The 16 Market Square building at 1400 16th St. in Denver. (BusinessDen file)
Moye White, the Denver law firm that disbanded last year, has been sued by a LoDo landlord.
The owner of the 16 Market Square building at 1400 16th St. said in a lawsuit filed last week that the law firm owes it nearly $4 million.
Moye White originally leased space in the building in 2007, and expanded multiple times — ultimately taking 52,304 square feet through June 2026, according to the lawsuit. The firm agreed to pay $183,000 a month in base rent in its final year.
In January 2022, however, Moye White announced it would become the first major law firm to relocate to RiNo. It moved into 42,500 square feet in The Current at 3615 Delgany St. in 2023.
The LoDo lease was still in effect. Moye White subleased the space to Revenir Energy and INEOS, two oil and gas firms.
But those firms didn’t pay as much as Moye White had been paying, leaving the law firm responsible for covering the difference — about $60,000 a month in base rent, according to the lawsuit.
Moye White did cover the difference until March 2024, when it stopped, according to the landlord.
That was around the time that Moye White had big news. On April 1, the firm announced that nearly all its employees, including its managing partner, would be joining Fennemore, a Phoenix-based law firm. The few attorneys that didn’t go to Fennemore landed at firms including Lewis Roca and Frost Brown Todd.
Consolidation is a trend in the legal industry. Sherman & Howard, Denver’s oldest law firm, was acquired last month by Taft.
But Moye White’s situation was unique in that the firm wasn’t technically acquired. That meant no one took over the business’ office leases in LoDo and RiNo. Instead, Moye White’s attorneys began working elsewhere and the firm’s website was updated to say it had “closed its doors.”
Moye White had invited the media when it opened its RiNo office. But in the wake of the April announcement, no one wanted to talk about Moye White’s real estate.
A deal was worked out last summer on the RiNo real estate, owned by Seattle-based Schnitzer West. Fennemore agreed to lease the majority of Moye White’s onetime space.
But no deal was reached for the LoDo office space.
“We worked for six months to try to come to a resolution,” said Brandee Caswell, an attorney at Davis Graham & Stubbs representing the landlord.
In October of last year, with Moye White still not paying, 16 Market Square terminated possession of the premises for both the firm and its subtenants, while keeping the lease in place, according to the lawsuit.
Moye White owed $3.93 million as of October, according to the lawsuit.
Merc Pittinos, managing partner of Moye White when the firm disbanded, and Ted White, one half of the firm’s name, did not respond to requests for comment from BusinessDen Wednesday. Both men now work for Fennemore.
While Moye White ceased operations in a colloquial sense, it is still an entity that exists legally. State records show Moye White’s registered agent was recently changed to be R2 Advisors, a Denver firm that says it helps “middle-market companies in transition.”
Caswell said that Moye White has money, but “that financial picture is completely opaque.” A lawsuit will allow for discovery and force transparency, she said.
Caswell noted that 16 Market Square is owned by the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois.
“It’s not just some private individual or company that owns this asset,” she said. “It’s a teachers pension fund.”
While it’s challenging to fill office space right now, 16 Market Square is lucky. Tech firm Ibotta plans to move its headquarters to the building, taking Moye White’s onetime office and additional space.
The 16 Market Square building at 1400 16th St. in Denver. (BusinessDen file)
Moye White, the Denver law firm that disbanded last year, has been sued by a LoDo landlord.
The owner of the 16 Market Square building at 1400 16th St. said in a lawsuit filed last week that the law firm owes it nearly $4 million.
Moye White originally leased space in the building in 2007, and expanded multiple times — ultimately taking 52,304 square feet through June 2026, according to the lawsuit. The firm agreed to pay $183,000 a month in base rent in its final year.
In January 2022, however, Moye White announced it would become the first major law firm to relocate to RiNo. It moved into 42,500 square feet in The Current at 3615 Delgany St. in 2023.
The LoDo lease was still in effect. Moye White subleased the space to Revenir Energy and INEOS, two oil and gas firms.
But those firms didn’t pay as much as Moye White had been paying, leaving the law firm responsible for covering the difference — about $60,000 a month in base rent, according to the lawsuit.
Moye White did cover the difference until March 2024, when it stopped, according to the landlord.
That was around the time that Moye White had big news. On April 1, the firm announced that nearly all its employees, including its managing partner, would be joining Fennemore, a Phoenix-based law firm. The few attorneys that didn’t go to Fennemore landed at firms including Lewis Roca and Frost Brown Todd.
Consolidation is a trend in the legal industry. Sherman & Howard, Denver’s oldest law firm, was acquired last month by Taft.
But Moye White’s situation was unique in that the firm wasn’t technically acquired. That meant no one took over the business’ office leases in LoDo and RiNo. Instead, Moye White’s attorneys began working elsewhere and the firm’s website was updated to say it had “closed its doors.”
Moye White had invited the media when it opened its RiNo office. But in the wake of the April announcement, no one wanted to talk about Moye White’s real estate.
A deal was worked out last summer on the RiNo real estate, owned by Seattle-based Schnitzer West. Fennemore agreed to lease the majority of Moye White’s onetime space.
But no deal was reached for the LoDo office space.
“We worked for six months to try to come to a resolution,” said Brandee Caswell, an attorney at Davis Graham & Stubbs representing the landlord.
In October of last year, with Moye White still not paying, 16 Market Square terminated possession of the premises for both the firm and its subtenants, while keeping the lease in place, according to the lawsuit.
Moye White owed $3.93 million as of October, according to the lawsuit.
Merc Pittinos, managing partner of Moye White when the firm disbanded, and Ted White, one half of the firm’s name, did not respond to requests for comment from BusinessDen Wednesday. Both men now work for Fennemore.
While Moye White ceased operations in a colloquial sense, it is still an entity that exists legally. State records show Moye White’s registered agent was recently changed to be R2 Advisors, a Denver firm that says it helps “middle-market companies in transition.”
Caswell said that Moye White has money, but “that financial picture is completely opaque.” A lawsuit will allow for discovery and force transparency, she said.
Caswell noted that 16 Market Square is owned by the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois.
“It’s not just some private individual or company that owns this asset,” she said. “It’s a teachers pension fund.”
While it’s challenging to fill office space right now, 16 Market Square is lucky. Tech firm Ibotta plans to move its headquarters to the building, taking Moye White’s onetime office and additional space.
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