The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will decide whether two grandparents are entitled to seek visitation of their grandchildren following their adoption by the other set of grandparents, and also how strictly to hold lawyers to the deadline for filing appeals.

At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear a case on appeal.

In the first case, Brandon and Amanda Sullivan died in their Delta County home in April 2020. Authorities deemed it a murder-suicide. They left behind three young children.

A judge appointed the children’s maternal grandparents as the permanent guardians, while allowing the paternal grandparents to visit. In October 2021, the maternal grandparents adopted the children. The paternal grandparents then petitioned for ongoing visitations, and the judge set a schedule.

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The maternal grandparents, Suzanne Nicolas and August Nicolas, asked for a reconsideration. They argued that following the children’s adoption, paternal grandparents Jayne Mecque Sullivan and Daniel Francis Sullivan were no longer “grandparents.” In other words, the Nicolases were the new parents and the Sullivans were not, in turn, their parents.

Montrose County District Court Judge Mary E. Deganhart rejected the motion, writing that the adoption of a child whose parents are deceased does not nullify the ability of grandparents to exercise their visitation rights under state law.

A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed with her, concluding grandparent visitation rights are not “automatically cut off” whenever a grandchild is adopted. Although there is a provision removing those rights after adoption, Judge W. Eric Kuhn noted the Nicolases did not specifically invoke that section. Moreover, the law specifically contemplates grandparent visitations when a child’s parent has died.

The Sullivans “fall within the definition of grandparents, regardless of when they filed their petition for grandparent visitation,” he wrote.

The Nicolases appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the decision allowing the Sullivans to seek visitation rights post-adoption. They argued the outcome mattered significantly in the case, where their daughter was allegedly murdered by the Sullivans’ son.

“In deciding how best to nurture and then raise a two-year-old and infant twins orphaned by an unspeakable crime, grandparents inevitably will disagree,” wrote attorney Sean Connelly. “The disagreements will also include whether and (if so how) to honor the memory of the child’s father who murdered the child’s mother.”

The Supreme Court agreed to examine the issue.

The case is In re the Parental Responsibilities of K.M.S. et al.

In a multimillion-dollar dispute over oil and gas extraction in Wyoming, Jonah Energy LLC moved to appeal a Denver trial judge’s order. The deadline to submit the notice of appeal was March 13, 2023. Attorney Stephen D. Rynerson asked his assistant to file “after 4 PM with the Colorado Court of Appeals.” At 4:37, she announced she had submitted the appeal.

However, the emailed receipt indicated she filed with the Denver District Court, not the Court of Appeals. The next day, Rynerson asked the Court of Appeals to accept his late-filed notice due to excusable neglect — specifically, his law offices were being remodeled and he was unable to remotely supervise his assistant.

Rynerson’s opposing counsel urged the Court of Appeals to reject the filing, noting it was submitted on the very last day to appeal and the emailed receipt clearly referenced the wrong court.

A three-judge motions panel agreed to accept the appeal late by 2-1. Judge Lino S. Lipinsky de Orlov voted to reject the appeal. 

However, when a different three-judge panel handed down its ultimate ruling last May, Lipinsky — who was involved in both stages of the appeal — wrote that it would not be moving forward after all.

“Rather than take responsibility for his failure to check the submission receipt, counsel blames his assistant for her deviation from his instructions,” Lipinsky explained. “Accordingly, we hold that counsel’s failure to timely read the district court’s submission receipt showing that his assistant filed the notice of appeal in the wrong court does not constitute excusable neglect.”

Jonah Energy appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing Lipinsky’s “hard line” approach was an outlier in Colorado and nationally. Moreover, there was no harm to the opposing party from the filing mistake, and at least one Court of Appeals panel had since distanced itself from Lipinsky’s opinion.

“The reason for the delay was an honest mistake — selecting the wrong option in the e-filing system — not ignorance of the law, miscalculating deadlines, failing to maintain a docket, or similar misconduct,” argued Jonah Energy’s lawyers. The opposing parties “suggest it was ‘careless’ for Jonah to do what many attorneys routinely do: file on the day of a deadline.”

The oil and gas companies opposing Jonah Energy urged the Supreme Court to stand by the Court of Appeals’ ruling, essentially contending any misfortune was Rynerson’s own fault.

“And this Court has better things to do than decide whether to rescue Jonah’s counsel from his carelessness,” they wrote.

The Supreme Court will decide whether to endorse the “hard line” approach to such mistakes.

The case is Jonah Energy LLC v. Riggs Oil & Gas Corp. et al.