Attorney Profiles

Firm Attorneys:

J. Scott Lasater
Janet Belcher Martin
Nicole Ruth
Stacy Spurlock
Melissa Ogburn
Barton Maxwell
Michael Haskins
Philip Karagozian
Randy Sego
Brian Martin
April Moore

J. Scott Lasater

Focus of Practice

Scott was licensed to practice law in Colorado in 1986 and established the law firm in 1993. Scott is a trial attorney, and has extensive litigation experience in state and federal courts. Scott has litigated cases in every county in the state of Colorado and has tried jury trials in over half of the counties in Colorado.

Scott has extensive federal court experience and has tried a diverse range of federal cases, including discrimination and retaliation cases for the Town of Parker and the Town of Parker Police Department, and recently, the successful defense of a contentious trade mark infringement suit filed against a large manufacturer of juvenile care products headquartered in California. Scott has appeared before virtually all of the United States District Court Judges and Magistrate Judges, and he has argued in front of the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court and the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Scott has litigated dozens of employment and employment discrimination cases, and has successfully defended very favorable trial court outcomes on appeal. As an example, Scott successfully defended ATC/Vancom, a licensee of the Regional Transportation District (RTD) in an employment discrimination suit, and successfully defended the case on appeal, which was reported in a published opinion by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Scott’s cases have been cited in a variety of employment law publications, and Scott has attended conferences of the National Law Employment Institute in cities such as San Francisco, California.

Scott has litigated and tried cases for many public entities, towns, cities and counties across the state. Scott and his firm have represented the Town of Vail in dozens of litigations, and Scott has successfully tried discrimination cases for the Town. Scott has represented law enforcement agencies all across the state, including the police departments for the Town of Vail, Town of Parker, Town of Craig, Town of Dacono and the Mesa and Moffat County Sheriff's departments.

Scott and his law firm represent and have represented some of the world's largest companies, including many global insurers, such as the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group and The Hartford. The firm is the on the preferred panel counsel list of numerous insurance companies. Scott has also represented some of Colorado’s largest and most successful companies, including a variety construction companies, contractors and joint ventures and product manufacturers. Scott and his law firm have over the years managed hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure to their clients.

In addition to municipalities, insurers and corporations, Scott has an active practice representing individuals who have been harmed, in cases ranging from discrimination to breach of contract to automobile accident injuries. Scott and his law firm recently successfully settled a large pregnancy discrimination suit against Liberty Media, one of the worlds largest providers of cable TV programming, recently settled a case the firm filed against the Marriott Hotel for negligent security, a case where the law firm's clients were brutally attacked in a guest room and recently settled a tragic medical malpractice action that resulted in the unnecessary death of a cardiac patient. In the past few years Scott and his firm have collected several million dollars just for residents of Highlands Ranch, in Douglas County, Colorado.

Scott has years of experience in litigating brain injury, spinal injury and death claims. Scott has also represented health care providers and attorneys in professional liability actions, corporations forming joint ventures and involved in intellectual property disputes, product liability claims involving a range of products from insecticide and asbestos to hot-tubs, and has represented several construction companies and subcontractors, including those involved in the fire protection industry.

Scott and his wife Gail are both Colorado natives, met 28 years ago at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, and they have lived in Highlands Ranch since 1987. They have three children.

Education

Janet Belcher Martin

Janet was licensed to practice law in 1989 and began her legal career by clerking for the Texas Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial District. Following her clerkship, she immediately began a very active civil litigation practice in Texas. Janet’s seventeen year legal career includes being licensed in both Texas and Colorado and she has been a resident of and practicing in Colorado for many years. Janet became a partner in the firm in 2004.

Janet has litigated a wide range of cases and handles complex product liability, construction defect and injury claims for the firm. Janet heads the construction defect section of the law firm, and manages tens of millions of dollars in exposure to the law firm’s clients. Janet represents general contractors and architects and a large mix of subcontractors, from framers to roofers to graders. Janet also represents Fortune 500 companies and individuals involved in complex litigation.

Janet recently tried a complex commercial injury case involving numerous local and out of state medical experts and specialists to a Denver jury. Without calling a single retained medical expert, Janet and her partner Scott Lasater obtained a defense verdict. The plaintiff had demanded a settlement during trial of two million dollars. Janet obtained a cost judgment against the plaintiff of over twenty thousand dollars.

Janet manages the firm’s associates and supervises the handling of over half of the firm’s litigation. Janet actively litigates large, complex product liability suits and commercial injury matters of all types. Janet has extensive experience in the state and federal courts throughout Colorado and Texas.

In addition to Janet’s trial experience, she has extensive appellate experience, and is experienced with alternative dispute resolutions and arbitrations. She has also served as a mediator on various types of civil litigation.

Janet lives with her husband and children in Littleton, Colorado.

Nicole Ruth

Nicole graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1996 where she was ranked in the top third of her class. After practicing law in both Florida and North Carolina, Nicole moved to Colorado. She maintains her license to practice law in the Florida and North Carolina state courts as well as the Colorado state and federal courts.

Nicole began her legal career as an attorney law clerk for the Honorables Ralph A. Walker, Donald L. Smith and Clarence E. Horton of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Nicole has established herself as an appellate specialist having written hundreds of appellate opinions for the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Before the Colorado Court of Appeals, Nicole has successfully argued a complex UCC case representing one of the largest corporations in the world and has successfully argued other District Court decisions in both federal and state courts. In addition to her appellate practice, Nicole has taken several cases to trial with successful results.

Nicole became an associate at Lasater & Martin, P.C. in 2004 where she continues to specialize in appellate practice. Recently, she was successful in having a $200,000 judgment reversed against one of her clients. Nicole also handles personal injury and product liability cases and has substantial prior experience in insurance defense.

Nicole is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, Southern Colorado Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and North Carolina Bar Association. She is also the former president of the Tulane University Alumni Club for Denver. Nicole has given seminars on legal research for paralegals and stays busy taking care of her two children.

Stacy Spurlock

Stacy has served as a legal intern with the 18th Judicial District working in Littleton County Court and has substantial experience in insurance law. She has handled a wide range of auto accident litigation and related issues under the No-Fault Act, breach of contract cases, landlord-tenant disputes, fraudulent conveyances and product liability. Stacy has tried cases to juries and judges in both county and district court.

Stacy was named Student Attorney of the Year for the University of Denver College of Law Student Law Office. She was a member of the ABA trial team for two years and actively involved in moot court.

Melissa Ogburn

Focus of Practice

After graduating from New Mexico State University in 2000 with a Bachelor in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Arts from a major in government and a supplemental major in law and society, Melissa moved to Denver to attend law school at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. While in law school, Melissa chaired the DU Law School Division of the American Bar Association and served as Survey Editor for the University of Denver Journal of International Law and Policy. One of Melissa’s articles was selected to be published in the Journal. Her article, "Caught Between Hope and Despair: An Analysis of the Japanese Criminal Justice System," can be found in Volume 31 No. 4 of the Journal.

Melissa also pursued several clerkships and internships while in law school. During her second year of law school, Melissa interned at Samsonite as in-house counsel. There, she honed her skills in reviewing and drafting contracts. As her Samsonite internship drew to a close, Melissa pursued a clerkship with a small law firm in the Capitol Hill area of Denver, Zupkus & Angell, P.C. While clerking, Melissa learned the intricacies of private practice, specializing in defending construction defect claims. During her last semester of law school, Melissa interned at the National Labor Relations Board, gaining experience in employment and labor law. Melissa met with claimants and took statements to initiate investigations.

Melissa graduated from DU in 2003 and began her career in private practice at the law firm of Zupkus & Angell, P.C. There she gained valuable experience in preparing coverage opinions for various insurance companies, defending bad faith lawsuits, and representing subcontractors in construction defect litigation. Melissa also represented employers in unemployment hearings. To date, Melissa has never lost at an unemployment hearing and continues to practice employment law today. In 2005, Melissa organized and presented at a seminar regarding insurance matters and legal malpractice. In 2007, Melissa left Zupkus & Angell, P.C. to pursue a career at Wells, Anderson & Race, LLC where she practiced some aviation law and continued to defend subcontractors against claims for construction defects.

Melissa joined Lasater & Martin, P.C. as an associate in April 2008. Her experience in construction defect litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith matters, as well as employment law makes her an asset to this firm. She is an integral part of the construction defect department and handles cases valued at over $10 million. Melissa has taken two cases to trial, both resulting in a favorable result for her client.

Melissa also stays active in the American Bar Association, Colorado Bar Association, and Denver Bar Association. In 2005, Melissa was selected to serve on the executive counsel of the Colorado Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. She served as Chair of the Colorado Bar Association Young Lawyers Division from July 2007 through June 2008. Melissa currently serves on the Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors and Executive Council as a representative of the Denver Bar Association.

In her free time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and son. The Ogburn family can often be found skiing, hiking, and enjoying the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

Barton Maxwell

Michael Haskins

In 1998, Michael graduated from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota with a Bachelors of Science in Business. He enjoyed a successful career building and maintaining data-centers in Florida and Colorado before graduating from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law in 2006.

In 2009, he joined Lasater & Martin, P.C. as a member of the construction defect litigation team. Prior to that, he worked as an attorney with Akers & Associates, LLC, assisting his clients in developing natural resources.

Michael enjoys camping, hiking, fishing or neighborhood walks with his family. He is also an avid sports fan and member of the Colorado Golf Association.

Firm Attorneys:

Melissa Ogburn Focus of Practice

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Focus of Practice

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Focus of Practice

Melissa Ogburn

Focus of Practice