Leonard I Frieling

Defending the "citizen accused" and studying the law account for most of my life. In between I draw, paint, am a serious photographer, a semi-serious guitar player, writer for lawyers and "civilians," locally and nationally and most recently, designing and making cufflinks. I've built table top battle robots, with my partner, winning first place in two categories. In the winning heavy-weight robot, I designed a way to overcome the "Newton problem" of trying to lift a 20 pound robot with another 20 pound robot. It worked. My photos have appeared on the cover of the Colorado Lawyer twice so far. I was instrumental in passing A64, recreational marijuana in Colorado. A more complete bio/CV is on my firm site at Helping in legalizing pot is a life achievement of which I'm quite proud. 

I've been published frequently, both nationally and locally. I've appeared on TV and other broadcasting media many times. Chapters in a well-respected DUI treatise for lawyers, and  in a Marijuana book for lawyers. I've written for the Colorado Lawyer several times, and was the co-editor of the Criminal Law articles for many years. I chaired the state bar Executive Council of the Criminal Law Committee, an unprecedented twice, consecutively. Reviews and accolades are at <>

My tenure as a judge taught me invaluable lessons about being a better lawyer. I resigned over a marijana political issue in which the chief judge approaching the City Council in an attempt to increase pot possession penalties. Instead of $100 fine up to an ounce, he wanted up to $1000 and a year in jail. My resigniation and the subsequent publicity (it went viral) worked! The City Council dropped the entire initiative, and have not tried anything like it since.