Paul Maestas

Kathleen (Kathy) Love, partner at New Mexico-based McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry P.A., has practiced as an attorney for over two decades. She focuses on representing individuals against for-profit and government entities. Throughout her career as an attorney, she has tried a number of high-profile criminal and civil cases, most recently including the Torres v. APD case involving a police shooting incident. For her accomplishments, Kathy Love holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent rankin...

Emma L. Whitley is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Collaborative Law: Family Law, Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Emma L., who practices law in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Emma L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Brian K. Branch was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a partner at Davis Kelin LLC, where he represents individuals and families in complex civil litigation throughout New Mexico. His practice focuses on serious injury and wrongful death claims, including cases involving medical negligence, defective products, professional negligence, and insurance bad faith. Mr. Branch has served as lead or co-lead counsel in more than 40 jury trials and over 75 non-jury trials. His courtroom...

Art Melendres concentrates his practice primarily in administrative, education, commercial and municipal finance law. For more than thirty-five years, clients have sought Art’s expertise when faced with disputes involving education, administrative law, commercial law or public financing. For more than twenty-five years, Art has served as general counsel for the Albuquerque Public Schools, a school district of more than 90,000 students and 11,000 employees. He regularly advises the Schoo...

Andrew J. Simons began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge William W. Bivins of the New Mexico Court of Appeals from 1992 to 1993. He then joined Sutin, Thayer & Browne APC, where he continues to practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work focuses on Litigation – Bankruptcy, with an emphasis on commercial litigation, creditors’ rights, consumer law, and real estate matters. Mr. Simons has represented clients in a wide range of state and federal litigation, including: (...

Chris Muirhead concentrates his practice in the area of public finance. For more than twenty years, numerous New Mexico municipalities and counties have relied on Chris for advice on their public financing matters such as general obligation bonds, gross receipts tax revenue bonds, utility system revenue bonds, special district financings, and economic development projects. He serves as general counsel and issuer’s counsel for the New Mexico Hospital Equipment Loan Council, a state-wide ...

Laura Horton is committed to providing thoughtful and compassionate legal services. Laura strives to deliver excellence and client satisfaction. Laura began her career in accounting and finance and later, fueled by her passion for advocacy and the desire to make a difference, she attended law school in Oregon followed by a post-graduate fellowship with the government in Kosovo. Laura's current practice at her firm focuses on the intersection of adult guardianship, family law, and probate. She...

Donald F. Kochersberger is a Member of the firm and has been with BLSW since 2005. His practice emphasizes complex litigation matters, including shareholder, member and partner disputes, contracts, business tort, unfair practices, restrictive covenant and non-compete agreements, employee theft and misconduct cases, and customer and vendor disputes. Mr. Kochersberger has served as counsel for a number of local, regional and national companies, as well as individuals engaged in business dispute...

Tomas Garcia is a shareholder in Modrall Sperling’s Litigation group, and serves on the Executive Committee. He is also chair of the firm’s Recruiting Committee. His practice includes a variety of commercial, healthcare, torts/personal injury, and transportation litigation. He has experience representing business professionals in corporate disputes, health care facilities and medical professionals in negligence and regulatory matters, manufacturers and distributors in product defe...

Allegra Carpenter is an all-purpose litigator. She was named 2015 Albuquerque Personal Injury Litigator of the Year, is over ten years listed in Best, recognized in SuperLawyers, and is AV Preeminent with Martindale Hubble. Allegra’s Super Power is her creativity -- which defines and spans every aspect of her practice from case selection to trial. After 22 years with an Albuquerque firm, Allegra established her own practice, Allegra-Law, where she continues her long history of amplifyin...