News, Articles & Events

Michael L. Keleher, of Keleher & McLeod, was recently honored by the State Bar of New Mexico, celebrating his 50th anniversary practicing law. Mr. Keleher and other honorees were feted with a reception on the occasion of the State Bar's 126th birthday.

Michael L. Keleher is an Albuquerque native son and along with his brothers, William B. Keleher and Thomas F. Keleher, has practiced law for many years at the firm founded by his father, W. A. Keleher, in 1915. The firm is renowned for its long-standing tradition of excellent legal services to the citizens of New Mexico.

Michael L. Keleher is a 1956 graduate of UNM. He earned his MA at New York University in 1958 and is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Law School.

During his half-century of practice, his community service includes serving as Chair, Archdiocese of Santa Fe Development Council; Vice President of the Archdiocese SF Catholic Foundation; Chair, New Mexico Diamond Jubilee/US Constitutional Bicentennial Commission; and as a member of the Albuquerque Environmental Planning Commission, among others. He also served as Secretary of the University of Albuquerque Board of Trustees and member of the UNM Robert O. Anderson Schools of Management Foundation Board.

Michael L. Keleher is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Mexico Bar Association and enjoys an AV rating with Martindale Hubbell.

An esteemed shareholder of the firm, Arthur O. Beach, and his wife, Alex, were vacationing passengers on the ill-fated Costa Concordia when it went down off the coast of Tuscany on January 13, 2012. What they saw and heard during the initial moments of the disaster, their harrowing rescue and flight home to the United States were detailed in first-person interviews, and broadcast on CNN, World News Tonight, Nightline, Good Morning America, Fox News, Entertainment Tonight, Anderson Cooper and other international news media.

The Beaches were recently honored at a luncheon at the firm and told their story first-hand to staff and attorneys. Art and Alex Beach, in spite of their celebrity, are grateful to be home unscathed and concerned and sympathetic with the plight of other passengers and their families, who were not so fortunate.

Neil R. Bell served as an adjunct professor at the UNM School of Law in 2011. He taught a seminar for the New Mexico Law Review entitled "Emerging Trends in New Mexico Law."

Keleher & McLeod, P.A., is pleased to announce that Marian B. Hand has become a shareholder of the firm.

Ms. Hand joined the firm in 2010 and has since been involved in a number of high profile cases. She is an alumnus of Pennsylvania State University and graduated cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 1992. She is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in New Mexico, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as the First Circuit Court of Appeal.

A native of Clovis, New Mexico, Ms. Hand practiced law in Boston, MA, with Duane Morris, LLP, and returned to Clovis in 2005. She practiced law in that community for several years before relocating to Albuquerque. Ms. Hand represents individuals and businesses in the areas of commercial and banking litigation, finance and business formation.

Ms. Hand is a past director of the Hartley House Shelter for Domestic Violence and a past director of the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Hand and her husband, Todd, live in Albuquerque with their two children.

Keleher & McLeod, P.A., one of the most historic law firms in Albuquerque, recently welcomed three new associate attorneys to the firm.

Heather K. Hansen has joined the firm as an Associate. Ms. Hansen graduated from Black Hills State University with a B.S. in English in 2003. She is a 2011 graduate cum laude of the University of New Mexico Law School. While in law school, Ms. Hansen clerked at Keleher & McLeod as part of the summer clerk program at the firm. While in law school, Ms. Hansen won the Spring 2011 Clinical Legal Education Association Award for Outstanding Performance in a Clinical Law program. She also earned the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction Award for Top Honors in Employment Law and Top Honors in Clinical Law. She was a staff member and Manuscript Editor for the New Mexico Law Review 2009-2011. She will concentrate her practice in the area of civil and commercial litigation. She is a member of the New Mexico State Bar, American Bar and Albuquerque Bar Associations. Ms. Hansen and her family live in Albuquerque.

Michael G. Smith, a former Public Defender, has also joined the firm as an Associate. Mr. Smith is a 2006 graduate of the University of New Mexico, graduating magna cum laude with a bachelors in political science. Mr. Smith graduated from UNM Law School in 2009 and became a member of the New Mexico Bar also in 2009. While in law school, Mr. Smith earned Honors in Clinical Law for Outstanding Performance in the Clinical Program, and participated in the Tournament of Champions Mock trial team in November 2008. Mr. Smith specializes in civil and commercial litigation. Mr. Smith and his family reside in Albuquerque.

Brian J. Haverly has joined the firm as an Associate. Mr. Haverly attended Tulane University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2003. He received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2007. Mr. Haverly is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in New Mexico, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Mr. Haverly primarily represents public utilities and other businesses in administrative proceedings, commercial transactions and litigation. He also has experience in representing financial institutions as creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. He has successfully argued before the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Tenth Circuit, and has assisted in briefing multiple matters before the New Mexico Supreme Court. A native of Albuquerque, Mr. Haverly is a graduate of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Albuquerque program, and is an active member of the Active 20/30 Club of Albuquerque, and the H. Vearle Payne chapter of the Inns of Court. He and his wife, Marguerite, live in Albuquerque.

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named two Keleher & McLeod attorneys as 2012 Albuquerque Best Lawyer in their respective fields of expertise.

Arthur O. Beach received the Best Lawyer award in Product Liability Litigation; W. Spencer Reid the Best Lawyer designation in Litigation - Trusts and Estates.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers designates "Lawyers of the Year" in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single attorney in each specialty in each community is honored as the "Lawyer of the Year." Best Lawyers compiles its list of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers. The lawyers honored as "Lawyers of the Year" have received particularly high ratings in the publication's surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism and integrity.

Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers, says, "We continue to believe – as we have for more than 25 years – that recognition by one's peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Arthur O. Beach and W. Spencer Reid on being selected as 'Albuquerque Best Lawyers' for 2012."

Since its founding in 1915, Keleher & McLeod has been one of the go-to firms for the local business community. Twelve of the firm's 39 lawyers have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Those attorneys include: