Monty L. Barnett was born in Rawlins, Wyoming and grew up in a rural Wyoming community.
He began his employment with White and Steele in 1991 as a law clerk and became associated with the firm in 1992 after graduation and admission to the bars. He currently oversees the firm’s Wyoming practice group.
Monty holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, the highest peer rating given to attorneys. He has also been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2013 in the area of personal injury litigation. Monty has tried numerous cases to verdict in state and federal courts in Wyoming and Colorado. His practice focuses on litigation, including the direct representation of a number of insurance companies as well as the defense of those companies’ insureds who have been sued by third parties. He defends a wide variety of liability claims, including medical malpractice, product liability, construction liability, automobile and trucking accidents, premises liability, and a variety of recreational injury cases. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics, including bad faith, personal injury defense, automobile law, wrongful death, and liability associated with sports and recreational activities.
Monty has served on the legislative committee of the Defense Lawyers Association of Wyoming, as well as a liaison between the Wyoming State Bar and the University of Wyoming College of Law. He is currently serving as a member of the University of Wyoming College of Law Dean’s Advisory Board, and he has also been appointed by the Wyoming Supreme Court to serve on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee for the Wyoming State Bar.
John Lebsack has been a lawyer at White and Steele since his admission to the bar in 1979. His practice comprises a wide variety of defense litigation, with an emphasis on appeals, coverage disputes, and professional liability. John has argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the Colorado Supreme Court, and the Colorado Court of Appeals. He has tried cases in state courts throughout the Front Range as well as Federal court in Denver. John advises lawyers on ethical issues, and serves as an expert witness on ethical and professional issues. For several years, John was an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Law School and taught the required course on legal ethics and professionalism.
In 2003 John Lebsack received the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association’s annual award to a member of the defense bar “for the highest standards of competency, ethics and professionalism.” He was a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee from 1995 to 1999 and was chair in 1998-1999. He was chair of the Colorado Appellate Discipline Commission in 1999-2000. He currently serves on the Colorado Supreme Court’s panel of hearing board members who decide attorney discipline cases. In 2006-2007 John was chair of the Ethics Committee of the Colorado Bar Association. From 2011 through 2017, John was a member of the Committee on Conduct, United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and served as chair of that committee in 2013-2014. Since 2017, John has been a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Civil Rules Committee, which makes recommendations to the court about changes to the rules of procedure that govern all civil cases in the state.
John C. Matthews was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and has lived in Baltimore, New York City, and Miami. He and his wife, Jessica, and their son Wyatt, currently live in Lone Tree, Colorado.
John joined White and Steele as Of Counsel in 2020 and was promoted to Officer in 2022 and Shareholder in 2024. Prior to that time, John was a litigation partner in the Miami office of a national law firm. Before that, he worked in Manhattan and Miami as an associate for two national law firms. John has represented clients in high-stakes litigation across the country involving issues such as the theft of trade secrets, breaches of commercial contracts, patent infringement, and insurance-related disputes. He counsels schools, daycares, home health care providers, legal professionals, and real estate professionals on matters ranging from active litigations to risk mitigation. John also regularly handles claims brought under federal and state RICO statutes and 42 U.S.C. 1983.
John is admitted to the state courts of Colorado, New York and Florida. He is also admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the Southern District of Florida, the Eastern District of Florida, and the District of Colorado. In his spare time, John enjoys spending time with his family, traveling to Baltimore for Ravens games, and working on his third legal thriller novel.
Mr. Meseck focuses on advocating for professionals facing malpractice claims and professional licensing complaints. He represents a variety of real estate professionals who have been sued by third parties or have matters before professional licensing authorities. Much of his practice focuses on defending real estate brokers, real estate brokerages, employing brokers, appraisers, mortgage loan originators, home inspectors and attorneys in civil actions as well as administrative licensing disputes. His practice also includes mediating real estate, professional liability and contract disputes. He has also represented clients in a wide variety of liability claims, including cases involving recreational activities resulting in personal injuries, trucking and motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, actions based on Section 1983, underground tank cases, wrongful death, and traumatic brain injury. Mr. Meseck is routinely retained to conduct pre-litigation investigations on recreational accidents, trucking accidents, and premises claims. Mr. Meseck has written and lectured on these topics. Throughout his career, he has always focused on finding cost-effective solutions even when there are complex legal problems.
Mr. Meseck began as a law clerk with White and Steele in 2000 and became associated with the firm in 2001 following graduation and his admission to the bars of Colorado and Wyoming. He was made a Shareholder of the firm in 2011. In his off time, he enjoys experiencing Colorado’s rich culture and history as well as enjoying all the natural resources the Colorado landscape offers.
Dave J. Nowak was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. He and his wife, Linda, live in Broomfield Colorado and have three children, Doug, Scott and Katlyn.
Dave joined White and Steele as an associate in 1983 and became a shareholder in 1989. He served on the firm’s Management Committee for 25 years and as president of White and Steele from 2018 - 2020. He has handled a variety of cases, with the focus on professional liability, product liability, and insurance law. He has represented physicians, nurses, hospitals and chiropractors in malpractice actions and licensing board complaints. He has defended drug manufacturers in federal court multi-district personal injury litigation. Dave has unique experience in mass toxic tort litigation as counsel for major asbestos manufacturers. He defends insurance carriers in first and third-party bad faith suits and their insureds in automobile accidents, premises liability, and other personal injury cases. He has several reported cases including Qwest v. Blood, 252 P.3d 1071 (Colo. 2011) where he successfully defended Xcel Energy in a landmark case involving a $40 million personal injury verdict against co-defendant Qwest.
Dave has tried cases in the Colorado and Wyoming Federal Courts, the Colorado State Courts, and has arbitrated a variety of cases.
Keith R. Olivera became associated with White and Steele in January 1995 and was named a shareholder in December 2003. He is currently one of the managing shareholders of the firm. His practice involves insurance defense litigation, including claims/cases involving uninsured/underinsured coverage, statutory delay, bad faith, auto liability, homeowners´ liability, commercial liability disputes and ski litigation. As both lead counsel and local counsel, Keith has defended numerous class action cases involving automobile insurance coverage issues and Colorado law.
Keith provides in-house seminars to insurance carriers regarding major changes in Colorado law affecting automobile insurance carriers.
He has been involved in a number of cases defending ski areas, ski area employees and individual skiers as defendants. Keith has been a member of the volunteer ski patrol at Winter Park Resort for over 30 years and has also received a National Appointment from the National Ski Patrol.
Rachel E. Ryckman assists companies and individuals in the defense of professional liability and personal injury cases. She has a diverse practice with considerable experience in real estate litigation, public utility regulations, and premises liability.
Rachel is a Wyoming native. Prior to entering private practice, Rachel clerked for the Honorable Marvin L. Tyler in the Ninth Judicial District Court of Wyoming and she served as a magistrate judge in the Circuit Court of Wyoming. Ms. Ryckman previously interned at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and inMotion, Inc. in the Bronx, New York, a non-profit that provides legal services to low-income women in family and immigration matters.
Cati Shadakofsky assists her clients in understanding the legal and administrative processes, evaluating risk, and preparing strong defenses to claims asserted against them. She focuses her practice in the areas of appellate advocacy, insurance coverage, insurance bad faith and breach-of-contract, and defense of professional liability and personal injury matters.
Before joining White and Steele, Cati earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Journal of International Law. She also clerked for the Honorable Matthew E. Johnson, John R. Rodenberg, Diane B. Bratvold, and Michael L. Kirk at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Cati earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature from the University of Wyoming. She studied abroad in Malaga, Spain, and she interned on Capitol Hill for the late U.S. Senator Michael B. Enzi. Outside the office, Cati enjoys hosting dinner parties, traveling to cheer on the Rockies in other ballparks across the country, and taking her husband and golden retriever on hikes in the foothills.
