Sarah Kellner

Her work includes counseling clients through all stages of development entitlements and land use challenges, including prosecuting and defending Rule 106 actions, Colorado Sunshine and Open Records Act requests and disputes, zoning disputes, and Anti-SLAPP litigation.  Her work on behalf of developers and landowners has ranged from counsel regarding standard development applications to significant litigation against municipalities and counties for constitutional and statutory violations.  

Sarah also represents many companies with nationwide property portfolios in threatened condemnation and eminent domain litigation around the country, bringing her combined expertise in land use, property valuation, and condemnation to the table to maximize client results.  She has particular experience representing landowners and tenants under threat of condemnation for urban renewal projects, ranging from negotiating with municipalities for her clients’ inclusion in such projects to significant litigation challenging blight studies and maximizing just compensation for such takings. 

Sarah also has extensive experience providing comprehensive legal support to energy and oil and gas companies for infrastructure projects, including permitting, 1041 and other land use applications, acquisitions, and – if necessary – condemnations.  In this role, she works with many of her clients to provide counsel and serve as litigation support for all aspects of the project from inception through construction. 

Finally, because of her extensive experience and knowledge about real estate valuation, acquisition and disposition, development planning and permitting, and project management, Sarah has represented multiple clients in other complex real-estate related litigation, including high-profile trespass, landlord-tenant, quiet title, and real estate joint venture and partnership disputes.   Sarah is a recognized expert in her field, and has given presentations at legal conferences and to real estate organizations around the country about a broad range of topics, including urban renewal, regulatory takings, inverse condemnation, appraisal basics for juries and practitioners, trial skills and strategy, corridor acquisition and valuation, presenting complex real estate valuation information to judges and juries, attorney fee recovery in eminent domain actions, rebuttal appraisal and expert witness strategy, easement valuation, the Federal Relocation Act, landowner and developer challenges to local government action (including the important distinction between legislative, quasi-judicial, and agency action), and lawyer mentoring.

Recognition

• Best Lawyers® – Real Estate Law, (2022–2024)
• Barrister’s Best: “People’s Choice, Best Real Estate Attorney,” Law Week Colorado (2018)