We are a small firm that deals exclusively with Family law matters – divorce, custody, adoption, and paternity. We offer a full range of services, from simply reviewing your documents, to mediation, collaborative divorce, to fully contested divorce representation.

Consider us if:

• You know your case is complicated, and you need an attorney who understands complex financial situations
  
• You are afraid that your situation is volatile, and you don’t want to make it worse
  
• You want to be sure that your attorney understands your needs and values, and follows them throughout your case

MOTTO: Finding solutions without creating new problems by working together, even as you are moving apart.

MEDIATION: Ann is a trained mediator and is available to mediate even the most difficult of cases. Contact us if you are considering mediation

Client needs: We take our clients’ needs seriously. We return phone calls, and we are accessible by email. We never forget who is paying the bills.

Ann C. Gushurst, Esq.

Ann has been practicing exclusively in Family law for most of her law career. She is collaboratively trained and she is also a trained mediator. Ann believes strongly that divorcing families should do everything they can to minimize the emotional fallout from divorce, so that the experience doesn’t cripple them or their children. This doesn’t mean getting a bad deal - it means finding a good deal without a slash-and-burn technique. Either way you do it, you are going to get divorced. The question is, will you hate your spouse, your attorney and yourself, at the end of it, or will you have come through the process with your integrity and your peace of mind intact?

Some people think that the only way to get what is fair is to be as mean and aggressive as possible. That’s what leads to divorces like “The war of the Roses”. It’s a prevalent – yet misguided – philosophy. It’s expensive (emotionally and financially) and it doesn’t produce better results – sometimes quite the opposite.

You can be fair – even when your spouse doesn’t want to – and you can protect yourself financially and emotionally. That is what Ann strives for.

Ann Gushurst received an Honor’s Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of Toronto in 1985. She received her law degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1995, was in the top 10% of her class, and was awarded the New Brunswick Faculty Law Prize for the graduating class of 1994.

Ann was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar in 1995 and the Colorado Bar in 1998. Since entering the legal field, she has practiced in the fields of civil and family law. She was a clerk and later an associate of the law firm of Gilbert, McGloan & Gillis, in Saint John, New Brunswick. Later, after moving to Colorado, she worked as a sole practitioner, specializing in family law, wills, trusts and dispute resolution. Ann joined the law firm of Harrington Brester & Clein in 1999 became a partner in January, 2003, and left to start her own law firm in 2004.

Ann has always been very involved in the legal community. Ann is a member of the Colorado Bar, Colorado Collaborative Law Professionals, the Metropolitain Denver Inderdisciplinary Committee, the Catholic Lawyer’s Guild, Rocky Mountain Collaborative Law Professionals. She is a voluntary board member of Maria Droste Counseling Services, a non-profit counseling service, sits on the Kids and Court committee of the Colorado Bar Association and is on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Collaborative Law Professionals. She was chairperson of the “Women in Law” conference for New Brunswick in 1993 and 1994, and co-chaired the UNB Association of Women in Law for two years.

Anita Cowley, Esq.

Anita Cowley received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Toronto in 1990. Upon her graduation, she worked as a private investigator in Atlanta until she entered law school in 1991. Anita was awarded her JD from Georgia State University College of Law in 1994. Anita is admitted to practice law in Georgia and Colorado as well as the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

During law school, she was a member of her school’s Dean’s List as well as the National Dean’s List. She held the positions of President of the Legal Association of Women and Treasurer of the Student Bar Association. She was a recognized student in Who’s Who in American Law Schools and was the Editing Assistant for the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure’s annual update.

Since being admitted to practice in Colorado in 1997, Anita’s practice has focused on general civil litigation. She was an associate with the law firm of Moyer, Beal and Vranesic from 1997 through 2000, when she joined Ruegsegger Thomas, a workers’ compensation defense firm, as an associate. In 2002, Anita began her own solo practice that continued her emphasis on civil litigation.

Anita is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the Denver Bar Association, the First Judicial District Bar Association and the Colorado Collaborative Law Professionals. She is an active runner, bicyclist, hiker and skier and an enthusiastic mother and cook.

Catherine Sandrin, Paralegal

You may find it strange to find the biography of a paralegal on a web site, but consider this: clients spend a good portion of their time interacting with their law firm talking to the paralegal. We know this. Your relationship with us is also with our staff, and we are very proud of the people that work with us.

Catherine attended Westbrook College in Portland, Maine and in 1987 received a Bachelor of Science Degree and Paralegal Certificate from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado. From 1986 through 1989, she was the paralegal for the law firm of Davis, Lerman & Weinstein, a firm specializing in domestic, corporate, real estate law and civil litigation. She worked in the commercial real estate field from 1989 to 1999. As the commercial property manager of a class “A” office building, she was directly responsible for increasing the value of the building through her management and customer service skills. She facilitated the successful sale of the building in 1999.