Current Employment Position(s)

Special Counsel

Year Joined Organization: 1982

Lawyer Overview

Richard F. Hennessey, is special counsel to the firm. He practices in the areas of general business law, health law, the law of lawyering, and professional and business regulation and enforcement. For example, Rich

• has functioned as general counsel for five years to the wireless communications division of a major Colorado-based cable and communications company, and was involved in operations, as well as acquisitions, mergers and sales;
• has assisted the financial services, legal and medical professions in the development of practice standards and regulatory procedures and assisted professional groups, businesses and insurers in a variety of risk management projects;
• assists in health care contracting and in the formation and operation of medical services provider groups;
• assists business and professional entities regarding entity formation, operations and dissolution; and
• advises and represents lawyers and law firms regarding matters of legal ethics and other issues related to the practice of law.

Rich has significant experience in health law related areas. For example, he has represented MSOs and single specialty and multi-specialty IPAs in their formation and operations, which has included payer and managed care contracting, credentialing, provider contracting, peer review, and systems development and management. Rich also represents several specialty medical associations.

Rich's practice also includes the law pertaining to lawyers. He represents lawyers and law firms regarding issues of legal ethics, professional responsibility, risk management and attorney regulation. He has been an expert witness in a variety of cases involving standards of practice and lawyers' conduct.

Rich also has significant experience in the area of state and local government. Prior to joining the firm in 1982, he served as the Deputy Attorney General of the State of Colorado, the statutory position currently called the chief deputy attorney general. He also previously served as associate regional attorney for the Office of General Counsel, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He served both as the first Committee Counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee during the period 1974 to 1979 and as a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee for six years (1981 through 1986), serving as chair in 1986.

Areas of Practice

• General Business Law
• Health Law
• Legal Ethics; Law of Lawyering
• Attorney Discipline

Bar Admissions

• Colorado, 1968
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Denver Bar Association, 1968 - Present
• Denver Bar Association, 1988 - 1989 (First Vice-President)
• Denver Bar Association, 1982 - Present (Board of Trustees)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1968 - Present
• Colorado Bar Association, 1974 - Present (Ethics Committee)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1993 - 1994 (Chair)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1992 - 1993 (Vice-Chair)
• Colorado Bar Association, Special Subcommittee, 1981 (Kutak Committee's Proposed Model Rules of Professional Conduct)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1977 (Special Subcommittee to Develop Attorney Advertising Rules)
• Colorado Bar Association, Health Law Section
• Colorado Bar Association, Business Law Section Council
• Colorado Bar Association, 1991 - 1992 (Chair, Task Force on Lawyer Assistance Programs)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1988 - 1989 (Chair, Task Force on Gender Bias)
• Colorado Bar Association, Task Force on Lawyer Trust Accounts
• Colorado Bar Association, 1980 - 1981 (Chair, Long Range Planning Committee)
• Colorado Bar Association, 1979 - 1981 (Board of Governors)
• Colorado Bar Association (Ad Hoc Committee on Selection of Officers)
• Colorado Lawyers Committee, 2000 - Present (Director)
• Colorado Lawyers Committee, 2000 - Present (Chair, Medically Indigent Task Force)
• American Bar Association, Health Law Section, 1968 - Present
• American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, 1968 - Present
• Colorado Tobacco Education & Prevention Alliance, 2002 - Present (Advisory Board)
• American Bar Foundation (Fellow)
• Colorado Bar Foundation (Fellow)
• Colorado Supreme Court, 1981 - 1986 (Grievance Committee)
• Colorado Supreme Court, 1984 - 1985 (Vice Chair)
• Colorado Supreme Court, 1986 (Chair)
• Joint Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Bar Association, 1988 - 1992 (Rules of Professional Conduct Committee)
• Colorado Supreme Court, 1986 - 1988 (Committee to Examine the Code of Judicial Conduct)
• Colorado Supreme Court, 1979 - 1986 (Advisory Committee on Group Legal Services and Advertising)
• Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation ("COLTAF"), 1983 (Organizing Board of Directors)
• Colorado Lawyers Health Program, 1993 (Director and President)
• National Health Lawyers Association
• Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
• National Organization of Bar Counsel, 1974 - 1979
• National Organization of Bar Counsel, 1978 (Treasurer)
• American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, 1973 - 1976 (Board of Directors)
• American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, 1982 - 1983 (Pro Bono Trial Attorney)
• Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver, 1973 - 1975 (Member, Board and Executive Committee)
• National Legal Services Training Center, Law School, Catholic University of America, 1972 - 1973 (Curriculum Advisory Committee)

Honors and Awards

• Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1968 - 1969

Classes and Seminars

• Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Denver College of Law, 1978 - 1981
• Visiting Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School, 1972 - 1973

Past Employment Positions

• Colorado Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, 1979 - 1982
• Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee, Committee Counsel, 1974 - 1979
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of General Counsel, Regional Litigation Center, Associate Regional Attorney, 1973 - 1974
• Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver, Attorney, 1968 - 1973
• Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver, Associate Director, 1971 - 1973

Education

• Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1968
  J.D.
• University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 1964
  B.A.
  Major: Program of Liberal Studies
• University of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, 1961

Published Works

• C. Morris, Jr., and R. Hennessey, Ethics and the Business Lawyer, (Co-Author), 32 Colo. Law 10, p. 43, Oct., 2003
• "Emphasizing Rules Instead of Principles", 27 The Colorado Lawyer 19, February, 1998
• "Rights and Limitations Regarding a Patient's Access to His or Her Own Medical Records", (Co-Author), Colorado Psychiatric Society Newsletter, Vol. XXI, No. 1, March, 1996
• "Colorado's New Rules of Professional Conduct: A More Comprehensive and Useful Guide for Lawyers", 21 The Colorado Lawyer 2102, October, 1992
• "Attorney's Ethical Duty to Third Parties in the Context of Commercial Real Estate Transactions", The Colorado Fund Concept, Vol. 6, No. 11, Dec./Jan., 1992
• "Guidelines for Lawyer Trust Accounts", 12 The Colorado Lawyer 80, April, 1983
• "Representing an Entity", (Co-Author), 9 The Colorado Lawyer 2589, December, 1980
• "Some Persisting Problems", (Co-Author), 9 The Colorado Lawyer 2599, December, 1980
• "Managing with Lawyers", National Association of Attorneys General, 1977
• "Looking at Your Law Firm as an Organization", (Co-Author), 16 Law Office Economics and Management 160, 1976

Address

1875 Lawrence Street
Tenth Floor
Denver, CO 80202-1898

Phones

(303) 839-1204 (Ext. 286)

Faxes

(303) 831-0786

Emails

rhennessey@penberg.com

Websites

http://www.penberg.com/Default.aspx?tabid=219