Diane Carlton
Diane is dedicated to helping clients and their families move through the difficult process of divorce. Diane is compassionate and works closely with clients to reach a constructive and productive resolution of their case.Diane is a fearless advocate for clients. In court, she is a skilled trial lawyer as a result of her previous experience as a Colorado deputy public defender, municipal judge and her extensive trial experience in divorce cases.
Diane represents clients from high net worth families and has served as co-counsel in complex divorce cases involving multiple attorneys and intersecting areas of law. She handles settlement and trials of divorce cases throughout all of Colorado.
Representative Matters
- Brought in as co-counsel in multiple complex divorce cases, assisting to bring the matters to final resolution
- Served as an expert witness on Colorado divorce law in Colorado and Texas. On several of these occasions, the court adopted her expert witness opinion in whole
- Represented a Fortune 500 family member as part of a team of multiple attorneys
- Successfully stopped a former spouse from obtaining a change of custody where the expert witnesses recommended for the former spouse
- Successfully resolved a large asset case where there was a challenge to a pre-nuptial agreement by the other spouse
Honors
- Selected to be included in the publication The Best Lawyers in America
- Listed in “Denver’s Top 20 Lawyers”
- Listed in Colorado Super Lawyers in field of family law
- Listed in Colorado Super Lawyers as top 50 female attorney in all areas of legal practice
- Listed in Colorado Super Lawyers as top 100 attorney in all areas of legal practice
- Elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
Education
- University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado
- Juris Doctorate
- University of California, Irvine
- B.A. Spanish, B.A. Social Ecology
- Honors: Commencement Speaker
Representative Cases
- Peo. v. Cobb, 690 P.2d 848 (Colo. 1984)
- Peo. v. Rodriguez, 786 P.2d 472 (Colo. App. 1989)
- Peo. In Interest of S.E.G., 934 P.2d 920 (Colo. App. 1997)
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association
- Colorado Bar Association: Past Board of Governors, Fellow of the Colorado Bar Association
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: Past President Colorado Chapter, National Board of Governors through 2019
- Arapahoe Bar Association: Past President, Fellow of the Arapahoe Bar Foundation
- Douglas Elbert Bar Association
- Metropolitan Denver Interdisciplinary Committee on Child Custody
Classes & Seminars
- Family Law Basic Skills program from 2001 to the present-Trial Preparation
- Family Law Institute-How to Handle Unrepresented Parties in Divorce Cases
- Colorado Bar Association CLE-Direct and Cross Examination and Objections in Family Law; Deposition Strategies that Work
- Lawyers Public Information Foundation-Post Decree Motions Regarding Property
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers-Minnesota chapter-Alternatives to the Maintenance Status Quo
Past Positions
- Partner, Heckenbach Carlton and Ammarell; Sole Practitioner; Partner, Carlton and Jacobi; associate municipal judge; Colorado deputy public defender
Bar Admissions
- U.S. District Court
- Colorado