Donald J. Kaufman, Attorney at Law

05/16/2026

The Cat in the Hat convicted of animal cruelty | The Cat in the Hat was exonerated of numerous criminal charges at the Pitkin County Courthouse on Friday. | Article link in comments

05/07/2026

Chief Justice John Roberts saying the Supreme Court is “not political” is one of the great American comedy lines. Right up there with “the check is in the mail,” “I only had two beers,” and “this airline values your comfort.”
Nine human beings are selected through one of the most blood soaked political knife fights in modern civilization, confirmed after months of partisan warfare, televised outrage, billion dollar lobbying campaigns, think tanks, activist groups, cable news meltdowns, and senators speaking like medieval clergy defending sacred relics… and then we are all supposed to believe they float into the marble palace as pure neutral forest elves interpreting parchment by candlelight.
Come on.
The Supreme Court is “not political” in the same way Las Vegas is “about architecture.”
I actually respect the Court. I respect the Constitution. But pretending these decisions exist in some oxygen free laboratory untouched by ideology is hysterical. Human beings carry their life experience into EVERYTHING. Religion. Childhood. Fear. Power. History. Who they love. What scares them at 2:00 in the morning. Then we hand them lifetime appointments and act shocked when philosophy leaks into the rulings like whiskey through a bluegrass fiddle tune.
Every generation does this dance. One side calls the Court “guardians of liberty.” The other side calls them “unelected tyrants.” Then the decisions flip and everybody trades costumes by lunchtime. Washington spins. Cable news screams. Law professors begin mating season on MSNBC. Somewhere James Madison probably sits in the afterlife rubbing his temples with a bottle of bourbon.
The funniest part is Americans are expected to nod solemnly through all this theater like nobody can smell the smoke machine running backstage.

Chief Justice John Roberts says Supreme Court justices are not “political actors.” He says justices are making decisions based on the law, not their personal policy preferences.

05/05/2026

WORK INJURY IN COLORADO. READ THIS BEFORE YOU “JUST TELL YOUR BOSS.”
I hear this constantly:
“I told my supervisor.”
That is not enough.
When the insurance company looks at your case months later, the response is almost always the same:
“We have no record of that.”
And now you have a problem.
Here is the actual rule in Colorado workers compensation:
You should report your injury IN WRITING within 10 working days.
Not verbally.
Not casually.
Not assuming “they know.”
IN WRITING.
Because written notice does three things immediately:
It fixes the date of injury.
It documents how it happened.
It ties the injury directly to your job before the story starts to change.
Now here is the part most people do not know:
You have up to TWO YEARS from the date of injury to formally file a workers compensation claim in Colorado.
So no, your case is not automatically lost if you did not report it right away.
But delay is exactly what the insurance company wants.
Delay gives them room to argue:
That it did not happen at work.
That it came from something else.
That you are not credible.
All avoidable.
The smart move takes about 30 seconds:
Send an email the same day.
“I was injured at work today at [time] while performing [task]. I injured my [body part]. This occurred on the job.”
That one email can carry your entire case.
Bottom line:
Immediate reporting is best.
Written reporting within 10 working days protects you.
You still have up to two years to file a claim.
But if it is not in writing, you are giving the insurance company a head start.
And that is a race you do not want to lose.

05/03/2026

The memorial for Steven Beattie will be held at 12:00 pm on July 11, 2026 at Glenwood Springs First United Methodist Church.
We have lost one of our finest, and even that feels too small for a life lived the way Steve lived his. Steven Beattie was not just a great lawyer, he was the rare kind of man who reminded you what the law is supposed to be in the first place. Steady when it mattered, unshaken when things grew difficult, and always grounded in something deeper than the case in front of him. He never lost sight of the person across the table, and in doing so, he gave people something more than representation. He gave them dignity, clarity, and a quiet sense that they were going to be alright. He lived with a kind of Colorado honesty that you cannot fake. You could hear it in the way he spoke about the mountains, the river, the simple joy of being outside with people he loved. There was grit in him, no question, but it was paired with warmth, with humor, with a generosity of spirit that made you feel like you mattered the moment you crossed his path. Strong without hardness, accomplished without ego, he carried himself in a way that made others better just by being near him. The loss is real, and it sits heavy in this valley that shaped him and that he, in turn, helped shape. But so does the example he leaves behind. If we are paying attention, we take a piece of that forward. In how we show up. In how we treat one another. In how we carry ourselves when it would be easier not to. That is the kind of legacy that does not fade with time. Rest well, Steve. You did it right. And in doing so, you left this place kinder, stronger, and better than you found it.

August 23, 1946 – November 6, 2025 *Memorial to be held at 12:00 pm on July 11, 2026 at the Glenwood Springs First United Methodist Church* Born August 23, 1946 in Boulder, Colorado, Steven Mack...

05/01/2026

04/29/2026

I looked at the numbers and somehow it has been 10,833 days since I started. 30 years of showing up, doing my best, and learning as I go. Truth is, I have been carried by the people in this valley more than anything I have done on my own. I am grateful for every bit of trust. Thank you.

04/28/2026

An Eagle County Republican Party official is running to unseat state Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Steamboat Springs Democrat, in the November general election.  James Kellogg, a Gypsum resident who serves as a vice chair for...