Education:
Stephen F. Austin State University (B.A. 2005)
South Texas College of Law (J.D. 2008)
Member:
Colorado Bar Association, Denver Bar Association, Colorado Women’s Bar Association, Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee
Honors:
Super Lawyers Rising Star (2017-2023)
Avvo Client’s Choice Award
For the past fourteen years, Mrs. Cates has dedicated her practice to exclusively representing clients in family law cases. These cases include high-conflict divorces, parenting time disputes, and appeals. Mrs. Cates’ divorce practice emphasizes cases that involve complex financial issues and high-asset portfolios. This includes business valuations, stock options, trust issues, tracing of assets and income, tracing and valuation of separate property claims, and spousal maintenance. Mrs. Cates also handles all aspects of child custody. This includes establishment and modification of parental rights, relocation, parental alienation, parenting time restrictions, and grandparent rights.
Mrs. Cates also focuses on representing clients in same-sex relationships. She has published several articles in Out Front Magazine concerning Civil Unions, second-parent versus same-parent adoptions, and the changing landscape of same-sex marriage in Colorado.
Mrs. Cates joined the firm as an Associate Attorney in 2008. She became a Partner of Bloch & Chapleau, Cates, Ongert in January 2013. As a parent herself, Mrs. Cates is focused on guiding her clients through one of the most difficult times in their life with honesty and compassion. Mrs. Cates understands that frustration and anxiety sometimes cloud even the most logical person in a divorce. She strives to provide a realistic, calculated, yet compassionate approach to guiding them through this significant life change. Mrs. Cates is highly regarded by her peers for maintaining the utmost level of professionalism while being an aggressive advocate for her clients. This recognition from her peers led to her being nominated as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for the last 7 consecutive years and running.
In her free time, Mrs. Cates and her family love to spend time in the beautiful scenery Colorado has to offer including camping, 4-wheeling, boating, snowmobiling, and ice fishing. While snow sports are foreign to this native Texan, she is proud to boast that her son (a native Coloradoan) is a two-time champion of the 3-Lakes Ice Fishing Tournament’s children’s division.
