STEVEN VISIOLI

Steven’s Experience

Steven was elected to partner at BAM in September, 2021. Steven joined the BAM family during his final year of law school, bringing with him experience in several fields of law, an enthusiasm for legal ingenuity, and passion for professionalism. He was admitted as an attorney of the Colorado Bar in 2016.

Raised in small-town Colorado, Steven worked his way through school. While earning a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Steven assisted attorneys representing Coloradans who could not afford legal counsel at Colorado Legal Services with family, housing, bankruptcy, and government benefits issues. By his junior year, he was working at the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, assisting district attorneys and court magistrates with misdemeanor and traffic arraignments. The most important aspect of these volunteer positions, for Steven, was the opportunity to spend countless hours with experienced trial lawyers and judges – observing, learning, and becoming comfortable and confident in the courtroom.

Steven became well-versed in legal philosophy, knowledgeable in political analysis, and fluent in Italian before graduating from CU in 2013. He immediately started his law school career at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Steven focused not on esoteric classes on the philosophy of law, but rather on experiential courses designed to prepare him for skillful and efficient law practice after law school. He supplemented this experiential learning with participation in several other extracurricular activities, including competing as a member of the school’s highly-ranked National Trial Team, a Co-President of the Student Trial Lawyers Association, and an Editor on the Criminal Law Review.

Steven had already gained significant experience in the area of family law, having interned for The Honorable Judge Michael Spear in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, under whose guidance he researched and drafted order recommendations for motions and pleadings filed on the Judge’s domestic docket. Steven was able to observe and assist in the resolution of issues common to family law proceedings, including review of divorce settlement agreements and child support agreements, but Steven also examined and recommended rulings on more particular issues, including those involving children’s mental health, post-decree relocation, and legal or ethical violations by parties and their attorneys. This experience gives Steven a unique insight into the court’s perspective on domestic matters, like what tactics are, and are not, effective in persuading a judicial officer.

Researching and drafting documents with private attorneys on a contract basis, Steven further sharpened his knack for legal writing throughout 2015. He worked first-hand on a wide variety of cases, including those involving criminal defense, administrative adjudications, contract law, ethics law, and personal injuries.

Now with BAM, Steven is happy to apply his educational and experiential skills in seeking amicable and favorable resolutions in the difficult, and sometimes highly complex, legal matters that family breakups can entail.

During his tenure at BAM, Steven has worked on and led many different types of cases, including the following:

• High asset divorces, including those involving more complex assets like trusts, business interests, real estate, and military, police, and firefighter retirement;
• Cases involving prenuptial and marital agreements;
• Piercing (and reverse-piercing) the Corporate Veil in domestic relations cases (where a party is using a business to hide assets or income);
• High conflict custody cases, including those involving more complex issues like relocation, parental alienation, addiction or substance abuse, and mental health issues;
• Parenting time enforcement cases;
• Dependency & Neglect cases;
• An international kidnapping case litigated under the Hague Conventions;
• Multi-state kidnapping cases;
• A putative spouse case litigated in the US District Court for Colorado;
• Defending family support judgments in bankruptcy actions (including “adversary proceedings”);
• Collection (enforcement) of child support and maintenance (and defense against collection/enforcement);
• Appeals on a variety of legal issues;
• Common law marriage cases;
• Replevin, partition, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and unjust enrichment actions (typically where no marriage exists);
• Protection Orders and domestic abuse solutions;
• Dog/Pet custody/ownership disputes;
• Grandparent (or other relative) visitation cases;
• Same-sex parent disputes;
• Adoptions;
• Name-changes (both adult and minor);
• Collaborative Divorce cases; and
• Contesting jurisdiction, changing venue, and challenging personal service.

In 2022 Steven was named “People’s Choice” for Best Family Law lawyer by Law Week Colorado. In its annual Barrister’s Best survey, the publication’s staff and readers choose the best of the best in Colorado’s legal community. Steven became the third BAM attorney to be recognized as Barrister’s Best since 2018.

Steven was also named to ColoradoBiz magazine’s 2022 GenXYZ Top 50 Young Professionals, an award that recognizes the top professionals in the state under 40 years of age.

In 2023 Steven was named to the list of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for the fourth consecutive year.  Ones to Watch recognizes attorneys who are earlier in their careers for their outstanding professional excellence in private practice.

MEMBERSHIP

Member, Denver Bar Association

Member, Colorado Bar Association

Member, American Bar Association

EDUCATION

University of Denver Sturm College of Law, J.D. 2016

University of Colorado, B.A. 2013, Political Science

CERTIFICATIONS

Certification in Collaborative Divorce

ARTICLES

“Ghosts of Christmas Past: A recommendation against sharing co-parenting holidays with your ex.” Best Lawyers: The Family Law Issue, 2023

“Holidays & Vacations: A Parenting Plan Primer for the Newly Divorced and Separated,” Law Week Colorado, April 10, 2023

PROFESSIONAL FORUMS

Panelist, “Culture, COVID and Compensation,” Law Week Colorado year-end Roundtable, December 19, 2022