Signage outside the law offices of Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes in downtown Denver. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
Twenty-two stories above downtown Denver, Andrew Garnett recalled the uncertainty that came with leaving a major Denver law firm to co-found a firm of his own last year.
“But then, every client of mine, every client of Stan’s, they all came over,” Garnett said in his corner office Monday. “And overnight we were like, ‘OK, this is going to work.’”
Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes began with five lawyers in April 2023 and now has 15, along with three paralegals and four support staff. It is moving into 21,000 square feet of recently renovated office space on 17th Street.
“And we haven’t done any marketing,” said Garnett, the firm’s managing partner. “We have a marketing plan but we have not implemented it. We just have not had time.”
The firm has been busy and making headlines. David Powell, a partner, was hired by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to investigate how voting machine passwords came to be posted online. The firm also represents the fired University of Colorado professor Patty Limerick and an employee of Dominion Voting Systems targeted by conspiracy theories.
Garnett said that he and his father Stan, a former district attorney in Boulder, “have always wanted to practice together, to start a firm together.” They began talking seriously about it in 2022, a year before starting GPMBF, and then talked with other lawyers they respect. Andrew was at Davis Graham & Stubbs at the time and his father worked for Brownstein.
“The idea was that we are all litigators — trial attorneys — but with different areas of expertise,” Garnett recalled of the talks. “And all the areas were great compliments of each other.”
Andrew Garnett
Nearly all of the firm’s work is civil rather than criminal, with emphases on complex commercial and real estate disputes, employment law and major personal injury cases.
“The niche is that we have people with real, meaningful trial experience. All we do is litigation, we really like litigation, and we have the results to back that up,” Garnett said.
GPMBF began its work out of a small former church in Boulder — “I can almost see it from here,” Garnett joked as he gazed north — and then an equally small suite in Writer Square. It doubled its space there before realizing that it needed a lot more room.
So, it leased the entire 22nd floor at 1125 17th St., which was still being decorated on Monday afternoon. Garnett said, “The space is nicer than we could have ever imagined.”
His firm’s lawyers have family ties to Democratic powerbrokers — Stan’s son and Andrew’s brother is Alec Garnett, former speaker of the Colorado House; associate Francesca Lipinsky DeGette is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette — but Andrew Garnett eschews the label of a Democratic firm, noting it has clients on both sides of the aisle. Stan Garnett represents Brian Watson, a former Republican nominee for state treasurer, for example.
For Stan’s son, GPMBF is an opportunity to finally practice law alongside his father, as he has long wanted to do. The two tried a case together for the first time this September.
“It’s a really special deal,” Andrew Garnett said. “He’s the best attorney I’ve seen, by far.”
Signage outside the law offices of Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes in downtown Denver. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
Twenty-two stories above downtown Denver, Andrew Garnett recalled the uncertainty that came with leaving a major Denver law firm to co-found a firm of his own last year.
“But then, every client of mine, every client of Stan’s, they all came over,” Garnett said in his corner office Monday. “And overnight we were like, ‘OK, this is going to work.’”
Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes began with five lawyers in April 2023 and now has 15, along with three paralegals and four support staff. It is moving into 21,000 square feet of recently renovated office space on 17th Street.
“And we haven’t done any marketing,” said Garnett, the firm’s managing partner. “We have a marketing plan but we have not implemented it. We just have not had time.”
The firm has been busy and making headlines. David Powell, a partner, was hired by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to investigate how voting machine passwords came to be posted online. The firm also represents the fired University of Colorado professor Patty Limerick and an employee of Dominion Voting Systems targeted by conspiracy theories.
Garnett said that he and his father Stan, a former district attorney in Boulder, “have always wanted to practice together, to start a firm together.” They began talking seriously about it in 2022, a year before starting GPMBF, and then talked with other lawyers they respect. Andrew was at Davis Graham & Stubbs at the time and his father worked for Brownstein.
“The idea was that we are all litigators — trial attorneys — but with different areas of expertise,” Garnett recalled of the talks. “And all the areas were great compliments of each other.”
Andrew Garnett
Nearly all of the firm’s work is civil rather than criminal, with emphases on complex commercial and real estate disputes, employment law and major personal injury cases.
“The niche is that we have people with real, meaningful trial experience. All we do is litigation, we really like litigation, and we have the results to back that up,” Garnett said.
GPMBF began its work out of a small former church in Boulder — “I can almost see it from here,” Garnett joked as he gazed north — and then an equally small suite in Writer Square. It doubled its space there before realizing that it needed a lot more room.
So, it leased the entire 22nd floor at 1125 17th St., which was still being decorated on Monday afternoon. Garnett said, “The space is nicer than we could have ever imagined.”
His firm’s lawyers have family ties to Democratic powerbrokers — Stan’s son and Andrew’s brother is Alec Garnett, former speaker of the Colorado House; associate Francesca Lipinsky DeGette is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette — but Andrew Garnett eschews the label of a Democratic firm, noting it has clients on both sides of the aisle. Stan Garnett represents Brian Watson, a former Republican nominee for state treasurer, for example.
For Stan’s son, GPMBF is an opportunity to finally practice law alongside his father, as he has long wanted to do. The two tried a case together for the first time this September.
“It’s a really special deal,” Andrew Garnett said. “He’s the best attorney I’ve seen, by far.”
