Sutherland Legal Services is a new law firm committed to serving individuals, families, businesses, land developers and public entities as they navigate their way through the legal challenges of the modern world. Mike Sutherland brings a fresh approach to helping people solve problems in many areas of law.
Mike has practiced law in Colorado for over 40 years. His experience includes over 25 years of estate planning and administration, contract law and small business law. As an estate planner, he successfully helped a client establish a trust that preserved the estate for children born over a span of 30 years, with an eye toward smart tax planning. He established a guardianship for a single man who suffered a debilitating stroke while at work so that his assets and pension were protected from people seeking to profit from his misfortune. Mike reviews contracts for clients to protect their legal rights and interests. He helps businesses with setting up entities that best suit their needs and identifies potential risks. Mike advised public pension benefits administrators for 13 years while working in the public sector, serving as a hearing officer for two public pension plans in Colorado. He recently was retained by a statewide public pension plan to work on plan qualification and benefits administration issues. Mike served for 12 years on the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Centennial, Colorado, and he served as a Centennial City Council Member for eight years. He has over 20 years of experience in reviewing land development plans. He serves on the Arapahoe County Board of Retirement. Mike is a small business owner, and he has served as managing shareholder and finance director for three law firms where he was responsible for everything from marketing to personnel to payroll.
Born and raised in Colorado, Mike knows who the movers and shakers are in the business and government worlds. As a Board Member and Chair of the Public Policy Committee and Legislative Action Committee for the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, Mike’s contacts run the board from business executives to city councilors to congressional representatives to mayors to senators to state legislators. He loves to connect people with other people who can help them.