Bagley Law Firm, LLC
attorneys at law
Our Attorneys
Brian J. Bagley,
J.D., M.B.A.
Founder & Chief Counsel
The founder and chief counsel of the Bagley Law Firm, LLC, Brian provides legal representation to businesses, families, and individuals. In addition to the practice of law, Brian served on City Council and as the Mayor of Longmont, CO for a decade of public service. Brian's other community activities include teaching at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder, as well as a professor for the university's prestigious Presidents Leadership Class, teaching upper-level courses on business, management, and leadership. Brian himself is a CU alumnus, having earned a Juris Doctor from CU's School of Law and a Master of Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business.
Brian began his professional career as a senior analyst and key member of the team that researched and wrote the New York Times Bestseller, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t. The best-selling hardback business book of all time, Good to Great has grossed more than $100 million in book sales alone. As the only research analyst throughout the five-year project for its entirety, Brian performed the in-depth investigations, interviews, and analysis on market-leading companies to understand how they came to dominate their industries. The research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company.
Brian is a member of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, and has been licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado since 1999. His personal accomplishments include earning the rank of Eagle Scout from the Boy Scouts of America, speaking and writing fluent Spanish, writing and directing a full-length feature film distributed by Universal Vivendi, and volunteering – along with his wife – as a foster-adopt parent for Boulder County's Department of Housing and Human Services. His foremost passion is his family.
Scott T. Melin,
J.d., M.A.
Chief Operating Officer
Civil Litigation, Personal Injury, Criminal Defense & Family Law/Divorce
In addition to being the firm's Chief Operating Officer, Scott’s practice focuses on high-value civil matters, where his recent accomplishments include $1.58 million, $1.2 million, and $1.875 million recoveries for his clients.
Scott’s cases include personal injury, appeals, civil rights issues, business disputes, and other matters which may require complex litigation. Scott also handles high-conflict family matters, to which he brings years of family law experience.
Born and raised on the Colorado Front Range, Scott attended Colorado State University, where he studied philosophy and English. Thereafter, Scott received a merit scholarship to attend the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado. During his legal studies, he served as a member – and executive – to the law school’s Public Interest Student Association.
Before joining the Bagley Law Firm, LLC, Scott’s passion for social justice took him to New York City where he attended Columbia University, earning a master’s degree in human rights and graduating with a 3.94 GPA. Long before this, however, Scott had been an advocate against domestic violence, having worked with organizations such as the Bringing Justice Home Project, an anti-domestic-violence project within Crossroads Safehouse in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Among his non-legal accomplishments, Scott formerly served on Littleton's city council as its Mayor Pro Tem. He has hiked the Colorado Trail, a stunningly beautiful 500-mile stretch of Colorado wilderness. In his spare time, he also enjoys birding, fly fishing, and gardening. Scott and his wife have a daughter and son.
JESSICA E. AVIS, J.D.
Senior Managing Attorney
Family Law
Growing up in rural Oklahoma, Jessica attended and graduated from The University of Oklahoma in 2015 with her Bachelor of Business Administration. Always ambitious, she graduated with a double major in Supply Chain Management and Marketing. Thereafter, Jessica was conferred a Juris Doctor in 2018 from Roger Williams University, graduating Cum Laude, recognized from among the top legal scholars in her graduating law-school class.
After law school, Jessica was selected to clerk for the Honorable Stephen Jouard of the 8th Judicial District in Larimer County. Completing her clerkship, Jessica moved on to focus her legal career on the area of family law. She now enjoys working in all aspects of family law, including divorce, child custody matters, contempt proceedings, child and spousal support enforcement, and post-decree modifications.
Jessica is uniquely qualified to represent both husbands and wives – fathers and mothers – as she has broad experience representing both “sides” of family law issues. While Colorado’s laws are meant to be gender neutral, the legal system oftentimes struggles to maintain its mandated indifference. Simply put, Jessica understands the small nuances of representing both men and women.
Having dealt with many high-conflict matters, Jessica has proved herself adept at keeping her cool in adverse, chaotic legal situations.
When she is not in a courtroom, Jessica enjoys camping, hiking,. and lakeside activities with her husband and three dogs.
Phil Clark, J.D.
Senior Associate Attorney
Criminal Defense
Phil Clark's talent for criminal defense is in his DNA, literally; litigating is a tradition in Phil Clark’s family, going back five generations, starting with Jonas J. Clark, who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln as the United States Attorney for District of Kansas City in 1861. Phil Clark is also a descendant of William Clark, the frontier explorer best recognized from his "partnership," Lewis and Clark.
Living up to his namesake, Phil Clark attended and excelled in law school at the University of Denver and never once veered from his life's ambition -- to become a world-class trial attorney.
Unheard of in this century, before Phil was even licensed to practice law, he had successfully performed over 35 trials as a supervised student attorney. Then, when he passed the Colorado bar exam in 1990, he did so with a score so high that the second portion of the test was waived.
Upon being admitted as a licensed attorney, Phil became a senior prosecutor and served in the district attorney's office for nearly two decade in the Metro-Denver area, where he prosecuted homicides, drug distribution, DUIs, domestic violence, and nearly every type of felony, misdemeanor, and traffic offense on the books.
Eventually, Phil was appointed second-in-command of the Weld County District Attorney’s Office. He was then elected as a member of the Colorado District Attorney’s Council State Governing Board where he served with each elected District Attorney in Colorado, members of the Governor’s Office, members of the Attorney General’s Office, members of the United States Attorney’s Office, and other high-ranking government officials.
Phil has been involved in numerous well-publicized cases and is highly respected in the legal community. With a "Never say die!" reputation, Phil is widely recognized as a legal expert and has taught at both the high school and college level. However, Mr. Clark is most proud of the recognition and appreciation he has received, in private, from his clients for his devotion to -- and success with -- championing their cases.
Sam Townsend, J.D.
Senior Associate Attorney
Family Law/Divorce, Estate Planning & Probate
Sam Townsend possesses years of experience in family law matters such as divorce, child custody, and grandparent rights, as well as estate planning and probate matters.
Sam has practiced in numerous county and district courts across Colorado from the eastern plains to the western slope, as well as in the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Having received a B.A. in History at the University of Virginia, Sam went on to graduate from Vermont Law School where he was a committee chairman in the Environmental Law Society.
Before attending law school, Sam worked numerous seasons in tourism and the outdoor recreation industry. Finishing what he starts, he is an Eagle Scout. Now, in his limited spare time, Sam can be found cycling and running throughout the mountains of Colorado, or being at home with his wife and child.
Nicholas de Castro, J.D.
Senior Associate Attorney
Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation & Personal Injury
Nick C. de Castro is a Senior Associate Attorney at the Bagley Law Firm, where he handles criminal defense, civil litigation, and personal injury cases.
Nick was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA and attended Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, AL, receiving a double B.A. in Political Science and Music in 2017. Nick then earned his J.D. at the University of Alabama School of Law, a top-25 law school, in 2020.
Before joining the Bagley Law Firm, Nick served for two years as a Colorado Public Defender. Nick has handled hundreds of cases ranging from misdemeanors to complex DUI, domestic violence, and felony matters. Nick prides himself on his ability to negotiate extremely favorable deals for his clients, but he is never afraid to take a case to trial.
The grandson of political refugees who fled Cuba, Nick became an attorney to protect individual freedoms and to advocate for victims of overzealous government action and prosecution.
In his free time, Nick enjoys playing music and cheering for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He is a classically trained opera singer and loves to perform whenever the opportunity arises.
Abbey M. Waller, J.D.
Associate Attorney
Family Law/Divorce & Civil Litigation
Abbey Waller is an Associate Attorney at the Bagley Law Firm, bringing a remarkable breadth of judicial, academic, and advocacy experience to her practice. Admitted to the State Bar of Georgia as well as the State Bar of Colorado, Abbey joins the firm with a distinguished legal pedigree forged through a clerkship at the North Carolina Supreme Court, published scholarship, and hands-on trial preparation across criminal and civil dockets.
Abbey earned her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health from the University of South Carolina, where she was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health and served as Vice President of Communications for the chapter. She then went on to earn her Juris Doctor from Elon University School of Law in an accelerated two-and-a-half year program. At Elon Law, she earned the highest grade in Torts, Constitutional Law I, and Constitutional Law II, and served as Notes & Comments Editor on the Elon Law Review.
Abbey's judicial experience is exceptional. She served as a Judicial Law Clerk and Staff Attorney for the Cherokee Judicial Circuit Superior Court in Georgia, supporting four Superior Court judges across two counties by drafting orders, managing civil and criminal dockets, and conducting complex legal research. Earlier, she completed a full-time judicial externship with the Honorable Phil Berger Jr. of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, drafting bench memoranda and contributing to written opinions in preparation for monthly oral arguments.
Before joining the Bagley Law Firm, Abbey also served with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) in Alexandria, Virginia, where she authored research comparing international child welfare laws and drafted a global review of artificial intelligence regulations across 96 countries. Her published legal scholarship includes a law review article examining model legislation to address virtual child pornography, published in the St. Thomas Law Review.
Born in Georgia and now proudly calling Colorado home, Abbey brings to the Bagley Law Firm a passion for justice that has taken her from state supreme courts to international human rights organizations. She is a committed, detail-oriented advocate whose clients benefit from her judicial perspective, research expertise, and proven ability to perform under pressure.
Madison Waldrep, J.D.
Associate Attorney
Family Law/Divorce, Criminal Defense & Civil Litigation
Madison Waldrep is an Associate Attorney at the Bagley Law Firm, where her practice focuses on family law, criminal defense and civil rights litigation. A Colorado native, Madison brings a rare combination of courtroom experience and intellectual rigor to her advocacy — qualities she developed through immersive legal training on the east coast before returning home to serve clients on the Front Range.
Madison earned her Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, graduating with a major in Apparel Merchandising and a minor in French. She then pursued her legal education at New England Law (Boston, MA), earning her Juris Doctor in May 2025, where she distinguished herself academically as a Dean's List honoree every semester throughout her legal studies.
While at New England Law, Madison distinguished herself through extensive hands-on legal training. She served as a legal assistant with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Juvenile Unit in Boston, where she stood on behalf of the Commonwealth at arraignments, pleas, and dispositions, and drafted internal memoranda recommending indictment on aggravated charges. She also interned with the Brookline Town Counsel, conducting research on zoning bylaws and state statutes and advising local government on matters of regulatory compliance.
Most significantly, Madison served as a clerk and associate attorney with a prominent civil rights firm before joining the Bagley Law Firm. There, she drafted Tenth Circuit appellate briefs, filed motions, reviewed voluminous discovery records, and appeared in court on behalf of clients at pleas, trials, and pretrial conferences. Madison is no stranger to high-stakes litigation, having conducted extensive document review and research on matters involving qualified immunity, spoliation, and discovery disputes.
Outside the courtroom, Madison enjoys the Colorado outdoors and brings the same competitive spirit to her personal endeavors that she brings to her clients' cases.