Our Practice Areas
The attorneys at Otis & Bedingfield, LLC are recognized leaders in real estate law, estate planning, environmental compliance and business law. We advocate for individuals, businesses, and families in the Northern Colorado region. Our clients are landowners, business owners, business professionals, businesses of all sizes, and individual families in need of guidance or representation in court proceedings involving commercial real estate or business issues.
Our specific practice areas include:
Real Estate Law
The founding attorneys at Otis & Bedingfield, LLC are highly respected and recognized leaders in real estate law. Our lead transactions attorney, Fred L. Otis, and our team of experienced real estate attorneys have more than 80 years of experience handling real estate transactions across Northern Colorado.
Transactions
We assist in the purchase and sale of real estate (commercial or otherwise), land development, land use planning, zoning, annexation, leasing, subdivision, water rights and transfers, and oil and gas matters. Our real estate attorneys are also experienced in structuring, negotiating, and drafting agreements for leasing, purchasing, financing, and the sale of real estate, taking into consideration the potential tax ramifications of such transactions. We also advise on possible structures for tax-deferred exchanges (IRC sections 1031 and 1033).
Litigation
O&B also specializes in real estate litigation, including partition actions, construction defect claims, quiet title actions, boundary disputes, eminent domain proceedings, adverse possession actions, commercial evictions, judicial foreclosures, mechanic’s liens, lien priority disputes, and tax sales, among others.
Business Law
Otis & Bedingfield, LLC has extensive experience in the formation, organization, and operation of all types of business entities. Our attorneys routinely advise clients on matters involving corporate governance and responsibilities of owners, managers, officers, and directors. We can also assist with the reorganization, capitalization, and dissolution of all types of businesses.
Transactions
Our attorneys can assist with documentation and advice regarding all types of business transactions, from mergers and acquisitions to dissolution and sale. We can also advise on employment matters, non-compete agreements, financing issues, and much more.
Litigation
We also have significant experience representing businesses and their owners in complex business disputes, including director and officer liability, minority owner disputes, governance disputes, judicial dissolution, breach of fiduciary duty and the duty of loyalty, fraud, contract disputes, shareholder disputes, and partnership disputes.
Environmental Law
Our environmental practice addresses a broad range of regulatory compliance and permitting issues arising out of business operations, enforcement activities, and real estate transactions. Attorney John A. Kolanz has over 30 years of environmental law experience and has addressed issues under all the major statutory programs, including the Clean Water Act (both Section 404 wetlands and Section 402 discharge programs), the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Toxic Substance Control Act.
Oil & Gas Law
Oil and gas law issues and related mineral rights issues permeate the landscape of real estate and business in Northern Colorado. The attorneys at Otis & Bedingfield, LLC have extensive experience handling oil and gas and other mineral issues in all types of transactions. We can also help if a dispute arises over mineral rights or land use.
Negotiations
Negotiating an oil and gas lease is a very involved process that touches upon a variety of issues. The assistance of experienced counsel in preparing or evaluating the lease is essential. The oil and gas attorneys at O&B assist in preparation or review of the numerous other documents that arise in oil and gas development, including surface use agreements, easement agreements, drilling agreements, operating agreements, and pooling agreements. We also assist in obtaining or interpreting division orders and forced pooling orders.
Litigation
Often, parties may have an interest in the royalty rights of a particular well. These may include landowners, leaseholders, other companies or key personnel, heirs, and more. Often these disputes require intervention by a mediator or the court to resolve. We also handle disputes over the payment of royalties, the ownership of mineral rights, and the use of the surface, including reasonable accommodation doctrine disputes.
Estate Planning
Our business and real estate practices together form a unique base that provides an advantage in working with our clients to understand each of their unique circumstances and needs. Our estate planning practice encompasses the drafting of wills and trust documents, enhancing asset protection, and planning for special needs of a spouse, child, or grandchild, as well as the tax planning required to develop a comprehensive estate plan. The more complex area of this practice involves the use of family limited partnerships, various types of irrevocable trusts, charitable remainder trusts, life insurance trusts, revocable trusts, and powers of attorney.
While working with clients to plan their estates, we address their need or desire to protect their assets from creditors through the use of different types of business entities and asset protection trusts.
Probate & Trust Litigation
Our focus on real estate and business matters often leads us to advise or represent clients in disputes involving wills, trusts, and estates. We recognize that probate and trust disputes require a different, more personal approach than typical litigation. We are experienced and adept at handling these specific types of disputes, including will contests, contested guardianships and conservatorships, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fraud investigations, and elder abuse and financial exploitation. We understand that these types of issues often involve disputes among family members or otherwise are highly emotional. We are mindful of these concerns, and work with our clients to provide them straight answers and offer options that give them both peace of mind and a solution to the problems they face.
Commercial Litigation
Otis & Bedingfield, LLC’s team of Colorado commercial litigation attorneys represent clients in complex real estate and business disputes across all industries. Our litigation attorneys are hands-on leaders, in and out of court. We are pragmatic, result-oriented, and zealous. We have significant experience in handling critical, high-stakes litigation matters, including contract disputes, real estate title and development disputes, oil and gas disputes, corporate investigation and governance, director and officer liability, business divorces, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and copyright and trademark disputes.
Appeals
Otis & Bedingfield, LLC routinely handles appellate work for matters on which we served as trial counsel, including interlocutory appeals and appeals following trial or disposition. Due to our experience in the appellate courts and our knowledge of real estate law and business law, we also handle many appeals where we did not serve as trial counsel. Many clients believe a lawyer who does trial work is equipped to handle an appeal, but this is not usually the case. Appellate cases involve a different set of rules and practices that often stand in stark contrast to trial work. The experience of our litigation attorneys makes us capable of handling both trial work and appeals.
Tax Law
Sometimes a simple audit turns into a more complicated dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This may involve disagreements about how tax laws should be applied or issues with attempts by the IRS to collect taxes that may be owed, whether personally or by business. Attorney Timothy P. Brynteson has experience working for the IRS’s Offices of District Counsel and is familiar with the various avenues for dispute resolution. If a controversy with the IRS has become more than either you or your accountant want to handle, we can provide experienced counsel to help plan the best possible resolution of your case and represent your interests in negotiations or appeals with the IRS.
Agricultural Law
Our region has deep agricultural roots, and we know that farming and ranching is foundational to our communities and our local economy. We are proud of our area’s western heritage and understand the distinct needs of those who live it every day.
Our attorneys understand how agricultural operations work, and we are prepared to advise and assist clients on the unique legal issues facing farmers and ranchers. Otis & Bedingfield, LLC has represented clients on matters involving agricultural leases, sales, estate planning and taxation, business formation and dissolution, agritourism, environmental issues, boundary disputes, oil and gas leasing, and much more. We can also help you navigate a wide range of agricultural transactions, including expanding or financing your farming or ranching operation. Succession planning provides unique challenges to families in agriculture, who often wish to keep their farming or ranching operation intact as it passes to the next generation.
