Packard, David M.

Ms. Padilla was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Her family has been in Colorado for five generations. Lucia has an older brother who is also an attorney in Denver and a younger sister who sells real estate in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Lucia is very close to her family, including her 98 year old grandfather who fought in World War II. Lucia's mother, Sandy, still lives in the same house in which she raised Lucia and her siblings. Lucia's father, Ken, is a prominent civil rights and criminal defense attorney and community leader in Denver.

During the summers in college, Lucia worked at her father's law firm where she learned the nuts and bolts of practicing law. Before she even entered law school, Lucia knew how to draft a complaint, conduct legal research and craft legal argument.

During college, Lucia spent a semester living and going to school in Valparaiso, Chile. Lucia attended La Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso where all of her classes were taught in Spanish. While in Chile, Lucia lived with a family in order to immerse herself in the Chilean culture. Lucia also took advantage and traveled from the southern tip to the northern border of Chile as well as Argentina.

After graduating from college, Lucia returned to Denver to attend the University of Denver College of Law. While at DU, Lucia was a member of the Water Law Review, participated in Moot Court and was a member of the Latino Law Student Association. Lucia was able to excel in law school despite working 20-30 hours a week at her father's law firm. During the summers, Lucia clerked at the law firm of Isaacson Rosenbaum where she was exposed to a wide array of practice areas. Lucia graduated from law school in May 2003.

Lucia worked at Isaacson Rosenbaum as an associate from 2003-2005 where she specialized in civil litigation and criminal defense. She then went back and worked at her father's firm for a short time. Lucia left her father's office to work for Qwest Communications (now CenturyLink, Inc.) from 2006-2012. As in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company, Ms. Padilla managed all kinds of employment litigation and labor disputes. Ms. Padilla also worked on several wage and hour class action lawsuits while she was an in-house attorney. In June 2012, Lucia joined the Sawaya Law Firm where she specializes in representing employees who are involved in wage and hour disputes.

Lucia sits on the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and the Board of Trustees of the Denver Bar Association. In 2011, Lucia received the Young Lawyer of the Year award from the Denver Bar Association. Lucia also sits on the Pro Bono Initiative Committee of the Denver Bar Association. Lucia is the co-chair of the Colorado Lawyer's Committee Hate Violence Task Force. She volunteers regularly for Metro Volunteer Lawyers and is a member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. She is also the immediate past chair and current board member of non-profit Bayaud Enterprises.

In her free time, Lucia enjoys running, competing in triathlons, skiing, backpacking and spending time with her family and two Labrador retrievers. Lucia has run several marathons and in 2009, she qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon. Lucia also loves to travel. Within the last few years, she's explored Southeast Asia and Paris with her sister and recently traveled to Nicaragua with her husband.

"If you feel like you have a potential case in the Rocky Mountain Region feel free to contact Lucia and her staff at The Sawaya Law Firm to see how they may help you."