Lisa Shellenberger
Founding Partner
Lisa R. Shellenberger
Family Law, Juvenile Law, and Tribal Law Matters
JD, University of Colorado
BA, Truman State University
Denver
Lisa R. Shellenberger is a partner at Setter Roche Smith & Shellenberger LLP and leads the firm's Litigation Division. Widely recognized as one of Colorado's premier family law attorneys, Lisa has earned recognition from Super Lawyers throughout her career. She is regularly invited to teach attorneys and judges across Colorado on trial advocacy, family and juvenile law litigation, and emerging developments in the law.
Lisa represents clients in high-stakes family law matters where significant wealth, business interests, privacy, and family dynamics converge. Her practice also includes adoptions, guardianship proceedings, and ICWA matters. In her family law practice, Lisa handles sophisticated divorce and post-decree matters for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and others with significant financial interests. Her work includes closely held and family-owned businesses, trusts and trust income, executive and deferred compensation, separate-property tracing, business valuation, and premarital agreements.
Her approach is defined by discretion, preparation, and strategic insight. Lisa brings substantial training and experience in settlement negotiation and collaborative divorce, allowing her to pursue efficient, private resolutions when possible. When litigation is necessary, she draws on deep courtroom experience, having successfully tried hundreds of cases.
Lisa also serves on judicial committees appointed by the Colorado Supreme Court, helping develop and refine procedures governing family and juvenile law proceedings. In addition to her family law practice, she advises clients on juvenile law, probate, and tribal-law matters, particularly where those areas intersect with family dynamics, jurisdictional questions, or multigenerational family interests. She also provides consulting and expert witness services in family law, juvenile law, ICWA, and international jurisdictional matters.
Lisa’s work has been highlighted by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and NPR. She was featured among Denver’s “Most Influential Women” in the April 2025 issue of VOGUE.
SELECT CAPABILITIES
• High net worth divorce
• Closely held and family-owned business interests
• Complex trusts, trust income, and family wealth structures
• Executive, equity, and deferred compensation
• Premarital and postnuptial agreement disputes
• Separate-property tracing and business valuation
• Interstate, international, and tribal jurisdiction
• Complex parenting and post-decree litigation
• Adoptions
• Guardianships
• ICWA matters
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
• Law clerk to Justice Nancy E. Rice of the Colorado Supreme Court.
• Appellate Judge for the Havasupai Court of Appeals.
• Selected by the Colorado Judiciary, including the Colorado Supreme Court, for committees developing family and juvenile law procedure.
• Frequent continuing legal education instructor for attorneys and judges.