David L. Masters: Teacher, Tech Guru, and Outdoor Adventurer
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Pages | 5 |
2011, July, Pg. 5. David L. Masters: Teacher, Tech Guru, and Outdoor Adventurer
c 2011
Vol. 40, No. 7 [Page 5]
Profile of the New CBA President
About the Author
Sara Crocker is the Communications Specialist for the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations and editor of The Docket, the Denver Bar's monthly publication-(303) 824-5347, scrocker@cobar.org.
It was a simple entrepreneurial endeavor-starting a promotion company that would feature national acts performing concerts on National Forest Service land-that would change David L. Masters's life in two profound ways. First, it would lead him to meet Mary Jane Hadeed, whom he later would marry. Second, investigating the company's startup would provide an introduction to the legal profession, which would ultimately inspire him to become a lawyer.
Mary Jane was planning, building, and patrolling cross-country ski trails for the U.S. Forest Service when she heard about Masters and Will Lewis applying for a special use permit to host concerts. She was intriguedby the idea and had to meet them. Just two years later, she and Masters would wed in Leadville.
Forming the promotion company also led Masters to visit the office of a Western Slope attorney. As he looked around the office, the Army veteran turned Leadville auto parts shop manager took in the Spartan items that made up what he thought was all that was needed to run a law office-a typewriter and a set of books.
"I thought, 'Wow, that's all you need,'" Masters said. "That was a big motivation."
That attorney was Kenneth M. Plotz, who would go on to serve as a judge in Colorado's Eleventh Judicial District Court.
"Kenny was an inspiration for me to go to law school," Masters said. "Part of my idea was that I could go to any small town and just be a general practitioner. I just wanted to help people do real estate deals or do their wills-whatever lawyers in small towns do."
The promotion company was something that Masters and Lewis started for fun. They ultimately hosted several concerts on private land until the company was dissolved in 1978. Meanwhile, Masters continued to manage an auto parts store.
A few years later, Masters discussed with Mary Jane the idea about moving to Montana to go to law school. She was on board, and so was Plotz, who served as one of Masters's references for his admission to law school and again for the Colorado Bar when the Masters family of three-David, Mary Jane, and daughter Allison-returned to Colorado in 1986.
A Love for Teaching
Masters has always had the uncanny ability to take a lot of complex information, digest it quickly, and explain it to others. It is curiosity mixed with the great ability to distill the overwhelming into the tangible, whether it be interpreting a statute, presenting a continuing legal education program, or explaining the basics of rock climbing.
"Whatever he is passionate about-whether it's music, photography, climbing, or computers-he always wants to share it with others," said Kathryn Sellars, an associate (and soon...
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