Brown, Martin David

Martin D. Brown has been an attorney for some 46 years.

For the past ten years he has practiced almost exclusively in the family law field, with some bankruptcy and real estate work arising out of his divorce practice. He has had extensive experience as a Guardian ad litem, Special Advocate and Child and Family Investigator - including custody disputes, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act. He has lectured on custody and child support issues as well as general divorce practice.

He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in February, 1965, and very soon thereafter commenced practice with the firm of Rishworth, Harrison, Kennedy & Lynch in Whangarei, New Zealand. He became a partner in April, 1966, and remained with the firm until August, 1969. He was there engaged in a general practice, both conveyancing and court appearances, the latter being primarily domestic relations, as county and town attorney for local authorities and some criminal defense work.

In September, 1969, he became employed by Kelly, McNeil & Co. in Hastings, Hawke's Bay, becoming a partner in April, 1971. Again, he was engaged in the general practice of law with a greater emphasis upon court work, especially domestic relations.

In New Zealand he appeared as counsel at all levels of the court system, including the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London on an appeal from New Zealand.

He left Kelly, McNeil at the end of April, 1978, and spent the next two years as a graduate student at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, England, working towards a Ph.D. However, having become married to an American lady, he abandoned those studies to obtain his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1982.

After graduation he spent two years at Sherman & Howard, leaving to work in-house for a real estate development company, and then as an associate with a litigation firm. He went out on his own accord as a sole practitioner in 1987.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Presently admitted to practice in the State of Colorado, the U.S. District Court
  (Colorado), and the U.S. Court of Appeals (10th Circuit).
• Past President of the Douglas/Elbert Bar Association (1995-1996)
• Past Director of Eastern Rockies R.F.U. Referees Society
  (1987-1990 and 1992-1994)
• Past Director of the Western R.F.U. Referees Association (1990-1992)
• Member of the American, Colorado, Arapahoe and Douglas/Elbert Bar
  Associations
• Member of the Family Law Sections of the ABA and CBA (board member
  of the executive committee 2003-2007 and 2009-present)
• Member and Former Board Member, Metropolitan Denver
  Interdisciplinary Committee
• Member of the Colorado Branch AFCC
• Member of the National Association of Counsel for Children
• Member Christ Lutheran Church, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
  (President of Church Council 2005-2006)
• Serving Brother of the Order of St. John
• Vice President of the Cambridge University Law Society (1979-1980)
• Chairman of the Hawkes Bay District Legal Aid Committee (1976-1977)
• Chairman of the Hastings High Schools Board (1976-1977)
• Presenter "The Lawyer’s Duty of Care in Custody Cases" (Breckenridge 1997)
• Co-Presenter:
  "Divorce 101 for Paralegals" (2008)
  "Financial Settlement Strategies For Your Divorce Clients" (2006)
  "Family Law Litigation in Colorado" (2003)
  "Handling a Colorado Dissolution of Marriage Case From Start to
  Finish" (2002)
  "Child Support and Enforcement in Colorado" (2000)
• Member, Program Planning Committee, 4th and 5th Guardian ad Litem
  Training programs (Presented by University of Denver College of Law)
• Selected as a "Colorado Super Lawyer" from 2006 through 2011
• Cases:
  In re Marriage of Mugge, 66 P.3d 207 (Colo. App. 2003)
  Williams v. Murdoch [1968] NZLR 1191
  Kinney v. Police [1971] NZLR 924
  Ross v. Henderson [1977] 2 NZLR 458 (P.C.)