Kentucky legal practice comes west to Fort Collins

FORT COLLINS – A prominent Kentucky law firm will establish a branch office in Fort Collins, with its sights set on capturing legal business from mineral and energy companies in the Mountain States region.

Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP, a 200-attorney firm based in Louisville, Ky., has a tradition of representing coal mining companies in its home state and the eastern United States. Some of those client companies also have operations in the West, a fact that’s prompted Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs to consider for “four or five years” opening a western outpost, said Joe Zaluski, co-chair of the firm’s mineral and energy practice.

The decision to set up shop this spring was tied to the availability of Jim di Zerega, a longtime vice president and general counsel for Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co., who retired from that job in December 2005.

“We thought, ‘What an opportunity,'” Zaluski said. “Jim’s an absolutely first-class lawyer and individual.”

Di Zerega, who was based in Denver with Pittsburg & Midway, had already decided to move to Fort Collins for his retirement before he accepted the job with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.

“He’ll head up the office out there,” Zaluski said. “With the modern technology everybody has in the world anymore, we can certainly support that office in many ways from our Louisville and Lexington (Ky.) offices.”

Including Fort Collins, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs operates eight offices in five states – Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Mississippi and Colorado.

With di Zerega in place, the initial emphasis of the Fort Collins office will be with energy and minerals clients. Still, Zaluski said, “The practice there will not be limited.”

Lawyers from other specialties will be added to the Fort Collins location to serve other business sectors. Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs lists 27 different practice areas, including health care, public finance, labor and employment, construction litigation and bankruptcy.

“We’ll seriously consider whatever Jim might propose in terms of how soon he’ll need another lawyer or two,” Zaluski said. “I assume we’ll do that within 12 months certainly.”

Di Zerega, 65, said one of the areas of potential growth on the Front Range for Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs is the business merger and acquisition arena.

Meanwhile, the firm believes di Zerega can attract new business from mining companies in the West, as well as international minerals and energy business.

“He also has a pretty broad international experience base,” Zaluski said. “He’s worked in Venezuela, Aruba and Colombia, Ireland and Australia.”

Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs has a history of sending its lawyers into public life. Attorneys from the firm, which dates back to 1812, have filled such appointed and elected posts as Solicitor General of the United States, Presidential Emissary to Indonesia, U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Representative, U.S. Attorney, governor, lieutenant governor, state attorney general, state senators and representatives.

Recently President Bush nominated one of the firm’s partners, Robert Irwin Cusick, for Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

The firm’s roster of clients is filled with corporate giants, including Aetna, Arch Coal Inc., Brinker International, Ford Motor Co., Ingersoll-Rand Co., Pfizer Inc., Reynolds Metals Co., Sunbeam Corp., Wachovia Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

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