Underhill, Joanne P.

Current Employment Position(s)

Managing Partner

Year Joined Organization: 1994

Lawyer Overview

Ms. Underhill has practiced law for over 25 years. She enjoys a general law practice concentrated on small businesses and professionals. The firm handles business acquisitions and formations, governance issues, and other matters for small and closely held businesses. They also represent small businesses and their owners in franchise relationships, employment matters and litigation and handle a wide variety of other litigation in the federal and state courts. Throughout her career, Joanne has been involved in many issues involving financial institutions, including governance, regulatory compliance and commercial litigation.

The firm has handled a significant number of "business divorces" involving shareholder and partnership rights and disputes. Ms. Underhill has also been involved in legal and accountant malpractice lawsuits, litigation to enforce the federal Clean Water Act, federal employment discrimination litigation, lawsuits over forged endorsements on bank checks, coverage disputes with fidelity bond and liability insurance carriers, letter of credit claims, and lawsuits between and among participants in troubled commercial loans. She has experience with the investigation and litigation of claims against former officers, directors and accountants for failed financial institutions on behalf of federal banking agencies.

Ms. Underhill has experience in appellate work as well as in other types of complex legal and factual litigation, including antitrust and government regulatory matters. She was a Trial Attorney (1983-1986) and Assistant General Counsel (1986) in the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, where she had principal litigation responsibility for the liquidations of insolvent savings and loan associations. She served as the lead trial and appellate attorney for the FSLIC and FHLBB in Guaranty Savings and Loan Association v. Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 794 F.2d 1339 (8th Cir. 1986) (challenge to appointment of FSLIC as receiver for an insolvent financial institution) and as principal government appellate attorney in Federal Home Loan Bank Board v. Empie, 778 F.2d 1446 (10lh Cir. 1985) (state advertising laws).

Ms, Underbill was among the first women undergraduates at Yale University, receiving a B.A. cum laude in 1973. She received her J.D. degree cum laude from The American University Washington College of Law in 1979. Prior to attending law school, she was a member of the staffs of Senator John Tunney (D-Calif.) and Congressman Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) and ran a public opinion poll in San Jose, California, Ms. Underhill is admitted to the Colorado and District of Columbia bars. She is a member of the American, Colorado and Arapahoe Bar Associations and the Colorado Women's Bar Association.

She served by gubernatorial appointment as the public member of the Colorado State Board of Accountancy during 1993-99. Ms. Underhill chaired the Colorado Women's Leadership Coalition, a statewide consortium of 85+ women's organizations, during 1996-97. She has also served on the boards of the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Women's Bar Association and is a member and past chair of the Greenwood Village Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission. Ms. Underhill received "The Power of One" Award at the Colorado Woman '98 Conference and in 1997 was named as a Woman of Distinction by Girl Scouts Mile Hi Council. She was admitted to the registry of Marquis Who's Who in America (1998 edition). She has also appeared in the Denver Business Journal's Who's Who Among Women in Business in Denver.

Areas of Practice

• Business & Commercial Litigation
• Appeals
• Employment Law
• Real Estate Litigation
• Litigation Involving Federal Agencies and Local Governments
• Tax Matters
• Insurance Policy Coverage
• Wills and Trusts
• Probate

Representative Cases

• Guaranty Savings and Loan Association v. Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 794 F.2d 1339 (8th Cir. 1986)

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial, Employment, Employment Law -- Employer, Litigation & Appeals, Probate & Estate Administration, Real Estate, Tax, Trusts, Wills

Bar Admissions

• Colorado
• District of Columbia

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Colorado State Board of Accountancy, 1993 - 1999 (Public Member (Gubernatorial Appointment))
• Statehouse Conference on Small Business, 1997 (Delegate (Gubernatorial Appointment))
• Colorado Women’s Leadership Coalition, 1996 - 1997 (Chair)
• Women's Leadership Circle, Girl Scouts Mile Hi Council, 1997 (Chair)
• Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, 1993 - 1996 (Board of Directors)
• American Bar Association (Member)
• Colorado Bar Association (Member)
• Colorado Women's Bar Association, 1994 - 1995 (Member, Board of Directors)
• Arapahoe County Bar Association (Member)
• Parks, Trials & Recreation Commission, City of Greenwood Village, 1993 - 1999
• Parks, Trials & Recreation Commission, City of Greenwood Village, 1992 - 1995 (Chair)
• Parks, Trials & Recreation Commission, City of Greenwood Village, PTR Design (Member)
• American Bar Association, Business Law Section, 1992 - 1993 (Chair, Financial Institutions Litigation Division)

Honors and Awards

• Who’s Who in America, Admitted to the National Registry, 1998
• National Honor Award, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1998
• “The Power of One” Award, Colorado Woman ’98 Conference, 1998, Recipient, 1998
• Girl Scouts Mile Hi Council, "Woman of Distinction", 1997
• Who's Who Among Women in Business, Denver Business Journal, 1994 - 1995

Classes and Seminars

• "Suing a Failed Institution's Accountants -- Theories of Liability", Southern Methodist University School of Law on "Civil Litigation Arising From a Failed Financial Institution", Dallas, 1992
• "Understanding the Administrative Enforcement Process", The Banking Law Institute Program on "Litigating with the FDIC/RTC," Washington, D.C., 1991
• "The 'New Liabilities' Under the Financial Institution Laws," Third Annual Business Law Symposium, Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. , 1991
• "Lawyer Liability and the Financial Institution Crisis," Panel Discussion at the Third Annual Business Law Symposium, Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc.
• "The Attorney and Accountant - Targets in Failed Financial Institution Litigation", ABA Mid-Year Meeting of the Litigation Section Trial Practice Committee (Co-Author of Seminar Materials with PHThompson), 1991
• "Emerging Issues in D&O Liability Insurance and Fidelity Bond Coverage", Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. program on "Financial Institutions in the 1990's: New Challenges and New Liabilities", 1991
• "Emerging Issues in D&O Liability Insurance and Fidelity Bond Coverage", ABA Joint Mid-Winter Meeting of the Litigation Section, Committees on Business Torts and Commercial and Banking Litigation, 1991
• "What FIRREA Means to Borrowers and Creditors of Failed Financial Institutions", Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. Program on "What FIRREA Means to Financial Institutions, Their Customers and Their Attorneys"
• "Director and Officer Liability in Today's Environment", Annual Attorneys Conference, Colorado Savings and Loan League, 1987

Past Employment Positions

• Popham, Haik, Schnobrich & Kaufman, Ltd., Denver, Colorado, Shareholder, 1988 - 1994
• Gorsuch, Kirgis, Campbell, Walker & Grover, Denver, Colorado, Special Counsel, 1986 - 1988
• Federal Home Loan Bank Board and Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, Washington, D.C., Associate General Counsel and Trial Attorney, 1983 - 1986
• Howrey & Simon, Washington, D.C., Attorney, 1979 - 1983
• Rep. Mineta (D-San Jose) and Senator Tunney (D-California), Washington, D.C., Staff Assistant, 1973 - 1975
• Diridon Research Co., San Jose, California, 1971 - 1972
• Parks, Trails & Recreation Commission, City of Greenwood Village, 1993 - 1999
• Parks, Trails & Recreation Commission, Chair, 1992 - 1995

Education

• American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, District of Columbia, 1979
  J.D.
  Honors: cum laude
  Honors: Honor Society
  Law Review: American University Law Review
• Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1973
  B.A.
  Honors: cum laude

Offers Free Initial Consultation

Accepts Credit Cards

Published Works

• "Reviving 'Expired' Coverage Under D&O Liability Policies - A Look at Emerging Constructive Notice Theories," (Co-Author MKHammakcr), The Review of Banking and Financial Services, May 22, 1991
• "FDIC/RTC Lawsuits Against Lawyers -- Practical Considerations", Newsletter of the Professional, Officers' and Directors' Liability Law Committee, ABA Torts and Insurance Practice Section, Spring, 1991

Address

5340 South Quebec Street
Suite 306, North
Greenwood Village, CO 80111-1938

Phones

800-430-6442
720-279-8438

Faxes

303-850-7115

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.underhilllaw.com