Scheuer, Yost & Patterson, P.C. is listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers and The Bond Buyers Municipal Marketplace (Red Book). Firm partners Ralph Scheuer, Mel Yost, John Patterson and Charlotte Hetherington are AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell's Peer Review Ratings.

At Scheuer, Yost & Patterson, P.C., we are dedicated to providing legal services tailored to our clients' individual needs. Our practice areas include banking and finance law, real estate law, general civil litigation, business organizations and commercial law, wealth management, estate planning and will and trusts, insurance law, educational institutions and municipal government representation, domestic relations and personal injury law.

We understand the importance of organization, preparation, commitment and communication. Toward that end, we select our cases carefully and prepare our cases thoroughly. By emphasizing teamwork and coordination with our clients, we ensure regular, complete and candid communication.

The cornerstones of our practice include:

• Selectivity: We strive to achieve positive results, and establish long-term relationships with our clients.
• Awareness: We take the time to fully comprehend our clients' circumstances and objectives. Complex disputes require initiative and creative problem-solving based on a thorough understanding of the issues involved.
• Professionalism: An important feature of our transactional practice is our ability to work well with our clients and other law firms and lawyers. Successful client representation requires negotiation and the ability to develop a consensus among strongly competing interests.
• Timeliness: Timely and thorough analysis, evaluation, and decision-making is important to all facets of our legal work. Effective representation requires careful planning and strategic decision-making.
• Communication: Regular communication with our clients is vital to good representation. We make every effort to keep clients fully informed at all times.
• Flexibility: Our clients range from private individuals to large multi-national corporations. It is important to tailor legal services to each client and to each matter.

Attorneys

Ralph Scheuer, Mel Yost and John Patterson established the present Scheuer, Yost & Patterson in 1993, bringing together three attorneys who each had been practicing law in Santa Fe for approximately two decades. Ralph Scheuer practiced primarily in the areas of business planning, estate planning, wealth management and real estate transactions and development. Mel Yost practiced primarily in the areas of civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution. John Patterson practiced primarily in the areas of banking law and real estate transactions. The three of them combined to establish a well rounded civil practice that provided quality services to their individual and corporate clients, and established the reputation of Scheuer, Yost & Patterson as a well respected and highly experienced Firm.

Charlotte Hetherington joined the firm as a partner in 2003, bringing with her a practice in municipal finance, her general counsel representation of educational institutions and her real estate litigation practice. Christopher Grimmer joined the Firm as an associate in 1998 and became a partner in 2010, primarily practicing in commercial litigation and real estate, business and construction law. In 2006, Tony Ortiz, formerly a partner of Castille and Ortiz, became of counsel and added his practice which includes the representation of educational institutions, municipalities and other governmental entities, as general counsel and litigation counsel.

The three original partners established a general civil practice that has grown to a Firm of ten attorneys while maintaining an emphasis on providing high quality legal representation. The Firm is rated "AV" which is the highest rating of quality for law firms, and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. The transactional department of Scheuer, Yost & Patterson emphasizes real estate and commercial transactions, estate planning, business planning and formation, banking law and tax planning. The litigation department represents clients in general civil litigation with an emphasis on real estate and commercial litigation. The Firm also has a education law practice that provides legal services to educational institutions as well as representation in municipal finance issues. The Firm's diverse group of attorneys provides a wide variety of legal services and representation to individuals, institutional and corporate clients.