Kendra is a highly acclaimed appellate lawyer with a record of high-stakes litigation success.
As leader of the firm's Appeals Team, Kendra brings strategic vision and exceptional advocacy skills to complex appellate matters in state and federal courts nationwide. With nearly 20 years of experience and 75 appeals, Kendra serves as a trusted advisor to clients facing tough legal challenges in a broad range of sectors and services, including oil and gas, commercial and contract disputes, professional liability, healthcare, negligence, and personal injury, employment, shareholder derivative suits, insurance law, real estate, and class and collective actions.
Kendra's practice focuses on intervention at critical litigation junctures. In appellate courts, she provides comprehensive legal strategies to either preserve trial victories or challenge adverse judgments. Kendra's persuasive writing and oral advocacy skills make her a powerful advocate. Clients value her ability to distill complex legal issues into compelling narratives that resonate with appellate judges. She is frequently complimented for her persuasive and conversational oral argument style.
In trial courts, Kendra frequently partners with trial counsel in all stages of litigation to develop legal theories, strategize dispositive motions and jury instructions, and serve as monitoring counsel to preserve issues for appeal. Her approachable demeanor and creativity allow her to naturally collaborate with trial teams while simultaneously adding a new perspective and value. Her strategic mindset and commitment to excellence have earned her the trust of clients and lawyers navigating their most significant legal challenges.
Kendra also has a robust amicus curiae practice. Industry groups and other interested parties often seek her out to provide briefs on their behalf. Kendra excels in contextualizing issues of first impression or great importance, helping courts understand and appreciate the effect their decisions will have outside the courtroom.
Kendra is committed to pro bono service. She frequently writes amicus briefs on behalf of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and represents individuals and organizations in voting rights matters. She is one of only four attorneys appointed to the Judicial Performance Commission for Denver County, responsible for reviewing and writing retention recommendations for judges in Colorado's busiest judicial district. She has also served for a decade as an appointed member of the Colorado Supreme Court Pattern Civil Jury Instruction Committee, which annually updates Colorado's model civil jury instructions.
Representative Matters
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients
- In re Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission, Colorado Supreme Court (redistricting)
- Gill v. Waltz, LLC and Delta Airlines, Inc. v. Scholle, Colorado Supreme Court (companion cases in which court adopted amicus rationale)
- Fox v. Alfini, Colorado Supreme Court (attorney-client privilege)
- Craft v. Wyoming Department of Health, Wyoming Supreme Court (medical malpractice)
- Cortez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (employment law)
- Johnson-Linzy v. Conifer Care Communities A, LLC, Colorado Court of Appeals (arbitration agreement)
- Price v. Mountain Sleep Diagnostics, Colorado Court of Appeals (arbitration agreement)
- Turner v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., United States District Court, District of Colorado and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (Fair Labor Standards Act)
- Belmont v. BP America Production Company, United States District Court, District of Wyoming (royalties class action)
Professional & Civic Engagement
- Second Judicial District, Judicial Performance Commission, Commissioner, 2018-present; Chair, 2021-2022
- Colorado Bar Association, Ethics Committee, Member, 2016-present
- Colorado Bar Association, Appellate Sub-Committee, Member, 2016-present
- Colorado Women’s Bar Association, Member, 2016-present
- Colorado Supreme Court, Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, Member, 2015-present
- Minoru Yasui Inn of Court, Member, 2007-present
- Colorado General Counsel Mentoring Program, Member, 2018-2020
- Colo. RPC 8.4 Subcommittee, Standing Committee on Colo. RPC, Member, 2018
- Faculty of Federal Advocates, Board Member, Treasurer, 2014-2017
Honors & Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Appellate, 2021-2025; Commercial Litigation, 2022-2025
- Recognized in Colorado Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2022-2024
- Selected to the Colorado Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2013-2021
- Recognized in 5280 Magazine's Top Lawyers, Appellate, 2020-2024
- Colorado Bar Association Leader Training (COBALT), Graduate
Thought Leadership
- Quoted, "The Colorado Legal Reform Alliance Works to Improve the State’s Business Climate," Law Week Colorado, January 5, 2024
- Mentioned, "'Untameable' Bacardi Escapes TM Row As High Court Passes," Law360, November 14, 2022
- Quoted, "Recent Colorado Court of Appeals Decision Makes Waves for Water Utility, Landowners," Law Week Colorado, November 2, 2022
- Quoted, "Colorado Panel Seems Poised To Remand Atty Fee Issue," Law360, October 19, 2022
- Quoted, "Supreme Court Urged To Review Bacardi's 'Untameable' TM," Law360, October 2022
- Panelist, "The Duty of Competence in the New Normal," 2022 Business Law Institute CLE, September 2022
- Presenter, "How to (Ethically) Withdraw from a Case," CBA-CLE, November 2021
- Presenter, "Tactics and Strategies for Preserving the Record," Fourth Annual Colorado Litigators’ Summit CBA-CLE, October 2021
- Co-author, "The Duty of Competence in the New Normal," Colorado Lawyer, July 2021
- Presenter, "2021 Ethics Update," Faculty of Federal Advocates, November 2020
- Moderator, "Friend or Foe: Amicus Briefs," Annual Appellate Update, CBA-CLE, November 2020
- Presenter, "Ethics of Building a Practice," Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, June 2020
- Presenter, "Colorado Causes of Action CLE," Breach of Fiduciary Duty, June 2020
- Presenter, "Appeals Basics," Civil Appeals Clinic CLE, June 2020
- Presenter, "Appellate Practice 101: The Basics of Litigating an Appeal," March 2020
- Presenter, "Preserving Your Issues and Making Your Record for Appeal," Second Annual Colorado Litigators’ Summit CLE, September 2019
- Co-author, "Breach of Fiduciary Duty Chapter," Colorado Civil Claims, 2019
- Co-chair, "Annual Appellate Update," CBA-CLE, 2018-2020
- Presenter, "Joint Representation 2.0," Ethics 7.0 CBA-CLE, November 2018
- Author, "A Lawyer’s Duty to Disclose Errors to the Client," Colorado Lawyer, May 2017
