After completing college and law school, Kerry Sullivan came to Colorado . He had been an avid skier and fisherman since childhood and felt that if he was going to start a law practice it should be someplace where he could combine hard work and hard play. This was in the late 60's and he found what he was looking for.
Colorado was very different from his upbringing in the Boston area where he was born and went to school. He went to The State College of Boston where he obtained a teaching degree and was all set to teach High School in Braintree, Massachusetts when he was encouraged by his brother Barrie to go to law school so that maybe someday the two of them could go into practice together.
Upon Kerry's graduation from Boston University Law School the two "new lawyers" moved to Colorado . His first legal position was as a staff attorney for a life insurance company in Denver and he spent forty to sixty hours a week reading and rewriting life insurance policies. He says, "Yes, I learned a lot about life insurance but I have to say it was a miserable year. I promised them that I would stay for a year and I did but I was sure glad when I could start a law practice were I could represent real people who needed help."
He joined a law firm in 1969 that represented injured people. It was the start of a very fulfilling law career for Kerry Sullivan in Denver . "That was a great opportunity for me. I knew I wanted to represent working people but I wasn't sure I would be able to make a life long career doing that sort of work."
He and his brother Barrie worked in competing law firms for thirteen years until finally they decided to start their own law office.
In 1982 Barrie and Kerry opened their office and began practicing law as Sullivan and Sullivan. They chose to open their office on South Colorado Boulevard in Denver for two main reasons. First, the office was an easy drive from each of their homes and second, as Kerry puts it "everybody in Denver knows where South Colorado Boulevard is so it won't be hard for our clients to find us."
Over the course of the decades the firm now known as Sullivan Sullivan and McGuire has become a fixture on South Colorado Boulevard . Their office has expanded over the years but it has never moved from its original location.
Presently the law firm of Sullivan Sullivan and McGuire handles only two types of cases. Workers' Compensation (workers injured on the job) and Social Security Disability Claims.
In addition to handling his clients' cases, Kerry also is active in the legal profession.
- He has held seminars to instruct other lawyers in the correct practice of workers' compensation law.
- Given lectures at Bar Association functions.
- Is certified by the Division of Labor Workers' Compensation Section as one of its recommended attorneys.
- And has received the designation in Denver 's 5280 Magazine as a Super Lawyer in the area of Workers' Compensation.
He also has been selected as the Outstanding Workers' Compensation Attorney by the Denver organization known as Professionals in Workers' Compensation. "These awards as Outstanding Lawyer and Super Lawyer are pretty special to me because they come from other lawyers with whom we all practice. The fact that other lawyers believe you to be of the best in your field has to make a guy feel proud and humbled at the same time."
