Wanda Abel is a corporate and securities attorney, representing clients in public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, complex commercial agreements, financings, and joint ventures. She counsels on securities disclosure and compliance issues, as well as general corporate and business law issues. She has served as in-house counsel for an NYSE listed company and acts as outside general counsel for many of her clients. Wanda counsels boards of directors and special committees regarding corporate governance and fiduciary duties. Her intellectual property practice focuses on technology transfer and licensing, trademark and copyright registration, and software partnering and implementation agreements. Her clients have included both start-up and established companies in a broad range of industries, including biotechnology, water, agriculture, oil and gas, software, and communications.

Wanda also counsels nonprofit corporations. Her work for nonprofit clients spans both the business and intellectual property aspects of her practice, including advising nonprofit corporations regarding corporate governance, establishing international affiliates, obtaining copyright and trademark protection, and licensing.

Wanda currently serves on the board of directors of Pure Cycle Corporation, a NASDAQ listed company. She received the Cathy Stricklin Krendl Business Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 from the Colorado Bar Association for her dedication to improving the business laws of the state of Colorado. She is included in Marquis Who’s Who® and has consistently received an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. While in law school, Wanda was named a Storke Scholar for outstanding academic achievement and was a recipient of the Moses Lasky Scholarship. Prior to joining Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Wanda served as a law clerk for the Honorable Chief Justice Joseph Quinn of the Colorado Supreme Court.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

  • CBA Business Corporation Act Revision Committee – Drafting revisions to the Colorado Business Corporation Act and the Colorado Corporations and Associations Act which have been enacted 2019-2022.
  • CBA Business Law Section Committee – Drafting the Colorado Business Corporation Act effective in 1994
  • CBA Ad Hoc Partnership Laws Committee – Revising RUPA for enactment in Colorado as the Colorado Uniform Partnership Act (1997) and drafting related amendments to the Colorado Uniform Limited Partnership Act of 1981 and the Limited Liability Company Act
  • CBA Statutory Revision Committee for Colorado Nonprofit Corporation Act – resulted in the adoption of the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act
  • CWBA Ethics presentation
  • CWBA convention presentation on the Colorado Business Corporation Act
  • Denver Bar Association Meet-A-Lawyer Program
  • University of Denver Moot Court Board Client Counseling Competition

MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Bar Association
    • Business Law Section
    • Intellectual Property Law Sections
  • Colorado Bar Association
    • Business Law Section and Securities Law subsection
    • Intellectual Property Law Section
  • Colorado Women’s Bar Association
  • Denver Bar Association

SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  • Disclosure Requirements for Exchange Act Reports and Proxy Statements
  • Securities Law in a Post-Sarbanes Oxley World
  • Entity Selection for New Businesses
  • Colorado Revised Uniform Partnership Act
  • Distributorship Agreements
  • International Agency Agreements
  • Distinctions between Corporate Names, Trade Names and Trademarks

SELECTED COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

  • Volunteer for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, including serving as Coordinator of the Denver Walk for PKD for 5 years
  • Secretary of PTA at Steele Elementary School (4 years)
  • Volunteer for the Washington Park House Tour (to raise funds for Steele Elementary School), including serving as Co-Chair for 2 years
  • Expanding Your Horizons panelist on career options – presentation for middle school students

Practices & Industries

Admitted In

Colorado

Education

University of Colorado, J.D., Order of the Coif, 1985

Indiana University, M.L.S., Beta Phi Mu, 1980

Indiana University, B.A., High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, 1979

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