Dena Silliman Nielson, P.C.

Law Firm Overview

Dena Silliman Nielson, P.C., Attorney at Law, is a Colorado lawyer with a rich and varied background in administrative and family law, as well as other areas of law including civil litigation and real estate. A Summa Cum Laude alumnus of Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma and a graduate of the Oklahoma College of Law at the University of Oklahoma, she practiced in Native American law in Oklahoma for a number of years. In that capacity, she often engaged in administrative negotiations with officials at HUD on behalf of her Native American clients. She was a certified intermediary for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Also a family lawyer with training as a family law mediator, she now practices family law in the Denver, Colorado area, and puts her administrative law experience to work. She is known to her clients and peers as a highly personable, legal professional, who both puts her clients at ease and gets their job done right. Contact her to discuss your divorce, interstate child custody, or related legal concerns.

Areas of Practice

• Child Support
• Custody & Visitation
• Divorce
• Family Law
• Mediation & Collaborative Law

Honors and Awards

• Salem Civil Rights Award, University of Oklahoma School of Law, 1993
• Outstanding 2L Editor - American Indian Law Review, 1991 - 1992
• Junior College Merit Council Scholarship - University of Oklahoma

Published Works

• Commercial Law 2000: Tribal Sovereignty and the Trust Relationship -- The Smothering and Uncovering of Tribal Economies, The Conference on Consumer Finance Law, December, 1999
• A Tribute to Francis Browning Pipestem: A Great and Savage Warrior, American Indian Law Review, Vol. XXIV, Number 1, 1999
• The Osage Tribe Post-Fletcher: The Key to the Future is Knowledge of the Past, 9 Kan. J.L. Pub., Pol. 795, 2000

Classes and Seminars

• Adjunct Professor, Rose State College, 1994 - 2000
• Fourth National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management, EPA, 1998
• American Indian Law for Legal Assistants, Rose State College, 1994 - 1998
• Presenter, NAIHC's Legal Conference, 2000 - 2003
• Presenter, Third Annual Tribal Law and Governance Conference, 1999
• Presenter, EPA Fourth Annual Tribal Environmental Conference, 1998

Pro Bono Activities

• Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma, 1993
• Boulder County Legal Services, 2004
• Metro Volunteer Lawyers, 2004

Representative Clients

• Delaware Housing Authority
• Comanche Housing Authority
• National Congress of American Indians

Representative Cases

• Osage Tribal Council v. U.S. Dept. of Labor, 187 F.3d 1174 (10th Cir. 1999)
• Citizen Band Potawatomie v. Collier, 142 F. 3d 1325 (10th Cir. 1998)
• Citizen Band Potawatomie v. Collier, 142 F. 3d 1325 (10th Cir. 1998)
• Fletcher v. U.S., 116 F. 3d 1315 (10th Cir. 1997)
• Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma v. Cuomo, 193 F.3d 1162 (10th Cir. 1999)
• Kaw Nation v. Springer, 341 F.3d 1186 (10th Cir. 2003)
• Housing Authority of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Ware, Cert. Denied, 121 S. Ct. 855 (2001)
• Absentee Shawnee Housing Authority v. Straight, Case # 98,763, OK (OK Civ App. (Unpublished) 2004)

West Practice Categories

Child Support, Collaborative, Divorce, Family Law