Emily Keimig, a partner in Venable’s Denver office, has over three decades of experience in litigation, employment law, and privacy and data security. She was also a member of the team that established Venable’s Denver office in 2024. In this interview, Emily celebrates the office’s first birthday, and the firm’s 125th, by reflecting on the past year and sharing her vision for Venable in Denver going forward.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your practice, and how it has shifted or grown since joining Venable?
Emily: For most of my career, I was a labor and employment lawyer. While I’ve been here at Venable, my work has expanded to more commercial litigation. Right now, my docket is entirely trade secrets and restrictive covenant cases. The trade secrets work is the fun stuff, and I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of it soon.
Q: It has been just over a year since the firm officially opened in Denver. How did your Venable story begin?
Emily: Jim Sawtelle and I began this adventure in late 2023, and very happily found Venable. We were thrilled that Venable was interested in opening a Denver office, and even more so that the firm was interested in doing so with us. We really started from the ground up in terms of finding space, building a team, and figuring out logistics. There were a lot of boxes around the office for a while, but we’re all settled now and even have some artwork on the walls!
Q: How would you describe Venable’s approach to integration and building connections across offices, particularly in Denver?
Emily: We have gained enormously from the continuing warm welcome that we have been given. There are regular, frequent visits from leadership where they are intentionally involved in communications and the development of policies or practices, and our opinion and input are consistently sought. This feels unique to Venable—many firms fail here because they want their Denver office to be just a miniature version of, say, their New York office. We’ve never felt that here. I think that will be the success of Venable in Denver and, frankly, wherever Venable wants to go.
Q: What makes the Denver office special? Tell me about the office culture that has developed over the past year.
Emily: It’s a small office, and most of us knew each other before joining Venable, so we’re a tight-knit group. Everyone knows everyone’s kids and grandkids, and they all come to our holiday celebrations—it’s sort of a big family. It’s exciting to watch the team grow as well—we also have a few attorneys who have joined from other offices and practice areas: Elizabeth Manno, Jay Gavigan, and Kristin Smith. We’re really starting to diversify in terms of the origin of folks who are landing in Denver.
Q: What do you think is drawing these attorneys, and drawing clients, from other cities to Denver?
Emily: Lifestyle is a big draw—people who like to spend time outside are drawn to Denver. It’s overall a great place to raise a family and a great place to practice law. As for clients, we like to see ourselves as a refuge for businesses escaping more expensive locations and being able to avail themselves of the highly educated population we have here. Denver is still a small town in a lot of ways; the clients here share our same passion for growing the business community and making this city a successful place.
Q: Are there any specific industries you would like the Denver office to reach in the future?
Emily: There is great opportunity here for energy and natural resources. The Rocky Mountain region is very energy and mining rich, and Denver is a central hub for many of those companies and third parties that work with those industries. Obviously, it’s a heavily regulated space, and Venable has a particular strength in navigating the regulatory landscape—I could see us having a real impact there.
Q: Looking to the future, what are your goals for this office?
Emily: I would really like our team to grow. We are working hard to establish ourselves as a known, sought-after firm in the community, and I expect that that will start to pay off soon. I’m confident that we’ll get there as news of what it means to be at Venable spreads throughout Denver. So far, I’m proud of making this office what we envisioned: a team of people working together for everyone’s mutual benefit.
Q: Venable is celebrating its 125th birthday this year. Although Denver is new to the family, what do you feel the office has contributed to firm’s overall culture?
Emily: I feel like we’ve been able to bring a feeling of continued growth and expansion to Venable. It’s exciting to be turning one year old in a larger organization that’s turning 125—celebrating birthdays together is great fun!
125 Years Young
Want to keep the party going? Visit 125 Years Young to learn more about how we’re marking the firm’s 125th birthday, explore major milestones, and read about other anniversaries we’re celebrating in our offices around the country.