

Anthony Barbe joined the firm after serving as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Ann B. Frick of the Denver District court. He earned his law degree Order of St. Ives from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where he served as the managing editor of the Denver University Law Review.

Nathan Bruggeman worked at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), first in the Office of International Affairs and then as an advisor to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Prior to that, he was a litigation associate at an international law firm where he handled appellate matters and securities and common law fraud litigation defense. Bruggeman served as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law where he was on the editorial board for the Texas Law Review.
 
Cara Dearman joined WTO from New York's Sullivan & Cromwell where she handled complex commercial and securities litigation and white collar defense matters. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk to The Honorable Cathy Cochran of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Dearman earned her law degree Order of the Coif from the University of Texas School of Law where she was the articles editor of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law. 

Ellen Herzog served as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Randy Crane of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas prior to joining WTO.  She earned her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law where she served as the associate editor of both The Review of Litigation and The Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, & Energy Law. 

Elizabeth Johnston has experience handling a variety of complex employment and business litigation matters at two other Denver-based law firms.  She also worked as an attorney for The Legal Center for People with Disabilities. Johnston served as a law clerk to The Honorable Robert B. Maloney of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She earned her law degree cum laude from the University of Texas School of Law where she was the editor of the Review of Litigation.

Cedric Logan joined WTO after serving as a litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he handled a wide variety of commercial litigation, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, and public policy. He earned his law degree from the New York University School of Law where he served as the notes editor for the Journal of Law & Liberty.

Mark Lyda currently sits on the Council of Advisors on Consumer Credit for Governor John Hickenlooper and has worked in various other roles for the Office of the Governor of Colorado, including as deputy legal counsel.  Prior to joining WTO, he served as a law clerk to The Honorable Monica Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court. Lyda earned his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School where he served as the senior articles editor of the Journal of Legislation. 
 
Nathan Murphy served as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Peter W. Hall of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to The Honorable Carlos F. Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law where he was ranked first in his class and wrote for the Connecticut Law Review. After earning a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Murphy served as a USAF management analyst building staff strategy for 360,000 troops and designing pilot motor skill tests. 
 
Thomas Werge served as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Joseph E. Beshouri of the District of Columbia Superior Court. He earned his law degree cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center where he also received a certificate in World Trade Organization Studies from Georgetown's Institute of International Economic Law. Before law school, Werge worked as a systems analyst for a data and communications company.
 
Trial Tested™ Denver-based civil litigation firm Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell helps its clients resolve disputes that threaten their businesses, brands, products, people, and customers. WTO handles trials, appeals, arbitrations, and related areas of complex civil litigation, including class actions and multidistrict litigation, often as national or regional trial counsel, for many of the nation's best-known companies in a wide variety of industries.