Joe Kinlaw
Senior Associate - Civil Practice Group Centennial
-
Areas Of Practice
-
Complex Corporate Transactions
-
Mergers and Acquisitions
-
Commercial Real Estate
-
Local Government
-
Subdivision and Zoning
-
Corporate Governance
-
-
Education
- B.S., General Business University of Northern Colorado;
- J.D., Magna Cum Laude, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
-
Bar Admissions
- Colorado
-
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Colorado Bar Association
- Colorado Special District Association
Joe D. Kinlaw is an experienced Colorado attorney who helps businesses, property owners, developers, governmental entities, and individuals navigate legal matters involving business, real estate, contracts, and complex transactions.
His practice is built around a simple premise: good legal advice should do more than identify risk. It should help clients make decisions. Joe works closely with clients to understand the practical and financial realities behind a legal issue and develops strategies that are clear, workable, and aligned with the client’s larger objectives.
Joe’s practice is focused on sophisticated business and real estate matters, including business formation and governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, commercial real estate transactions, development, land use, easements, and succession planning. He has represented clients in matters involving acquisitions and dispositions, easements and licenses, zoning and rezoning, special and conditional uses, subdivisions, boundary issues, adverse possession, and prescriptive easements. Over the course of his career, Joe has advised clients on a substantial volume of merger and acquisition transactions across a range of industries, including transactions involving both privately held and publicly traded companies. His practice also includes estate planning and administration.
Joe’s prior litigation experience gives him an additional perspective in structuring transactions and advising clients on risk. Having seen how contracts, business relationships, and real estate arrangements are tested when disputes arise, he approaches transactional work with particular attention to clarity, enforceability, and practical consequences.
Clients value Joe’s ability to take complicated legal issues and reduce them to practical choices. He is direct when circumstances call for it, pragmatic when compromise makes sense, and focused on achieving results rather than creating unnecessary complexity.
Joe also has substantial experience representing Colorado special districts and other governmental entities, particularly those providing water and wastewater services. His work includes advising boards of directors and executive staff, negotiating contracts and intergovernmental agreements, addressing easement and infrastructure issues, drafting rules and regulations, and advising on regulatory, operational, and governance matters. He has also played a leading role in securing multi-million-dollar funding for public infrastructure projects.
Before joining Burnham Law, Joe practiced with private firms, operated his own law practice, and served as a judicial law clerk. That varied background gives him a broad perspective on business, real estate, and transactional matters.
Joe earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Finance and a minor in Economics, from the University of Northern Colorado in 2008. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2012, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review. Joe has been admitted to practice in Colorado since 2013 and is also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
At the core of Joe’s practice is a commitment to being accessible, responsive, and useful. His goal is not simply to answer the legal question in front of him, but to help clients understand what matters, what does not, and what they should do next.