Snell & Wilmer Partner Denise Dragoo Elected President of Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute

July 14, 2011 - PRLog -- SALT LAKE CITY (June 28, 2011) – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that Denise A. Dragoo, a partner in the firm’s Salt Lake City office, has been elected President of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute (RMCMI). Dragoo will officially become president at the Institute’s convention and 107th annual meeting on June 28, 2011.  She will be the second woman to hold the top office since 1912.

RMCMI is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the promotion of western coal through education. Member states are Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. The Institute is proud to claim members from throughout the United States and from Canada.  Membership is diverse and includes individuals from both surface and underground mines, equipment manufacturers, service/supply firms, utilities, coal transporters, law firms, government, universities and colleges, financial institutions and others interested in supporting the industry.

RMCMI is dedicated to disseminating to the public and to educational and scientific institutions knowledge and the results of study and research into recent developments in coal mining technologies and production techniques, mining management and safety, federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to coal mining and other energy related issues.   

Dragoo’s practice is concentrated in natural resources, coal law, water law, environmental law, public land law, mine safety and health law. She is a member of the Leadership Council for the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy & Resources (“SEER”), and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and is the Utah State Bar’s Trustee to the Foundation. Dragoo has also served as a member of the Utah State Bar Board of Commissioners from 1991 to 2002. She has received the ‘Lawyer of the Year’ Award and the ‘Distinguished Service Award’ from the Environmental and Natural Resource Section of the Utah Bar. Dragoo earned her J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law and her LL.M. in Environmental and Land Use Law from Washington University School of Law.

About Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.  
Founded in 1938, Snell & Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 400 attorneys practicing in nine locations throughout the western United States and in Mexico, including Salt Lake City, Utah; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Los Angeles and Orange County, California; Denver, Colorado; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The firm represents clients ranging from large, publicly traded corporations to small businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.swlaw.com.