Brownstein Podcast Series

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joins Brownstein shareholders Alissa Gardenswartz and Sarah Mercer for a discussion about the future of antitrust enforcement, ensuring consumer protection while supporting innovation and issues arising from the pandemic, including price gouging and evictions.

With the passing of the Aug. 3 deadline for signature gathering for citizen-initiated ballot measures in Colorado, Sarah Mercer and David Meschke discuss what initiatives are already on the ballot, what they expect to make it on the ballot and notably what will not make it on the ballot this year. They also cover online signature gathering and touch on TABOR and Gallagher Amendment issues going into the Nov. 3 election.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required city planning departments to change how they manage development projects. Brownstein Shareholder Jamie Thalgott brings together Alfredo Melesio, City of North Las Vegas Assistant City Manager, Michael Tassi, City of Henderson Director of Community Development and Services, and Robert Summerfield, City of Las Vegas Director of Planning, to discuss updates to entitlement and development application procedures, changes to the approval processes and development trends they are seeing as social distancing and remote work continue.

With the presidential election fewer than four months away, former Vice President Joe Biden has opened up a sizable lead in national polling over incumbent President Donald Trump. But how should these numbers be interpreted? Will both national and swing-state polling diverge from actual results this November as they did in 2016? Drew Littman moderates a discussion with Al Mottur and Brian McGuire to gauge the significance of recent polling and unpack fresh developments from the campaign trail.

On June 23, Brownstein’s Health Care industry group convened a roundtable of health care professionals and experts to discuss the health care business climate during and post COVID-19. The discussion includes trends across different health care sectors, an update from Brownstein’s Washington, D.C. team, False Claims Act issues associated with COVID-19 economic stimulus monies, the business and deal making environment and risks specific the health care industry, antitrust issues that could arise, as well as updates on the current state of the industry from medical professionals.

Brownstein Shareholder Diane De Felice joins Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg, senior principal at Dahlin Group Architecture, for a discussion on challenges and opportunities in new construction versus the existing built environment following the COVID-19 pandemic. They also cover how innovation such as apps tied to design responses—like new bike lanes, mapping sidewalks and other changes—can encourage safe use of public spaces for recreation and non-vehicular traffic.

In this episode of Brownstein’s What’s Next Nevada, Shareholder Mitch Langberg is joined by Ellen Schulhofer and Rich Benenson from Brownstein’s leadership team. They discuss lessons learned as business leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic and how those can be applied as businesses reopen, goal setting, the importance of input from all levels of a company to help revise internal processes as well as making empathy and wellness a priority.

Americans will cast their votes in the 2020 presidential election in less than five months, drawing an unprecedented election cycle to a close. The year, so far, has tested the ability of campaigns to adapt and meet the moment, as the nation continues to battle the COVID-19 global pandemic and grapple with recent protests. Drew Littman moderates a conversation with Al Mottur and Brian McGuire to provide a full landscape analysis of the race as it currently stands and offer insight into how it may unfold in the coming months.

In this episode of Brownstein’s What’s Next Colorado—a podcast series devoted to the legal, political and business issues companies will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—Shareholders Sarah Mercer and Tal Diamant discuss Gov. Jared Polis’ announcement that Colorado restaurants may begin to reopen for in-person dining. They cover general restaurant reopening guidelines, Denver’s temporary program for restaurants to expand into open areas, issues that should be considered before expanding into public areas, as well as the impact of recent protests as restaurants try to gain footing.

This episode of Brownstein’s What’s Next podcast series—devoted to the legal, political and business issues companies will face in the weeks and months to come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—focuses on the liability risks of making inaccurate statements related to the current crisis. Brownstein Shareholders Mitch Langberg, Greg Brower and Alissa Gardenswartz discuss how representations businesses make to obtain benefits from the trillions of dollars of aid approved by Congress and statements made to the public surrounding businesses reopening can lead to government investigations and civil litigation.

In the first episode of Brownstein’s What’s Next Colorado—a podcast series devoted to the legal, political and business issues companies will face in the weeks and months to come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—Brownstein Shareholders Sarah Mercer, Doug Friednash and Melissa Kuipers Blake discuss where Colorado is at right now from a state and municipalities perspective, what reopening looks like especially for restaurants, symptom tracking and important liability concerns.

In the inaugural episode of Brownstein’s What’s Next Nevada, Brownstein Shareholders Mitch Langberg, Frank Flansburg and Rebecca Miltenberger discuss how the COVID-19 crisis has triggered contract issues such as force majeure clauses and other challenges to performance, how that has impacted business over the last several months and what happens if contracting parties can’t reach agreement in dealing with these issues.

As developers try to navigate the ever-changing world of COVID-19 and its impact on balancing sustainability with new health concerns, Brownstein Shareholder Diane De Felice joins Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg, senior principal at Dahlin Group Architecture for a series of discussions on how design is adapting. Their first episode covers how the pandemic may affect real estate sectors differently depending on product type and location. Measures to combat health issues could shift trends such as reduced square-feet per person for social distancing, more touchless components and a focus on ventilation, as well as what implications these will have on affordable housing and the expanding e-commerce market.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a Declaration of Emergency, and Congress has passed a series of measures intended to mitigate the impact of the crisis in the U.S. Greg Brower and Neal Tomlinson discuss how these actions will affect businesses in Nevada. The call was moderated by Kristina Kleist.

In episode No. 2 of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce podcast powered by Brownstein’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, Brownstein Shareholder and CWCC Board Member Sarah Mercer hosts Amber McReynolds, CEO for the National Vote At Home Institute and Coalition and former Director of Elections for the City and County of Denver. Sarah and Amber discuss Amber’s new book When Women Vote, recent voting trends and some of the most significant changes to voting in Colorado.

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, the ability to protect these technologies from cyber attacks is more critical than ever. From artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency to the nation’s infrastructure, targets for sophisticated cyber attackers are only multiplying. Mark Begich sits down with Al Mottur and Greta Joynes to discuss how the federal government has approached cybersecurity in the past and shed light on potential solutions and probable pitfalls going forward.

The federal government is contending with state legislatures across the country implementing laws governing the classification of workers. Many of these laws restrict who can be classified as an independent contractor as opposed to an employee, impacting multiple industries, including those within the “gig economy.” Geoff Burr, Radha Mohan and Will Moschella, in a discussion moderated by Mark Begich, discuss the ripple effect that recently-passed legislation in California may have in Washington, and whether the push to redefine employees and contractors creates more problems than solutions for the rapidly expanding gig economy.

Sarah Mercer and David Meschke discuss Colorado citizen ballot initiatives for the 2019-2020 cycle. They compare the volume of initiatives this cycle to the previous cycle, identify hot topics they’re seeing from the current initiatives, remind us what’s already on the ballot, summarize other initiatives moving through the process and point out key upcoming deadlines.

With the Iowa Caucus nearly underway, the nation will be watching closely to see how candidates fare in their first real test. Drew Littman moderates a discussion with Nadeam Elshami, David Reid and Brian Wild to provide fresh analysis on the current state of the presidential race and offer insight into likely outcomes in Iowa and how these results may impact the race going forward.

Starting in 2020, Colorado’s employers will face a new landscape regarding how to pay their hourly and salaried employees. For example, on Jan. 1, Denver will become the first Colorado city to raise its local minimum wage independent from the state’s minimum. But that’s not the only big change ahead for the state’s wage standards. Tune in as Shareholders Sarah Mercer and Martine Wells along with Associate Craig Finger discuss what will be increasingly stark contrasts between the federal and Colorado wage requirements, how cities are expected to respond to some of these changes and, most importantly, why the proposed replacement to the Colorado Minimum Wage Order will mean big changes for Colorado’s employers.