Grob, Seth A.

Seth A. Grob graduated cum laude from Duke University in 1987. Seth received his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1991, from which he graduated near the top of his class. He also studied and received a General Course of Study Degree from the London School of Economics.

Seth opened his own law firm focused on family building in 2000.  Seth's practice concentration is adoption, assisted reproduction, guardianship and child welfare cases. Seth represents prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, relatives and birth parents and is outside legal counsel for numerous Colorado adoption agencies. Seth's practice includes infant and toddler adoptions, designated adoptions, interstate adoptions, stepparent adoptions, same sex adoptions, second parent adoptions, relative adoptions, disrupted adoptions, foster-parent adoptions, international adoptions and adoption subsidies. Seth also represents intended parents, egg donors, surrogates and gestational carriers in assisted reproductive technology cases.

Seth has handled more than one thousand adoptions and more than three-hundred-and-fifty assisted reproduction cases throughout his career.  Seth has argued cases before both the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals and has been involved in numerous groundbreaking cases.  Since practicing law, Seth has actively promoted and drafted legislation to improve the relinquishment, adoption, and child welfare laws in Colorado. Seth was responsible for drafting and successfully lobbying laws that reduce the likelihood that children will be uprooted from prospective adoptive homes and for the Courts to consider the child's best interests when an adoption is challenged. He was also responsible for legislation that significantly expedites child welfare proceedings for foster children under the age of six so that these children will avoid lengthy foster care placements and be placed in a permanent home within a timely period. Seth also assisted in drafting legislation that expedites legal relinquishments and terminations of parental rights such that children's legal risks periods are significantly reduced.

Seth has published extensively about adoption and the rights of children and foster parents. The following are some of his articles published: Grob and Davis, "Adoption Dissolution," Adoption Today Magazine (January 2012); "Adoption Subsidies . . . Advocating for Children with Special Needs," 7 University of California at Davis Journal of Juvenile Law and Policy 83 (2003); Grob, "Special Needs Adoption Subsidies," Adoptive Families, October 2003, at 48; Grob, "Colorado's Implementation of the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act," 28 Colorado Lawyer 73 (1999); Grob, "Out of the Shadows and Into the Courtroom: An Analysis of Foster Parents' Legal Rights," National Association of Counsel for Children (1998); Grob, Advocacy for Children by Foster Parents: A Manual on the Legal Rights of Foster Parents in Colorado, Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center (1997); Grob, "Neighbors and Employers Working Together to Benefit Children," The Denver Post (April 20, 1997); Grob, "Colorado Adoption Practice: Procedures and Difficult Issues," Advocating Excellence, A Guardian Ad Litem Handbook, University of Denver College of Law (1997); Grob, "Representing Children in Custody Cases: An Overview of Statutes and Caselaw," American Bar Association (1995); Grob and Shink, "Advocating Excellence for Children: A Call to Action," National Association of Counsel for Children (1995); Grob, "Bright Beginnings Helps New Parents and Their Newborns," The Colorado Pediatrician (December 1995); Grob and O'Brien, "There's No Mystery About What Makes a Difference in a Child's Life," The Denver Post (November 26, 1995); Grob, "Representing Foster Parents in Dependency and Neglect Proceedings," 22 Colorado Lawyer 1697 (1993); Grob, "Sibling Visitation: A Child's Right," 22 Colorado Lawyer 283 (1993); Grob and Shink, Annual Survey of Colorado Juvenile Law, 1992 and 1993; Grob and Hollander, Annual Survey of Colorado Juvenile Law, 1994.

Seth also frequently lectures throughout the country on adoption, infertility law, and child welfare issues for professional and civic groups and has served as a spokesperson on these issues for the media. Seth also has testified before the Colorado General Assembly on numerous occasions on adoption bills and other bills impacting families and children.

Seth actively participates on a national and state level though his association and membership with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys,  the Colorado Bar, the Juvenile Law Forum of the Colorado Bar, and the Family Law Section of the Colorado Bar. Seth served on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys between 2005-2009 and served as Vice-President in 2012-13. He also served on the Board of Directors for The Adoption Exchange between 2008-2012.

Seth has received national and state recognition for his service on behalf of children and adoptive families. In 2008, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys awarded Seth the "Amy M. Silberberg Award" in recognition of his unique contributions to the adoption of special needs children.  In 2006, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute awarded Seth the prestigious Angels in Adoption Award. In 2006, the 1st Judicial Bar Association, State of Colorado, awarded Seth the Linda T. Palmieri Annual Award for Outstanding Service to Children. In 1996, the National Association of Counsel for Children awarded Seth the "Outstanding Legal Advocacy Award," for his legal work on behalf of children. In 1997, Seth received the "Children's Champion Award" by the Colorado Association of the Education of Young Children for his work in directing Governor Roy Romer's statewide initiative Bright Beginnings. Seth also was appointed and served on the Clear Creek County School District's Board of Education between 1997-1999.

Prior to opening his own law practice, Seth began his professional career at the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center, in Denver, Colorado where he specialized in adoption and child welfare cases. Seth worked at the Law Center from 1991-1994 and 1997-2000. Between 1998-2000, Seth also served as the Assistant Director of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University Of Denver College Of Law. In this capacity, Seth was responsible for teaching law students how to effectively represent children in adoption, child welfare, and custody cases. Seth was appointed and served as the director of Governor Roy Romer's early childhood statewide initiative, "Bright Beginnings" from 1995-1997. This initiative, which focused attention on improving the lives of children during their most critical period of development--birth to three-- was nationally recognized.