Skip to Main Content
Person Photo
Person Photo

Robert Keatinge

Of Counsel

555 17th Street, Suite 3200, Denver, CO 80202
P 303.295.8595
OVERVIEW

Bob Keatinge advises a wide variety of businesses and their owners, from start-up companies to publicly- traded corporations.

He advises clients and acts as a consulting or testifying expert on matters of business organization, federal tax, and professional responsibility, at all stages of organizational life from the formation and capitalization of new businesses to the operation and growth of firms to the departure of owners and the dissolution and winding up of the organization.

Bob has written and spoken nationally on the subjects of limited liability companies, choice of entity, taxation, business succession planning, fiduciary duties, and professional responsibility and liability. He has authored or co-authored two treatises and over fifty law review or bar journal articles on these business topics. He has taught business organization and tax law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, the University of Miami School of Law, Suffolk University School of Law, and Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary.

EXPERIENCE

Experience

LLC, Partnership, Tax, and Private Client Experience

Bob provides his clients experience in business organization law including evaluation of the rights and duties of owners and managers, internal structure, taxation, and fundamental changes in such matters that include:

  • Internal disputes
  • Structuring relationships among members and managers
  • Organization, operation, dissolution, and winding up


Bob provides expert witness on matters of fiduciary and other duties within business organization, corporate, partnership, and limited liability company law, and professional responsibility.

CLIENT RESULTS

Client Results

  • Bob has structured and negotiated transactions for closely-held businesses.

  • Bob has served as a testifying or consulting expert services in litigation and arbitration matters involving business organizations, tax, and professional responsibility.

PRACTICES

Practices

Tax and Benefits
Income Tax
Mergers and Acquisitions
Emerging Growth
Venture Capital and Private Equity
Securities Enforcement and Shareholder Litigation
Estate Planning, Trust Administration, and Wealth Transfer
Private Client
NEWS AND INSIGHTS

News

Publications

"Keatinge and Conway on Choice of Entity," Thomson-West, Co-Author, 2006 – 2016, 2017 supplement forthcoming
"Ribstein and Keatinge on Limited Liability Companies 2d Ed. (3 vol.)," Thomson-West, Co-Author, 2004 and supp. most recently supplemented 2016-1
"The Liability of Managers and Other Agents for Their Own Actions on Behalf of an LLC," Business Law Today, February 2015
"Harmonization, Rationalization, and Uniformity," Elgar Handbook on Alternative Entities (Mark Lowenstein and Robert Hillman, Edward Elgar Publishing 2015), Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2518875, November 3, 2014

Speaking Engagements

"Ethics of the Deal: Communications, Negotiations, and Other Pitfalls for Transactional Lawyers," ALI CLE Webinar , September 27, 2018
"Law Firm Break Ups - The Unfinished Business Doctrine," ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, September 13, 2018
"Program Spotlight: Rita-Anne O'Neill, Mian Wang, and Robert Keatinge," businesslawtoday.org, July 25, 2018
"Units: Less There Than Meets the Eye," University of Texas 27th Annual LLCs, LLPs, and Partnerships Program, Austin, TX, July 13, 2018
"To C or not to C? Entity Selection in the New Tax Age," University of Texas 27th Annual LLCs, LLPs, and Partnerships Program, Austin, TX, July 13, 2018
"Amendments, the Most Important Provision in the Operating Agreement," University of Texas 27th Annual LLCs, LLPs, and Partnerships Program, Austin, TX, July 13, 2018
"Business Restructuring/Choice of Entity," Oregon Tax Institute, Portland, OR, June 7, 2018
"Attorney for the Organization," International Energy M&A Conference, Houston, TX, May 17, 2018
"Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," ABA Business Law Section, Orlando, FL, April 14, 2018
"Partners' Compensatory Income: We May Be Lost But We're Making Really Good Time," Panelist, University of Chicago Federal Tax Conference, Chicago, IL, November 4, 2017
"New Partnership Audit Rules—Update and Drafting Considerations," 26th Annual University of Texas Conference on LLCs, LPs and Partnerships, Austin, TX, July 13, 2017
"Impacts of Tax Reform Proposals," ABA Tax Section Meeting, Washington D.C., May 13, 2017
"Dissolution, Winding Up, and Termination of an Unincorporated Entity: When - If Ever - Does The Existence of an LLC or Partnership End?," ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6, 2017
"Adjusting to the New Partnership Representative and Partnership and Deficiency Rules," Florida Tax Institute, March 30, 2017
"Dual Status: Employee versus Partner," 2017 Planning for Business Lawyers, Vail, CO, January 4, 2017
"Adjusting to the New Partnership Representative and Rules on Partnership Audits and Deficiencies," AICPA Construction and Real Estate Conference , November 2016
"Attorney For The Organization: Legal And Ethical Issues," Colorado Business Law Institute, September 16, 2016
"Ethical Issues under Beneficial Ownership Rules for Attorneys Representing Closely Held Business Organization," American Bar Association Business Law Section Program, September 8, 2016
"Series LLCs: Pros and Cons," 25th Annual University of Texas Conference on LLCs, LPs and Partnerships, Austin, TX, July 14, 2016
"Business Entities Update," American Law Institute CLE, ALI-CLE Webcast, 1998-2016
"Limited Liability Entities," American Law Institute CLE, ALI-CLE Webcast, 1994-2016
"Ethical Responsibilities of Lawyers Who Engage in Other Businesses: Formal Opinion No. 98," CLE International, Denver, CO, December 4, 2015
"Unfinished Business Doctrine," Business Law Section, LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities Committee 2015 LLC Institute, November 13, 2015
"Corporate Tax Update," 2015 Advanced Tax Institute, Maryland State Bar Association, Baltimore, MD, November 2, 2015
"Partnership Dissolution: Strategies for Winding Up a Partnership with Ease," ALI-CLE Webcast, October 13, 2015
"Liability Issues for Managers, General Partners, and other Agents," 2015 LLCs, LPs and Partnerships , Austin, TX, July 8, 9‐10, 2015
"E-Mail for Lawyers: Ethical and Common Sense Considerations before Sending Electronic Communication," ALI-CLE Webcast, April 29, 2015
"Duties, Liabilities, and Indemnifications, Oh My! Managing LLCs and LLEs," ALI-CLE Webcast, September 4, 2014
"Single Member LLCs: Now You See It, Now You Don't – Regarding Disregarded Entities," University of Texas Program on Partnerships and LLCs, Austin, TX, July 10, 2014
"Who is a ‘Limited Partner' and Why Do We Care? – or – We May Be Lost, But We Are Making Very Good Time," CBA Tax Section Luncheon, Denver, CO, May 14, 2014
"Ethics in Negotiating Business Transactions, Buying and Selling a Business," Colorado Bar Association CLE, April 24, 2014
"Critique: The New Harmonization Act, Explanation, Review and Critique," American Bar Association Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, April 12, 2014
"Net Investment Income Tax," Holland & Hart Annual Tax Conference, December 5, 2013
"A Leaky Umbrella – Bankruptcy and LLPs Lessons Learned from Big Law Bankruptcies," ABA CLE Webinar, December 4, 2013
"LLC & Corporate Update, 2013," Advanced Tax Institute, Maryland State Bar Association, Baltimore, MD, November 18, 2013
"Defining a Limited Partner in a World of Limited Liability Entities," AICPA National Tax Conference, National Harbor, MD, November 5, 2013
"Partner Allocations: Profits, Losses and Cash," AICPA National Tax Conference, National Harbor, MD, November 5, 2013
"There is No Right Answer for the Wrong Question: Whither the Law? Reflections and Speculations on Questions, Answers, and the Future of Law and Legal Education," 2013 Clark Y. Gunderson Lecture,  University of South Dakota School of Law, Vermillion, SD, October 28, 2013
EDUCATION AND ADMISSIONS

Education

University of Denver
LL.M., 1981
University of Denver
J.D., 1973
University of Colorado
B.A., 1970

Bar Admissions

Colorado

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. Tax Court
RECOGNITION

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America© Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Tax Law, 1995-2019
  • The Best Lawyers in America© Lawyer of the Year, Corporate Law – Denver, 2012
  • Colorado Super Lawyers®, Business and Corporate, 2006-2018
  • Who’s Who in America
  • Who’s Who in American Law
  • Recipient of the 2008 Martin I. Lubaroff Award for contribution to the development of partnership law
  • Recipient of the ABA Business Law Section’s 2004 Section Chair’s Award
  • Recipient of the Colorado Bar Association’s 2002 Sue Burch Legislative Award
PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

Professional and Civic Affiliations

  • American College of Tax Counsel, Regent
  • American Law Institute, Member (Members Consultative Group for Restatement of the Law of Agency and Members Consultative Group for ALI Principles of the Law of Nonprofit Organizations)
  • Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee, Member
  • Colorado Bar Foundation, Director
  • Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, Director
  • American Bar Association, Sections of Business Law, Taxation, Real Property Probate and Trust, Member
  • American Bar Association’s Business Law Section Professional Responsibility Committee Chair
  • Colorado Bar Association, Sections of Taxation Law, Business Law, Real Property Law, Member
  • Denver Bar Association, Member


Former Teaching Positions:

  • University of Denver College of Law, Former Adjunct Professor
  • University of Miami School of Law, Miami, Florida, Former Adjunct Professor
  • Suffolk University School of Law, Boston, Former Visiting Assistant Professor
  • Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law, Budapest, Hungary, Former Visiting Professor in the Suffolk University School of Law LLM in U.S. Law for International Business Lawyers, in cooperation with the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law, Budapest, Hungary, and the Center for International Legal Studies Salzburg, Austria


Former Professional Associations:

  • Committee on LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Business Organizations (formerly ”Committee on Partnerships and Other Unincorporated Organizations”) of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, Former Member and Chair
  • Committee on Publications of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, Former Member and Chair
  • American Bar Association House of Delegates, Former Delegate
  • American Bar Association Business Law Section/National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) Joint Editorial Board on Unincorporated Business Organizations and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, Former Member and Chair
  • National Conference on Uniform State Laws Drafting Committees on: a Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, a Revision to the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, a Uniform Inter-Entity Merger Act, American Bar Association Advisor, American Bar Association Business Law Section Advisor or American Bar Association Section on Real Property, Former Probate and Trust Advisor
  • American Bar Association Business Law Section Partnership and Other Unincorporated Business Organizations Ad Hoc Subcommittee to Comment on the Revised Uniform Partnership Act, Former Member
  • American Bar Association Task Force to Revise the Model Nonprofit Corporation Act, Former Member
  • American Bar Association Tax Section Task Forces on Integration and Limited Liability Companies, Former Member
  • Colorado Limited Liability Company Act, Former Co-Chair of Drafting Committee
  • Colorado Association of Corporate Counsel, Former Chair
  • Colorado Bar Association Business Law Section Committee Colorado Business Corporation Act Revision Committee, Former Member
  • Joint Editorial Board for the ABA/BNA Lawyer’s Manual on Professional Conduct, Former Chair
  • Publications Committee of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility, Former Chair
DISCLAIMER

Unless you are a current client of Holland & Hart LLP, please do not send any confidential information by email. If you are not a current client and send an email to an individual at Holland & Hart LLP, you acknowledge that we have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information you submit to us, unless we have already agreed to represent you or we later agree to do so. Thus, we may represent a party adverse to you, even if the information you submit to us could be used against you in a matter, and even if you submitted it in a good faith effort to retain us.

Accept
Decline