Associate
Megan
Gutwien
Legal Assistant
Megan Gutwein serves as a trusted advisor to clients throughout Colorado on water, real estate, civil litigation, and environmental matters. Her practice encompasses all aspects of water issues, from water rights due diligence and purchases to water supply evaluation and planning, in addition to water rights litigation in Colorado’s water courts. Megan represents a variety of clients, including municipalities, special districts, nonprofits, farmers and ranchers, and other private landowners, providing them with her expertise in well permitting and applications for new water rights, changes of water rights, complex plans for augmentation, and leasing-fallowing pilot projects, among other water sharing agreements.
In addition to her water practice, Megan also handles real estate transactions, real estate litigation, insurance coverage issues, and construction defect claims.
Megan graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder Law School, where she volunteered for the Acequia Assistance Project, which pairs practicing attorneys with law students to provide pro bono legal services to descendants of Colorado’s first immigrants in the San Luis Valley. Megan now volunteers her time as a supervising attorney for the Project.
Megan gained a broad range of experience during law school by interning for Honorable Gregory J. Hobbs of the Colorado Supreme Court, the Fort Collins City Attorney’s Office, the Boulder County Attorney’s Office, and the Sierra Club. Prior to law school, Megan earned an M.S. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University and worked as a Biological Science Technician for the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service.
At BHGR, Megan has served as a co-chair of the Associates’ Committee, is a member of the Women’s Committee, and participates in volunteer events in the community.
During her free time, Megan enjoys snowboarding, rock climbing, riding her motorcycle, and chasing her dogs around the house.
EDUCATION & ADMISSIONS
JURIS DOCTOR
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SCHOOL OF LAW,ORDER OF THE COIF, 2016
MASTER OF SCIENCE
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, 2011
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, 2000
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
2016
Colorado
2016
Utah
2019
Publications
Co-Author: “All We Really Need to Know We Learned in Kindergarten: Share Everything (Agricultural Water Sharing to Meet Increasing Municipal Water Demands),” Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review, Vol. 27 No. 2 (Summer 2016)
Author: National Conservation Area Designation: When You Need a Shovel, Not a Backhoe, 27 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 71 (2016).
Co-Author: Integrating Conservation and Financial Objectives on Private Rangelands in Northern Colorado: Rancher and Practitioner Perceptions. 66 Rangeland Ecology & Mgmt. 330 (2013).
Megan’s Blog
Partner Peter Nichols Talks Super Ditch Project at the Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources
The University of Colorado Boulder hosted the 42nd Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources on June 16th and 17th. The Colorado River was the focus of this year's conference given the dramatic decline in the levels of Lakes Powell and Mead. Low Water At...
Water access on the Front Range
Attorney, Megan Gutwein, participated in BizWest's Confluence Colorado Water Conference on Thursday, October 22. Joining Megan were panelists Brad Wind, general manager, Northern Water, Patrick McMeekin, vice president of land development and partner, Hartford Homes....
Boulder’s Climate Change Suit Sent Back to State Court
The Tenth Circuit recently held that a suit filed in Colorado state court by local governmental entities for global warming-related damages allegedly caused by oil and gas companies cannot be removed to federal court. Plaintiffs – the City of Boulder, Boulder County...
In the News
Merritt Named Co-Chair of the Firm’s Trusts, Estates, Probate, and Tax Practice
Shelly Merritt, a partner at Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti, has been named the co-chair of the Firm's Trust, Estates, Probate, and Tax Practice. Merritt has over thirty years of experience representing individuals, families, closely-held businesses, executives, and...
BHGR Introduces the Women’s Leadership Committee
Just in time for Women's History Month, Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti LLP formed and formally introduced the BHGR Women's Leadership Committee. The Women's Leadership Committee is comprised of sixteen female attorneys and was established to recognize and cultivate a...
BHGR Partnership Expands with 2023 Elections
The Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti partnership gathered at our Boulder office on January 31, 2023. In that meeting, attorneys Geoff Williamson and Benjamin Wilson were elected Equity Partners, and Elizabeth Froehlke and DJ Goldfarb were elected Non-Equity Partners,...
Firm Happenings
Updates in California Employment Law: Additional Requirements for Pay Data Reporting and Pay Transparency
Updates in California Employment Law: Additional Requirements for Pay Data Reporting and Pay Transparency On September 27, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1162 ("SB 1162"), expanding California's data reporting requirements under Government...
Client Alert: What Employers Must Convey Upon Employee Termination or Separation
Colorado's most recent legislative session, concluding in early May, pushed through several new employment-related laws that concern employers and employees alike. Senate Bill (SB) 22-234 should be of particular interest to employers, as it requires employers to...
Client Alert: Colorado Places New Restrictions on Non-Compete Agreements Between Employers and their Employees
Colorado has long disfavored non-compete agreements within the state. Historically, under C.R.S. § 8-2-113, restrictive covenants were void and unenforceable except for under specific circumstances, including: the purchase and sale of a business or the assets of a...