What we stand for.

Aerial view of a suburban neighborhood with houses, green lawns, trees, roads, and a golf course on the left side, with a city skyline in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.

We don’t just know development—we live it.

Bear Peak Law was founded on a simple premise: developers deserve legal counsel that’s as committed, responsive, and business-minded as they are.

We serve a focused group of real estate developers, land investment platforms, and homebuilders who expect more from their legal partner. More clarity. More urgency. More alignment with how deals actually get done.

“Built for developers. Obsessed with service. Grounded in results.”

At Bear Peak Law, we don’t measure success by how much paper we generate—we measure it by how effectively we help you move from land acquisition to final buildout. We anticipate friction points before they stall your timeline. We respond promptly, communicate clearly, and approach every matter with the urgency and precision of someone who has navigated the development process firsthand—not just advised on it.

This isn’t a firm trying to be everything to everyone. We work with a select group of clients so we can deliver the kind of white-glove service and senior-level attention that high-stakes development demands.

We’re here to solve problems, clear paths, and help you build what’s next—with legal counsel that understands the terrain.

A soldier in camouflage uniform standing on a dirt trail outdoors, with a military airplane dropping parachutes from the sky in the background.
A smiling man in a blue suit jacket and white shirt standing in front of a brick building.

  • I work with a focused group of clients engaged in the development of master-planned communities, commercial campuses, and phased residential projects—complex undertakings that require clear, responsive, and business-minded legal support.

    My approach is grounded in three core principles:

    Responsiveness that meets the pace of development.
    I remain highly accessible, deliver work product with efficiency, and help ensure that legal process never becomes a bottleneck to business execution.

    Clarity over complexity.
    I communicate with precision and purpose—surfacing issues early, translating nuance into actionable insight, and offering practical solutions rather than legal ambiguity.

    Counsel grounded in real-world experience.
    As both attorney and developer, I understand the constraints, capital pressures, and sequencing challenges that shape your project. My role is to anticipate friction points and help keep the path clear.

    Strategic. Steady. Engaged. That’s how I work.

  • Nick is the founder of Bear Peak Law and Bear Peak Development, bringing a dual perspective as both legal counsel and active developer. His practice focuses on the acquisition, entitlement, and phased development of large-scale residential communities across the Western United States. He regularly advises on the structuring of builder takedown programs, the delivery and conveyance of public infrastructure, the administration of metropolitan districts, and the alignment of legal obligations with complex development timelines and capital plans.

    Before establishing Bear Peak Law, Nick was a shareholder at the Denver law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, where he counseled institutional developers and land investment platforms on high-stakes real estate transactions and public-private partnerships. Earlier in his career, he practiced at a boutique real estate firm in Washington, D.C., representing private equity sponsors and homebuilders in both infill and greenfield development projects across the Mid-Atlantic.

    Nick began his legal career in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, serving as both a trial and appellate attorney and advising commanders within a combat engineer brigade. As a member of the Airborne community, he earned the Parachutist Badge and developed the strategic discipline, clarity under pressure, and operational mindset that continue to shape his approach to real estate law today.

  • Education
    J.D., Gonzaga University School of Law, cum laude
    B.A., Boston University, with distinction

    Bar Admissions
    Colorado
    District of Columbia
    New York

  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, 2023–2025
    BizWest 40 Under Forty, 2023

    Captain, U.S. Army JAG Corps
    Eagle Scout, B.S.A.

    Board Member, Boulder Jewish Community Center
    Board Member, Upstate Colorado Economic Development

  • A Boulder native, Nick now raises his own young family in the city where he grew up. He balances the demands of a focused legal practice with the joyful unpredictability of life at home—approaching both with steady judgment, good humor, and the occasional thought that the Army may have been the easier assignment.