David Graf, Esq., of MoellerGraf, P.C., in Englewood, Colo., has been elected the 2023 president of Community Associations Institute's prestigious College of Community Associations Lawyers (CCAL). Graf's one-year term will begin on Jan. 1. He has been a member of the CCAL board since 2019.
Graf has practiced common interest law exclusively since 2001. In this time, he has represented community associations, commonly referred to as condominiums, homeowners associations, and housing cooperatives, throughout the state of Colorado. Much of his practice involves interpreting and amending governing documents, advising associations on the corporate aspects of governing a community, and enforcing the terms of governing documents through court action.
Graf is one of the most popular and respected community association attorneys in the U.S. He is a national faculty member of CAI's Professional Management Development Program and travels throughout the country facilitating multi-day corporate trainings for community managers. Graf also has lectured on various aspects of community association corporate law and has been the program chair of a continuing legal education class on community association law presented by the educational division of the Colorado Bar Association. In 2019, this class was listed among the "best of the best" by the bar association based on attendee feedback.
Brendan Bunn, Esq., of Chadwick, Washington, Moriarty, Elmore & Bunn, P.C., in Fairfax, Va., will serve as CCAL's 2024 president-elect.
Elina Gilbert, Esq., a shareholder at Altitude Law in Denver, Colo., was elected to the CCAL board, and Augustus H. Shaw, Esq., a founding partner of Shaw & Lines, LLC, in Phoenix, was re-elected to the CCAL board.
The 2023 CCAL board also includes Immediate Past President Laurie Poole, Esq., a managing partner of Adams|Stirling, PLC., in San Diego, Amy Tinetti, Esq., a principal and shareholder at Hughes Gill Cochrane Tinetti in Walnut Creek, Calif., and Daniel Miske, Esq., of Husch Blackwell LLP, in Milwaukee.
Established in 1994 by CAI's Board of Trustees, CCAL provides a forum for experienced legal professionals working in community association law to exchange information. Its goals include promoting high standards of professional and ethical responsibility, improving and advancing community association law and practice, and facilitating the development of educational materials and programming pertaining to legal issues.
CCAL fellows are some of the most knowledgeable attorneys who have demonstrated skill, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct and are dedicated to excellence in the specialized practice of community association law. They are involved in state and federal legislative activities and prepare amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) briefs on critical judicial cases that affect common interest communities.
CCAL consists of 169 attorneys, including 10 members to be inducted during CAI's 2023 Community Association Law Seminar, Jan. 11–14. The new inductees are:
- Adam M. Beaudoin, Ward and Smith, P.A., Wilmington, N.C.
- Brian S. Edlin, Jordan, Price, Wall, Gray & Jones, Raleigh, N.C.
- Clint G. Goodman, Goodman Law Group, Mesa, Ariz.
- Cynthia A. Jones, Sellers, Ayers, Dortch & Lyons, P.A., Charlotte, N.C.
- Susan Hawks McClintic, Epsten, APC, San Diego
- Kieran J. Purcell, Epsten, APC, San Diego
- Sara J. Ross, Chadwick, Washington, Moriarty, Elmore & Bunn, P.C., Fairfax, Va.
- Robin L. Strohm, Williams & Strohm, LLC, Columbus, Ohio
- Melissa Bauman Ward, Adams|Stirling, PLC, San Francisco, Calif.
- William W. Ward, Ackerly & Ward, Stamford, Conn.