Jonathan Olom - July 2006 - Four of the Greatest: a Tribute to Outstanding Lawyers in Colorado History
| Publication year | 2006 |
| Pages | 39 |
2006, July, Pg. 39. Jonathan Olom - July 2006 - Four of the Greatest: A Tribute to Outstanding Lawyers in Colorado History
July 2006
Vol. 35, No. 7 [Page 39]
Four of the Greatest: A Tribute to Outstanding Lawyers in Colorado History: Jonathan Olom
by Phil Cherner
Jonathan Olom
by Phil Cherner
Phil Cherner is a longtime Denver attorney whose practice focuses on criminal defense and attorney grievance defense. He agreed to write this profile in January 2006. Serendipitously, in May 2006, he became the twenty-first recipient of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar's Jonathan Olom Award.
It is hard to write dispassionately about Jonathan Olom, because we were friends and colleagues. We left law school at about the same time and traveled in the same circles. It also is hard to write about him because I miss him. Jon was a crusader for justice. He packed so much energy into a small frame, and so much skill and dedication into a short legal career.
Personal Background
Jon Olom was born in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia. His father, Lou Olom, explains that he was a sports fanatic in high school. Although only 5'4", Jon briefly played high school football - until a broken arm brought him to his senses. He became enamored of legendary basketball player Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), who led the University of California, Los Angeles ("UCLA") to three NCAA championships. This inspired Jon to apply at UCLA, where in 1968 he was accepted. While there, he was schooled in and fueled by the radicalism of the antiwar and civil rights movements of that era.
Moving to Denver
Jon's sister attended the University of Denver ("DU") College of Law, and he followed in her footsteps. Lou Olom explains that Jon went to law school because he wanted to "beat the system." Jon said one needed to learn the rules and regulations, and then use them against the establishment. Perhaps this explains Jon's later passion for criminal defense.
Jumpstarting Jon's Legal Career
In his last year of law school, Jon clerked for Denver attorney Joe St. Veltri, but it was through his encounter and work with criminal defense attorney Stan Marks that he gained notoriety in the practice of law. Marks describes Jon and their initial meeting:
I'd been practicing for four or five years and was trying the first case in federal court before Judge Finesilver. Jon had been watching the trial and asked if he could help. He said he was proficient at writing and research. I thought that was fine and gave him some projects. He began doing legal research for me. His work was outstanding and that led to our association. . . . I thought he was a little presumptuous; he was saying that he could help, but he looked so young. He was very short; he came up to about my elbow. He looked like he could be in high school. I thought it was kind of humorous, but he did a terrific job.(fn1)
The Juan Haro Case
Jon continued to work with Marks on the Juan Haro case. In 1975, Hispanic activist Juan Haro was charged with conspiring to bomb a Denver police station. Stan Marks agreed to defend Haro for expenses. Jonathan Olom assisted Marks by writing motions while Marks gathered the facts. Denver prosecutors Dick Spriggs and Peter Bornstein sought to admit into evidence a video of an exploding bomb. Jon argued against admission of the video...
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