Attorney

Charles F.
Luce, Jr.

Attorney
Charles F. Luce, Jr.
Attorney

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Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Charles let his imagination fly. Years later, Charles’ life is still soaring - literally and figuratively - as an accomplished pilot, musician, chair of Moye White’s Intellectual Property Group, and co-chair of its Law Practice Professionals Group.

A tenacious advocate, Charles counsels clients of every size on trademarks, copyrights, computer technology, Internet law, licensing, contracts, and other areas of intellectual property.

Merging passions for music, theatre, technology, literature, and law, Charles is uniquely suited to help technology companies, artists, and entertainers protect and defend their technology and artistic assets. While still in law school, his article, “Look What They’ve Done to My Song!,” an analysis of the Copyright Act’s compulsory license for audio recordings from a composer’s point of view, won ASCAP’s copyright law writing competition at the University of Oregon. The same year, “Scuttling the Air Pirates: Theories of Pay Television Signal Theft Liability,” became the first published comprehensive analysis of legal remedies available for the misappropriation of cable and satellite television transmissions.

Years and dozens of publication credits later, Charles continues to mix legal insight and humor in pieces for The Colorado Lawyer, such as “Spam and Cookies: How to Avoid Indigestion While Binging at the World Wide Automat” and “The Matrix Unloaded: Coping with Computer Spyware.”

Charles is also a recognized authority in the “law of lawyering” and an expert witness in legal ethics. With more than 36 years of experience, he advises and assists both attorneys and law firms with risk and law firm management strategies, professional responsibility issues, client relationships, and ethics issues arising in litigation. A frequent lecturer and author on legal ethics, Charles provides creative counsel on:

  • Law firm formation
  • Mergers and dissolutions
  • Business structure
  • Advertising
  • Client issues
  • Ethics
  • Bar admissions
  • Hiring scenarios
  • Malpractice standards
  • Partnership disputes
  • Risk management assessments to ensure compliance and enhance profitability

Combining his interests in technology and the law of lawyering, in the 1990’s Charles launched Charles Luce on Legal Ethics and the Practice of Law, the first website devoted to Colorado legal ethics, now hosted at ColoradoLegalEthics.com.

When not working, Charles may be found piloting his 1964 Cessna Skylane through the Rockies, courtside at the University of Colorado women’s basketball games, researching Colorado’s early aviation history, or playing half a dozen musical instruments. Together with his wife and three daughters, he supports three dogs, four lovebirds, and an African grey parrot named “Sherlock“ at their home in rural east Boulder County. Charles enjoys playing and listening to jazz and classical music, and the works of Charles Dickens, Jasper Fforde, Kurt Vonnegut, and Bill Bryson.


Publications and Articles

Charles F. Luce, Jr. on Legal Ethics and the Practice of Law blog

Author
It's Open Season on Soliciting Business Owners
 Law Week Colorado, August 2021

Quoted
Ethics Rule Change Proves Divisive
 Law Week Colorado, October 2017

Author
Cheezo Unit Prompts Potential Rules Change
Law Week Colorado, September 2017

Quoted
The Return of Cheezo
Law Week Colorado, February 2017

Author
Making Molehills Out of Mountains
Law Week Colorado, March 2016

Author
The Biggest Social Media Mistakes Made by Lawyers
Law Week Colorado, September 2015

Author
Would You Like Some Garnish on that Retainer?
Law Week Colorado, October 2014

Quoted
Marijuana Companies Try to Protect the Intellectual Property of Their Pot Brands
Mainstreet.com, March 2014

Author
Make sure you know when (and how) to fire a client
Denver Business Journal, July 2013

Quoted
5 Tips for Lawyers Representing Lawyers
Law360.com, June 2013

Quoted
How to avoid copyright infringement
Bankrate.com, February 2013

Quoted
“Law of Lawyering: A Burgeoning Field”
Law Week Colorado, February 2013

Author
What the Matter with Metadata?
36 The Colorado Lawyer 113, November 2007

Author
The Matrix Unloaded: Coping with Computer Spyware
34 The Colorado Lawyer 125, September 2005

Author
Internet Privacy: Spam and Cookies - How to Avoid Indigestion While Binging at the World Wide Automat” 
27 The Colorado Lawyer, October 1998

Speaking Engagements and Presentations

Presenter
“I Am Not Your Attorney: Ethics Issues in the Representation of Organizations”
Colorado Rural Electric Association, October 2022

Presenter
“The Five Most Dangerous Rules of Professional Conduct”
Pueblo County Bar Association, May 2022

Presenter
“Cheezo: Aged to Perfection (The Joy of Pretext under Rule 8.4(c))”
1st Judicial District Bar Association, October 2021

Presenter
“Ethics Lessons from the Cockpit”
Mile High Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators' (ALA) Annual Law Firm Management Luncheon, October 2021

Co-Presenter
“Revised Rule 8.4 (c): Everything You Wanted to Know About Pretext, but Were Afraid to Ask”
CBA-CLE Ethics 7.0, November 2019

Presenter
“Attorney Ethics of E-mail and Texting: Essential Do's and Don'ts”
National Business Institute Webinar CLE, August 2019

Presenter
“Legal Ethics of Handling Digital Documents”
National Business Institute Webinar CLE, October 2018

Presenter
“Ethics: Opinion Letters”
CLE International, Public Financing - Infrastructure for New Development and Redevelopment, April 2018

Presenter
“Ethics of Social Media”
CLE in Colorado program entitled “Hanging Your Shingle: Your Future Begins Now”, August 2014

Presenter
“Cloud-y, with a Chance of Data Leakage: Practical Advice for Protecting Client Data and Your License”
CLE, Colorado's Real Estate Symposium, July 2014

Presenter
“Ethics and Technology: Hot Mouse Button Issues”
CLE in Colorado, April 2014

Presenter
“Ethics: Staying out of Trouble”
CLE International program entitled "Public Financing: The Next Generation in Colorado," April 2014

Presenter
“Ethics and the Use of Technology in a Transactional Practice - Social Media, Cloud Computing, Email, Protecting Client Data”
Colorado Bar Association CLE live program and webcast entitled "Preventing Legal Malpractice 2014," January 2014

Presenter
“Ethics and Social Media: What Attorneys Need to Know”
NBI Seminar, December 2013

Presenter
“Legal Ethics for Paralegals: The Impact of Social Media”
NBI Audio Webinar, December 2013

Presenter
“Prospective Clients: Avoiding the Rule 1.18 Trap”
CLE International program entitled "ETHICS: Keeping Up in Changing Times," December 2013

Presenter
“Professional Liability with the Use of Social Media”
CLE in Colorado program entitled “Preventing Legal Malpractice 2013: Protecting Yourself and Your Clients,” February 2013

Presenter
“Hot Intellectual Property Issues for the Business Law Attorney”
CLE, Colorado’s Business Law Institute, November 2009

Posts by Charles F. Luce, Jr.