Ms. Gokenbach has been practicing law for over twenty years. She founded Gokenbach Law — a boutique labor and employment defense firm — in 2012 to provide businesses of all sizes with experienced and cost-effective legal representation for employee/employer disputes, government agency actions and other matters involving labor and employment law. Before launching her firm, Ms. Gokenbach was a shareholder with a national Am Law 100 management-side labor and employment firm and previously led the employment group at a large regional law firm in Denver.

Ms. Gokenbach is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale — the highest peer rating standard given to attorneys who are ranked by their peers at the top level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills and ethical standards. She is listed as one of Colorado’s Top 50 Women Lawyers and Colorado’s Top 100 Lawyers by Super Lawyers and has been named a Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment Litigation and a Woman Leader in the Law by ALM’s Corporate Counsel, The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal publications for many years.

Currently, Ms. Gokenbach serves as the Chair of the Amicus Committee and the Chair of the Diversity Committee for Worklaw® Network — an international network of independent management-side labor and employment law firms with more than 350 attorneys in 31 offices across the United States, and in Canada, Europe and India. Since 2014, Gokenbach Law is proud to be the exclusive Colorado member firm with Worklaw® Network.

Ms. Gokenbach enjoys giving back to the legal community through mentoring and is a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), where she teaches other lawyers trial skills at the annual Building Trial Skills: Colorado program and the NITA Women in Trial program.

Education

University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2003

  • General Editor, Denver Law Review
  • National Champion, ATLA Trial Team
  • President, Moot Court Board

University of Denver Daniels College of Business, M.B.A., 2003

San Diego State University, B.S., Statistics, 1996

Bar Admissions

Colorado, 2003

Florida, 2013

U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota

U.S. District Court, District of Utah

Notable Cases & Decisions

  • In 2024, Ms. Gokenbach secured a $1.9 million verdict for a physician client on a breach of good faith and fair dealing claim against private-equity health care companies after a 6-day jury trial
  • In 2023, Ms. Gokenbach successfully argued before the Colorado Court of Appeals in a published decision to reverse a district court’s dismissal of a hospitality client’s appeal of government agency fines based on the plain and ordinary meaning of statutory language and the principles of due process and fundamental fairness
  • In 2017, Ms. Gokenbach successfully argued before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in a published decision to affirm a district court’s dismissal of a collective action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) against a catering client, including invalidation of a tip-credit regulation that exceeded agency authority
  • In 2016, Ms. Gokenbach successfully argued before the Colorado Court of Appeals to reverse a government agency’s unemployment tax liability determination involving the classification of workers against a pet care services client
  • Ms. Gokenbach’s other litigation successes include:
    • Obtained defense verdict in favor of an audio/visual (AV) client after a 5-day jury trial, prevailing on a counterclaim for civil theft and defeating an alleged claim of harassment
    • Obtained defense judgment in favor of a real estate developer client after a 3-day bench trial, defeating alleged claims of unpaid wages and compensation
    • Obtained defense award in favor of insurance client after a 2-day arbitration, defeating an alleged claim for unpaid overtime
    • Obtained summary judgment and order of sanctions for discovery abuses in favor of energy company client in a federal lawsuit alleging Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 race discrimination claims
    • Obtained dismissal of a federal lawsuit brought against a quick-service restaurant client for alleged Title VII national origin discrimination and age discrimination claims
    • Obtained dismissal of misappropriation of trade secrets claim in favor of technology client