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VOL. 10 | NO. 45 | $6 | NOVEMBER 5, 2012
UP-AND-COMING LAWYERS
The ‘Class’ Of 2012
In a profession filled with Type-A personalities it’s sometimes difficult to stand out.
Yet this year’s class of Up-and-Coming Lawyers has done just that. From their efforts in the courtroom to their
volunteer work on behalf of area nonprofits, these lawyers are making an impression on Colorado’s legal community.
By David
Forster
LAW WEEK COLORADO
CALEB DURLING showed up for the trial
with his documents all neatly organized in
binders. He also brought along a technician to
play a video clip.
The judge and the prosecutor were surprised. All this for a misdemeanor.
But that’s the thing about Durling, said
law colleague Iris Eytan. He goes all in for his
clients, big or small, rich or poor.
Durling is a civil litigator at Denver law
firm Reilly Pozner. Defending indigent people
accused of crimes is work he does pro bono
on the side.
He comes from a family of educators and
thought he might become one himself. But
even as a young boy, he was already thinking
about a legal career.
He grew up in a small New Hampshire
town with two lawyers. They were wellrespected, and he remembers his father telling
him they were good people, trustworthy and
wise. He wanted to be like that.
But after earning his bachelor’s degree in
American studies at Northwestern University, he decided to try the family business. He
graduated on a Saturday and on Sunday flew
to Houston to join Teach for America.
He spent two intense years teaching disadvantaged inner-city students in Atlanta,
then taught in England for a year.
It didn’t take. Teaching just wasn’t his passion. So he returned to Northwestern for a law
degree. He thought criminal law might be his
niche, but one summer working for a judge in
a big-city felony court put an end to that.
He liked the courtroom, but watching
prosecutors and defense attorneys go at it, he
knew he didn’t have the right temperament
for criminal work.
Besides, he was drawn to the analytical
CALEB DURLING
demands of civil litigation, and the challenge
of learning new areas of the law with each
case.
Durling joined Reilly Pozner in summer
2008 after a year clerking for then Colorado
Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey.
Eytan said she was impressed right away
with Durling’s passion and his willingness
to dive right into cases. His first week on the
job he volunteered to assist in the defense of
protesters arrested outside the Democratic
National Convention in Denver.
Durling brings to his work a blend of
traits that Eytan says she doesn’t often see in
attorneys, especially younger ones. He’s compassionate but no pushover; he’s idealistic but
also pragmatic in his approach to resolving
disputes.
Among the higher-profile cases Durling
has worked on are a lawsuit over the treatment of mentally ill detainees in Colorado
jails and a corruption lawsuit against former
public officials and paving contractors in Adams County.
His work on these cases, Eytan said, also
highlighted another of Durling’s qualities: He’s
thorough. He pours himself into his cases,
whether it’s a complex civil matter or a misdemeanor criminal case he’s handling at no
charge.
It seems to be paying off for his clients. After he showed up in court that day for a misdemeanor trial with his binders and a video
technician in tow, the prosecutor dropped the
charges. •
— David Forster, DForster@CircuitMedia.com