Susan Bernhardt

I focus on arbitrating and mediating business disputes. I am on the American Arbitration Association's commercial and employment panels, and I am listed among the 2012 through 2014 Best Lawyers in America® for Arbitration and Mediation. I also am listed in the 2013 and 2014 editions for commercial litigation and securities litigation. I have been named as a “Colorado Super Lawyer®” in business litigation since 2007 and in Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2013. I also was ranked by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 25 Women Lawyers in Colorado in 2007, 2009, and 2010.  I am rated AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 by Martindale-Hubbell.  I was selected as a Colorado Bar Fellow by the Colorado Bar Foundation in 2001.

For 25 years, my practice focused on complex civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on business disputes, securities fraud, partnership and corporate fiduciary duties, corporate governance disputes, and “squeeze out” and “freeze out” lawsuits. I represented plaintiffs and defendants in a number of state and federal courts and arbitration forums, including handling complex matters pending simultaneously in multiple courts, class actions, and shareholder derivative actions. I also served as the court-appointed Special Litigation Counsel in shareholder derivative litigation and as an expert witness on attorney conduct and fees.

I currently serve on the Committee on Conduct of the United States District Court, District of Colorado. I have been a member of the Ethics Committee of the Colorado Bar Association since 1996 and served as its Chair in 2007-2008. I currently serve on the Board of Editors of The Colorado Lawyer, and previously served as the Editor of the Professional Responsibility Column for that publication.

In addition to my work in the legal field, I teach yoga and practice Ayurveda (see ).

Practice Areas :Arbitration, Mediation, Alternative Dispute Resolution.