The latter half of 2018 has been a busy one for SBBO and Q1 2019 promises to be equally exciting.
In August the firm moved to a new Denver Tech Center location at 7979 E. Tufts Avenue, in order to accommodate the continued growth of the Denver office. Please click here to see Law Week Colorado’s reporting on the move.
In early November the firm’s Dallas office also relocated to a new location at 5430 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1540.
SBBO Transactions
The firm continued to work on a number of significant client transactions in Q4 2018 and Q1 2019. Two particularly noteworthy deals, involving partners Christian Otteson, Kurt Leeper, and Bo Anderson of SBBO’s Banking, Lending & Financial Institutions Practice Group were:
Advised Guaranty Bancorp in its sale to Independent Bank Group, Inc. for approximately $1 billion. The deal was signed in May, 2018 and closed on January 1, 2019. To read an official news release on the deal, please click here.
Advised MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. in its acquisition of ATBancorp for approximately $170 million. The deal was signed in August, 2018 and is expected to close in Q1 2019. To read more on the transaction please click here.
Awards, Accolades, and Presentations
On July 24 SBBO and The Independent Bankers of Colorado (IBC), hosted the fourth annual Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering Mile High Summit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver Branch. Special guest speaker Clay Roberts, Global Head of AML Strategy and SAR Control Officer, Western Union, was joined by a diverse slate of expert speakers and panelists from government and industry.
In August four of the firm’s partners, Duncan Barber, Tom Bieging, John Podvin, and Steve Shapiro were named to the list of The Best Lawyers in America© 2019. Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. It is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey.
In addition, Dallas partner John Podvin was named a “Lawyer of the Year” in the category of Financial Services Regulation Law by Best Lawyers®. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored in this way, making this accolade particularly noteworthy. Mr. Podvin also received this award in 2014.
In September SBBO co-sponsored the 45th Annual Independent Bankers of Colorado (IBC) Convention and Trade Show in Vail, Colorado. SBBO partners Christian Otteson and John Podvin presented at two of the twelve breakout sessions. Mr. Otteson took an in-depth look at recent M&A activity in the banking sector, while Mr. Podvin presented on the topic, “An Update on the Treatment of Marijuana-Related Businesses, including Industrial Hemp under the Farm Bill.”
In October SBBO’s Kevin Funnell co-presented a webinar that examined the use of social media by financial institutions. The webinar, “Sweet Spot of Social Media – Mitigate Risk to Reap Rewards,” was offered through financial services education organization BankersHub.
On October 8 Christian Otteson and Steve Shapiro were named Barrister’s Best 2018 by Law Week Colorado. Mr. Otteson was named Barrister’s Best People’s Choice 2018 for “Best Banking Lawyer,” while Mr. Shapiro was named Barrister’s Best Peoples Choice for “Best Insurance Lawyer for Plaintiffs.” Law Week’s annual list is compiled, with input from the publication’s readers, to help identify the most prominent, highest performing and well-established lawyers in each practice area.
In November SBBO and The Independent Bankers of Colorado presented a two-day intermediate commercial loan documentation workshop. SBBO’s Insurance Practice Group also presented important information about understanding and reviewing insurance. Presenters included Duncan Barber, Lisa Shimel, Victoria Shupe and Garth Gersten.
Also in November, it was announced that the firm had again been ranked in the 2019 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list. Firms on the list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers.
SBBO was honored with a National ranking for Financial Services Regulation Law.
The firm also received Metropolitan rankings in the following practice areas:
- Banking and Finance Law (Denver)
- Insurance Law (Denver)
- Commercial Litigation (Denver)
- Financial Services Regulation Law (Denver and Dallas)
- Litigation-Banking and Finance (Denver)
In The Media
In July Steve Shapiro and Garth Gersten had an “Expert Opinion” article published in the Westlaw Journal Insurance Bad Faith, a Thomson Reuters publication that provides comprehensive coverage of developments in bad-faith litigation around the country. The article, “Colorado Supreme Court sides with policyholders on statutory bad faith,” discusses four recent Colorado Supreme Court cases that address the parameters of statutory bad-faith claims in insurance and strongly support policyholders in their disputes with insurers. To read the article in full, please click here.
An article by Mr. Gersten, “Will the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance Affect Colorado Law?” appeared in the July 23 issue of Law Week Colorado. The article examines a selection of pertinent rules in the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance, which was recently published by the American Law Institute. Read the full article here.
On August 2 ColoradoBiz magazine published an article by Mr. Gersten, “10 Tips for Reviewing Your Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Policy,” in which he offers 10 practical tips for reviewing and improving D & O Insurance. Read the article in full here.
Mr. Gersten was also quoted on the topic of D & O Insurance by FitSmallBusiness, a national site that provides multiple digital resources for small businesses in areas such as marketing, accounting, insurance, finance and law. The article, “D&O Insurance: Coverage, Costs & Exclusions,” examines all aspects of directors and officers liability insurance. Read the article in full here.
In September John Podvin was quoted in an article by financial writer Robert McGarvey, “BSA, AML, and Your Credit Union: The New Perils.” In the article Mr. Podvin speaks to the difficulties faced by credit unions in complying with Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering issues. Read the article in its entirety here.
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