Spitzer, Hugh D.

Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Juris Doctor degree, both from the University of Colorado. During most of the fifty-plus years since receiving his law degree, Chris has concentrated his professional efforts in the areas of tax sensitive business, estate and philanthropic/charitable planning.

Chris began his legal career in the general practice of law in rural Colorado. Concluding that he needed to develop better knowledge in his chosen area of specialty, he joined the former American National Bank of Denver as a Trust Officer and served as its Senior Vice President in charge of the Trust Division for ten years. He finished his banking career as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of that Bank, and then joined Jim Buchanan and Don Thomas in the new law firm of Buchanan, Thomas, and Johnson. Following a heart attack in 1987, Chris left that firm and moved to Ouray, Colorado, eventually forming the law firm of Johnson and Link, which performed legal services in the area of business and estate planning exclusively. He retired in 2002, and returned to Denver. Chris was persuaded to reenter the practice of law on a part time basis with Buchanan and Stouffer to coordinate complex planning projects for its clients and to form its Philanthropic Planning Team.