THE ATTORNEYS: Sheila M. Gutterman

	President, Co-Founder, Shareholder Gutterman Griffiths PC, from inception to present. Email Sheila@ggfamilylaw.com	Honors and Distinctions Denver Business Journal - Outstanding Business Woman of 2008 - Professional. Supreme Court Commission on Families and Children in Colorado. Women's Vision Foundation Entrepreneur of the Year. Forbes "Colorado Legal Outlook" Recognition as Outstanding Family Law Firm. Denver Business Journal: Best of Bar Finalist. Denver Business Journal: Outstanding Women in Business Finalist. BARBRI Bar Review National Lecturer/Video/ Outline - Family Law. Intermountain Jewish News: "Very Important Person". Denver Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer of the Year. Barrister's Benefit Ball Chairperson (2 years): Fundraiser - Low Cost Legal Services. National Council of Jewish Women, "Outstanding Woman in Business" Award . Top Divorce Attorneys in Denver, Divorce in Denver Magazine. Colorado Biz Magazine: Top 100 Woman Owned Business. Colorado Biz Magazine: Top 250 Privately Owned Companies.
Education University of Denver, Juris Doctorate, 1987. University of Michigan, MA, Guidance and Counseling, 1967 (cum laude). University of Michigan, BA, pre-law, 1965 (cum laude). Professional Achievements (partial list) Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section Past Chair, Secretary, Treasurer. Colorado Judicial Institute Board Member and Membership Chairperson. Denver Bar Association 1st Vice President & Budget Director. American Bar Association Foundation Fellow. Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors (6 years). Colorado Bar Association Foundation Fellow. Colorado Collaborative Law Professionals (CCLP), Founder and Former Chair. Academy for Collaborative Practice, Chair (10+ Years Experience). Colorado Domestic Violence Advisory Steering Committee. Association for Conflict Resolution, Advanced Practitioner (200+ mediated cases). Colorado Women's Bar Foundation Fellow.

Biography

Sheila Gutterman, J.D., M.A. is the Co-founder, President, and Shareholder in the law firm Gutterman Griffiths PC. Sheila and the firm hold an AV Preeminent status ranking in Martindale Hubbell..the highest rating available to lawyers and law firms. Sheila is a prominent family law litigator, mediator and credited with being the "Mother of Collaborative Law" in Colorado.

For eighteen years, Sheila has given the BARBRI BAR Review lecture and video and has written the outline on Family Law in Colorado for lawyers who are studying for the Bar exam. She has literally taught and mentored thousands of law students and new attorneys in family law.

Sheila has chaired and held all offices in the Colorado Bar Association's Family Law Section. She has served on numerous commissions including the Colorado Supreme Court Commission on Families and Children. She chaired the Denver Bar Association's Barristers Benefit Ball (for two years) which raises money to provide legal assistance to the poor and needy.

Sheila is an Advanced Practitioner in the Association for Conflict Resolution (200+ mediated cases). Since the early 1990's, Sheila has lectured on offering clients a range of options as they go through the divorce process. Gutterman Griffiths has some of the toughest family law litigators and, also, one of the strongest Alternate Dispute Resolution departments in the state. Sheila advocates using the medical analogy: First, Do No Harm; Informed Consent and Triage. Sheila has been a pioneer in both mediation and Collaborative Law. In the 1980s, she lectured nationally on mediation as a non-adversarial alternative to the courtroom in family disputes.

In the 1990s, Sheila founded the Colorado Collaborative Law Professionals as a state umbrella organization to oversee developments in Collaborative Law. She conducted or sponsored 27 Collaborative Law workshops; published dozens of articles on the subject including two in the Colorado Lawyer and wrote the definitive textbook: Collaborative Law A New Model for Dispute Resolution, which is currently being used in law schools nationally.

At the same time, Sheila has been a leader in strengthening the Colorado court system. She helped restructure the family law court system to be more economical, efficient, and responsive to public needs. Sheila is a board member and membership chair of the Colorado Judicial Institute, a Colorado non-profit organization devoted to judicial independence and excellence through the enhancement of knowledge about and trust in the Colorado Legal system, composed of attorneys and non-attorneys.

Authorships (partial list) and Lectures (partial list)

Collaborative Law: A New Model for Dispute Resolution (500+ page textbook)

Collaborative Family Law - Part II (Vol. 30 No. 12; pp57-59) The Colorado Lawyer

Collaborative Family Law - Part I (Vol. 30 No. 11:pp57-60) The Colorado Lawyer

Basic Outline on Family Law in Colorado (ongoing)

Colorado Continuing Legal Education (ongoing lectures)

Training workshops in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Minimizing the Emotional Trauma of Divorce (Ongoing Lecture Series)

The Good Divorce - Channel 9 Relationship Series

Jewish Divorce and the Get - Intermountain Jewish News

Wanted: Market Values in Divorce Cases - Colorado Real Estate Journal

Back to Basics: 10 Fundamental Concepts in Family Law - Workshop and Lecturer

"In Court and Out of Court Options" in Divorce (ongoing)

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