WilmerHale announced that it has added Heidi Ruckriegle as an associate attorney in the firm's Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) Practice. The addition further strengthens the Denver office in a range of regulatory, litigation, legislative and transactional matters arising at the intersection of law, business, science and public policy.

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Ms. Ruckriegle practiced at Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, P.C., where she focused on natural resources, environmental and public lands law. She worked on a variety of matters including oil-and-gas development, mining projects, transmission infrastructure, and renewable energy infrastructure. She began her career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Justice Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr. of the Colorado Supreme Court.

Ms. Ruckriegle earned a combined JD and Master of Laws degree in Environmental Studies and Natural Resources from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado Boulder as a Presidents Leadership Class Scholar. Ms. Ruckriegle is fluent in Spanish and volunteers monthly for Project Safeguard assisting Spanish-speaking victims and survivors of domestic violence to increase their safety through the civil legal system in the Denver metro area.

“We're honored to welcome Heidi to our Denver office and to our energy, environment and natural resources team,” said Andrew Spielman, co-partner-in-charge of WilmerHale's Denver office and chair of the firm's EENR Practice. “Heidi's strong experience in the oil-and-gas and ski industries, combined with her experience spanning all stages of permitting, development and compliance, will be enormously valuable to our clients in Colorado and across the country.”

Over the past five years, innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders have converged on Colorado, helping it to now routinely rank as a top-five state in the areas of best places to live, fastest growing economies, best business climates and most educated workforces. The attorneys in WilmerHale's Denver office help support business growth, particularly in the areas of energy and environment, intellectual property, investigations and litigation, strategic response, and Native American law. 

The Denver office of WilmerHale was founded in 2014 by former US Senator and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and today it boasts renowned IP, litigation and controversy, securities, regulatory and government affairs, and transactional practices, with unique strengths in growing sectors such as energy, privacy and cybersecurity, education, and technology. The office's co-partners-in-charge are Natalie Hanlon Leh, who leads the office's IP Practice, and Spielman, who is chair of the firm's global EENR Practice.