Denver, Colorado — July 1, 2021 — Mountain States Legal Foundation today announced a changing of the guard, though not the mission, as Associate General Counsel William E. Trachman becomes the firm’s General Counsel, while Zhonette Brown, who has ably served as the firm’s General Counsel for the past 3 years, will become Senior Counsel following a family relocation to Virginia.
MSLF President and CEO Cristen Wohlgemuth called the transition bittersweet; “bitter” because Brown leaves big shoes to fill in the organization, but “sweet” because Wohlgemuth feels that she and the MSLF board found a worthy successor in Trachman.
“Will Trachman is an excellent attorney and a visionary who provides the exact leadership Mountain States needs to continue ambitiously advancing individual liberties in courts across our country,” said Wohlgemuth. “This is really a win-win for us, because we’ll continue to benefit from Zhonette Brown’s amazing experience and legal talents, while filling the General Counsel position with an attorney of equally high caliber. Instead of losing talent, our team is doubling its strength.”
Trachman joined MSLF in January as Associate General Counsel, after serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to his appointment, he served as General Counsel to the Douglas County School District, where he helped litigate the fight for school choice in the school district. Trachman also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Colorado Federalist Society, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Colorado Advisory Board, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. He attended U.C. Berkeley for both undergraduate and law school, and then clerked for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He’s licensed to practice in Colorado, California, and Washington, D.C.
Trachman said he’s honored to take the position and looks forward to continuing and expanding the firm’s work to preserve liberty and justice in America. “Mountain States Legal Foundation is a storied institution in the Mountain West, protecting our natural and constitutional rights from government intrusion,” said Trachman in response to the news. “For nearly 45 years, MSLF has been at the forefront of the fight, representing clients without legal fees so that the government knows that they won’t ever back down.”
“What a great team we have, what a great mission we have, what a great future we have,” Trachman told colleagues at a celebratory gathering.
Zhonette Brown described her time as MSLF’s General Counsel as an honor and she vowed to stay very involved as Senior Counsel to protect the clients’ interests and facilitate collaboration with other attorneys interested in providing legal services to aid our mission. “I have every confidence that with Will Trachman at the helm of its legal team, Mountain States will continue and strengthen its role as an ally, spokesperson, and guardian of liberty in courtrooms throughout the West.”