About Dan
A Southern Colorado native attorney who has spent his entire legal career practicing law in Canon City, Dan Slater has the experience and knowledge to get things done for his clients.
Since his first days in Fremont County and Southern Colorado, Dan has been a leader in the legal community and in the larger Southern Colorado community.
In June 2012, Dan was elected to serve as the President of the Fremont / Custer Bar Association, which is the association representing all attorneys in Fremont County and Custer County. Dan represented both counties on the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association — the state’s association of attorneys — for several years, and served on the state Nominating Committee for two consecutive years; Dan also served on the Nominating Committee, representing the Colorado Springs and central Colorado area on the Committee. Dan also served for eight full years — the maximum allowable time — as the Chair of the Judicial Performance Commission for the 11th Judicial District — the group that provides non-partisan, impartial, public evaluations for all district and county judges in the district.
Dan is an active member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association. In 2004, Dan was named the “Young Lawyer of the Year” for the State of Colorado by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, the first instance where this prestigious award had ever gone to a rural attorney in the history of the award. Dan is listed in Who’s Who in American Law, as well as Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders and Who’s Who in American Politics.
Dan is a graduate of the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C., one of the nation’s top law schools. At the Washington College of Law, Dan focused on civil litigation at all levels, and participated in national moot court tournaments in New Orleans, Philadelphia, and New York. Prior to graduating law school in 1998, Dan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1994. While at OU, Dan was known as a leader throughout the 20,000+ student campus community and served in several different capacities in the student government there.
Dan has served as a leader throughout Southern Colorado. He served from 2005-2011 as First Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, following a term of service from 2003-2005 as Secretary of the State Party, one of the first non-metro individuals elected to serve as an officer for the Colorado Democrats in several years. In his capacity as First Vice Chair, Dan served as a member of the Democratic National Committee, as well as the Association of State Democratic Chairs. In 2000, Dan received the prestigious “Rising Star” award from the Colorado Democratic Party. In 2002, Dan served as the Democratic nominee for the Colorado General Assembly in Senate District 2, a sprawling nine-county district larger than the State of Maryland. Prior to running for office, Dan served as the Chair of the Fremont County Democratic Party. Dan served as a Delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles as well as the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Dan was instrumental in bringing the 2004 State Democratic Convention and Assembly to Pueblo, bringing a huge economic boost and high profile to Southern Colorado; he also served as the state liaison to the Greeley 2006 State Assembly and chaired the CDP’s 2006, 2008 and 2010 Site Selection Committees.
Dan was an integral part of the efforts to bring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver, Colorado. He served as the Vice Chair of the Denver 2008 Host Committee, and was a founding member of the Host Committee. He served on the Board of Directors of the Host Committee for the entire lifespan of the Host Committee. He was a “super-delegate” to the 2008 National Convention, and was among the first super-delegates to publicly endorse then-Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. During the primary season in 2008, Dan served as the campaign’s Colorado representative in charge of the delegate selection process.
Dan was born in La Junta and raised in Las Animas in rural Southeastern Colorado. He lives in Cañon City and has four children: Madison, Ethan, Logan and Demitrius.
Fun Facts – Did You Know:
- In 1999, Dan was a contestant on ABC-TV’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” missing the “hot seat” by four-tenths of a second.
- Dan occasionally performs for groups as Harry Truman, receiving great reviews for his impersonations.
- Dan is a huge Denver sports fan — don’t try calling him if the Broncos are on TV, or if the Avs or Rockies are in a close game!
- For two weeks in 2009, Dan was the Democratic candidate for Colorado Attorney General — before he decided that his family and clients were too important to sacrifice for the campaign.