Agricultural and Rural Law Section

Concentrates on helping lawyers serve the agricultural interests in Colorado, including farmers and ranchers, and their lenders, suppliers, and service businesses.

The section plans to stimulate education programs, including CLE and articles and publications, to develop and enhance referral arrangements among general practitioners and specialists, to study and report on proposed legislation, to consult with and assist existing organizations providing legal and other services to farmers and ranchers and to hold an annual conference with lawyers and the agricultural industry.

Defining its mission in terms of those to be served, rather than as a traditional area of substantive law, the section works with those sections and other elements of the Association concerned with real estate, taxation, probate, bankruptcy, and other relevant fields of law. The Agricultural and Rural Law Section membership is composed of attorneys throughout Colorado who represent those involved in agriculture including farmers, ranchers, lenders, suppliers, realtors, accountants and others. The Agricultural and Rural Law Section does not focus on a traditional area of substantive law, but rather addresses a broad spectrum of legal issues affecting agriculture and rural Colorado including real estate, lending, organization structuring, water, environmental, taxation and estate planning. The diversity in the practice of Ag Section members, ranging from small community practitioners to members of larger firms, allows the Section to consider a broad range of issues and to provide valuable information to Section members and interested members of the public.

The section's leadership and governance is provided by a 17-member Council, including officers, and by functional committees responsible for the various aspects of the section's activities. The Council consists of attorneys with experience in various areas of agricultural law. The Council meets on a monthly basis to consider relevant and current issues, hear guest speakers, and plan and hold its annual Agricultural and Rural Law Roundup, a two-day seminar designed for attorneys, farmers, ranchers and others involved in agribusiness. Several non-attorneys, including accountants and agricultural commodity organization representatives, attend the Council's monthly meetings and participate in Ag Law Roundup planning. Frequent topics for instruction and discussion at the Roundup include real estates sales and leases, water rights and water well permitting, environmental, tax and estate planning, public lands, legislative updates, and landowner liability issues.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Ag Law Section please contact one of the Officers of the Section. The Section meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 11:30 at the CBA offices.  

The 2007/2008 CBA Section Chair: Taylor E. Dwight
CBA Staff Liaison: Greg Martin, gmartin@cobar.org