Mr. Caplan, the founder of the firm, received his bachelor's degree and J.D. from Syracuse University and served three years as a first lieutenant in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps of the Army before starting his law practice in Boulder in 1961. He became general counsel for the Boulder Valley Schools in 1966 and went on to represent over sixty school districts in Colorado. He was founding president of the Colorado Council of School Attorneys and president of the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys.
Mr. Caplan has served as Boulder County public trustee, assistant Boulder municipal judge, and as special assistant attorney general for Colorado. Originally a member of the board of trustees for the State Colleges of Colorado, he later became chairman of the board of trustees for the University of Northern Colorado. He was president of the Boulder County Bar Association, the Boulder County Bar Foundation and the Penfield Tate American Inns of Court. Mr. Caplan was selected by his peers as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and in 1966 received a Professionalism Award from the Colorado Bar Association.
Mr. Caplan edited the Colorado School Law Review and taught First Amendment law at the CU School of Journalism. He has been seminar presenter on many topics for national organizations. He was lead attorney in the case of Lujan v. Colorado State Board of Education, a landmark school finance case that established the foundation for local control of schools in Colorado.
After forty years of practice, Mr. Caplan regularly consults with many of the firm’s attorneys and currently serves as a member of the Boulder County Planning Commission. He is an active member of the Colorado Mountain Club and president of the Colorado Mountain Club Foundation.
Published Works:
First Amendment Claims of Public Employees School Law Update, 1984
Current Issues in Reduction-in-Force School Law Update, 1984
Freedom of Religion and Employee Leave Inquiry and Analysis, November 1985
Local Control of Education: A Constitutional Perspective, 1996
(Published by The Colorado Association of School Boards)
Editor, Colorado School Law Review
Representative Cases:
Lujan v. Colorado State Bd. of Educ., 649 P.2d 1005 (Colo. 1982)
Weathers v. West Yuma County School Dist. R-J-1, 530 F.2d 1335 (C.A.10 (Colo.) 1976)
Honors and Awards:
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Fellow, Colorado Bar Foundation
Lifetime Achievement Award, National Council of School Attorneys, 2006
Blaurock Silver Piton Award, Colorado Mountain Club
Education:
Syracuse University College of Law, Syracuse, New York, 1957
J.D.
Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, 1955
Bachelor’s Degree
Professional Associations and Memberships:
20th Judicial District Nominating Commission, Member
University of Northern Colorado, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Boulder County Bar Association, President
Boulder County Bar Foundation, President
Penfield Tate Inn an American Inn of Court, President
National School Boards Association’s Counsel of School Attorneys,
President
Colorado Mountain Club, President
Boulder County Planning Commission, Chairman