– About Attorney Don Colburn –

Listen to This Page:

(coming soon)

In my mid-twenties, the day I left Nebraska after graduating from law school to travel to Phoenix to begin practicing law, my father filed for divorce from my mother after a long marriage. This was my first “experience” with divorce. My father used my fraternity brother and “pledge dad“ from my small hometown as his lawyer. I loved both of my parents and felt “in the middle” and conflicted. My mother never spoke my father’s name again.

In 1998, I gave up my previous career with “big law”, and started a family law practice and my own firm in order to stay in Phoenix to raise my children, including my youngest, identical twin boys. At the time I was in the process of a three-year dissolution, followed by a three-year appeal, and subsequent proceedings with the Mother of my twin boys, one of whom I now have the privilege of practicing law with at Colburn Hintze Maletta, PLLC.

Since 1998 I have practiced primarily family law, my second twenty-five-year career. I have survived three of my own dissolutions, have experienced personally most if not all issues involved in a dissolution practice, and can relate to the frustration, anxiety, stress, and impact of the unknowns when going through a dissolution. Those were trying times for me, as they are now for my clients.

More recently, I had the privilege of working with my son Darin Colburn, practicing family law at another firm for several years, until he, Tim Hintze, and David Maletta founded Colburn Hintze Maletta, PLLC. I followed my son soon thereafter and have practiced at CHM Law since. I have been impressed by the firm’s ability to offer high-quality legal services at a reasonable price. The firm practices with creativity and empathy and works hard to identify issues, provide options and costs, and risk/benefit analysis in order to allow clients to make the best-informed decisions and choices in their dissolution to achieve the optimum result.

The firm uses technology in handling family law matters in order to achieve the best outcome for their clients. The firm also strives to deliver cost-effective legal services and represents clients to achieve the best solution and outcome to meet their client’s goals. I jumped at the chance to not only work with my son Darin but the rest of the CHM Law team and I have not been disappointed. It is rewarding to share my experience with our clients and others at the firm.

Although many lawyers, especially family law attorneys, experience burnout, I still find it rewarding to help people through a difficult time in their lives and to help guide them to focus on the hope of peace and tranquility in life after the resolution of their family law matter. I am an example, although scarred by the process, that there is light and new life and independence at the end of the family law process. You can either be a victim or move on and learn from your past mistakes and life experiences.

I look forward to working with CHM clients in identifying options for handling their family law cases, developing client-directed strategies, and achieving, either through mutual resolution or hearing or trial, the best outcome possible for them in their family law cases. My personal background and experiences have given me the ability to help guide clients through the family law process and relate to what they are feeling and experiencing. It also allows me to counsel clients that no matter how stressful and fearful the process is, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the potential for a new, independent, and peaceful life at the end of the process.

My strengths include identifying and communicating issues and options to my clients, and risks, benefits, and costs associated with those options, so they can make the most informed decisions possible as to the course of action they want to take on their case. My strengths also include being able to resolve matters that seem unlikely to be resolved, through negotiated settlement, before proceeding to a full hearing or trial and spending all of my client’s resources. However, it takes two parties to reach an amicable resolution, and sometimes that is not possible.

Another of my strengths is my experience and expertise in preparing for and handling trials and hearings, if necessary, and presenting the best possible case for my clients before the Court.

I look forward to working with future clients and working hard for my clients to attempt to achieve the optimum, cost-effective, and informed outcome possible.

Areas Of Practice

• Divorce, Legal Separation
• Children Issues – Legal Decision Making
• Child Support
• Spousal Maintenance
• Community Property and Debt Division
• Business and Practice Evaluations
• Separate Property and Debt
• Prenuptial / Postnuptial Agreements
• Settlement Conferences, Mediations, and Arbitrations
• Modifications
• Emergency Orders
• Paternity
• Relocations
• Grandparent’s Rights
• Termination of Parental Rights
• Jurisdictional Issues

Education

• University of Nebraska, 1970, B.A.
• Business Administration
•  University of Nebraska College of
• Law, 1974, J.D. with distinction
• Summa Cum Laude