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William Perry Pendley
Contact William Perry Pendley by E-mail
President and Chief Operating Officer
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| Born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, he received B.A. and M.A. degrees in Economics and Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, after which he received his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law, where he was Senior Editor on Land and Water Law Review. He served as an attorney to former Senator Clifford P. Hansen (R-Wyoming) and to the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. During the Reagan Administration, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Minerals of the Department of Interior, where he authored President Reagan's National Minerals Policy and Exclusive Economic Zone proclamation. He was a consultant to former Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman, Jr., and was engaged in the private practice of law in the Washington, D.C., area before his return to the West in 1989. He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States as well as various federal courts of appeals; he won what Time called a "legal earthquake" when the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in the historic Adarand (equal protection) case. His monthly column, Summary Judgment, appears throughout the country; he is the author of three books: It Takes A Hero (1994); War on the West (1995); and Warriors for the West (2006). He is admitted to practice law in Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. |
Steven J. Lechner
Contact Steven J. Lechner by E-mail
Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
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| Mr. Lechner graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering. In 1990, he received his J.D. degree from the University of Colorado. He served as a Staff Attorney with MSLF from January 1991 until March 1998, when he entered the private practice of law. In November 2000, Mr. Lechner rejoined MSLF as Managing Attorney. In 2009, Mr. Lechner became Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Mr. Lechner’s practice areas include private property rights, oil and gas, mining, public lands, and environmental laws. His published decisions include Mann v. United States, 86 Fed. Cl. (2009), Shuler v. Babbitt, 49 F.Supp.2d 1165 (D. Mont. 1998), Northwest Min. Ass’n v. Babbitt, 5 F.Supp.2d 9 (D.D.C. 1998), United States v. Jenks, 129 F.3d 1348 (10th Cir. 1997), and Larson v. Lujan, 976 F.Supp. 1406 (D. Utah 1992). Mr. Lechner is licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado and is admitted to practice before, inter alia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, numerous U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. |
Janice K. Alvarado
Contact Janice K. Alvarado by E-mail
Vice President of Administration
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| Ms. Alvarado was born and raised in Englewood, Colorado. Employed with Mountain States Legal Foundation since March 1982, she now is responsible for soliciting and responding to major donors; planning and preparing meetings of the Board of Directors and Board of Litigation; and overseeing the upkeep of MSLF’s national headquarters. Ms. Alvarado is an avid fly fisher person and enjoys landscaping and gardening. |
J. Scott Detamore
Contact J. Scott Detamore by E-mail
Managing Attorney
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| Mr. Detamore graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in philosophy and English literature. In 1975 he received his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law, where he graduated cum laude and served on the Law Review. From 1975 to 1996 Mr. Detamore was in private practice, concentrating in commercial, bankruptcy, civil rights and employment litigation. He joined MSLF in 1996, where his practice areas include constitutional law generally, including Equal Protection of Law, Due Process of Law, Separation of Powers, Enumerated Powers and federalism, statutory civil rights law; and federal Indian law. Mr. Detamore is licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, numerous U.S. Courts of Appeal, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Supreme Court. |
Ronald W. Opsahl
Contact Ronald W. Opsahl by E-mail
Staff Attorney
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| Mr. Opsahl received his B.S. degree in wildlife biology from Colorado State University in 2001 and has conducted a broad range of wildlife and environmental fieldwork in Alaska, Colorado, and Oregon. In 2004 Mr. Opsahl received his J.D. degree and Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis & Clark Law School, and in May 2005 he received an LL.M. degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy from the University of Denver. Mr. Opsahl’s practice focuses on endangered species, oil and gas, mining, timber, grazing, public lands, and other environmental issues. His published opinions include Dimitrov v. Norton, 479 F. Supp. 2d 1141 (D. Mont. 2007); McFarland v. Kempthorne, 464 F. Supp. 2d 1014 (D. Mont. 2006), aff’d, 545 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S.Ct. 1582, 556 U.S. ___ (2009); New Mexico v. Bureau of Land Management, 459 F. Supp. 2d 1102 (D.N.M. 2006), aff’d in part, vacated in part, rev’d in part, 565 F.3d 683 (10th Cir. 2009); and Cannon v. Gates, cert. denied, 129 S.Ct. 1669, 556 U.S. ___ (2009). Mr. Opsahl is a U.S. Air Force veteran and published author and wildlife photographer and enjoys all things outdoors. He joined MSLF in April 2005 and is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court. |
Joel M. Spector
Contact Joel M. Spector by E-mail
Staff Attorney
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| Mr. Spector, a native of Essexville, Michigan, received his B.S. degree in economics in 2000 from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on entrepreneurial management and operations and information management. In 2005, he received his J.D. degree from the University of Denver, where he was distinguished as a member of the Order of St. Ives. Mr. Spector joined MSLF in October 2005. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal. |
Elizabeth Gallaway
Contact Elizabeth Gallaway by E-mail
Staff Attorney
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| Ms. Gallaway received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations and Asian and Middle Eastern studies. In 2005 she received her J.D. degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. Ms. Gallaway joined MSLF in October 2006. She is admitted to practice law in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. |
James M. Manley
Contact James M. Manley by E-mail
Staff Attorney
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| Mr. Manley was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. In 2004, he received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Journalism from Arizona State University. Before attending law school, he worked for the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and was a professional ski instructor in Telluride, Colorado. In 2008, he received a J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Law Review and President of the Federalist Society. Mr. Manley joined MSLF in September 2008. He is admitted to practice law in Colorado. |
Judith Stoeser
Contact Judith Stoeser by E-mail
Paralegal
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| Ms. Stoeser received a B.S. degree in geology in 1968 from the University of Oregon and studied geology at the University of Oregon Graduate School. For 18 years she was a technical publications editor for the U.S. Geological Survey in Saudi Arabia and Colorado. She graduated from the Denver Paralegal Institute in 1996 and joined MSLF shortly thereafter. |
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