Kristeen graduated from the University of Wyoming with an undergraduate degree in zoology/physiology. After college, she spent two years in Washington, D.C. as an aide to a United States Senator. She is a 2001 honor graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law. Prior to joining the Spence Law Firm in 2003, she served as a law clerk at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Natrona County District Court of Wyoming. She became a partner in 2010.
Since joining the firm, Kristeen has represented clients injured or killed while working for big industries, including drilling rigs, big oil and gas companies, saw mills, and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. She has represented clients catastrophically injured or killed in car, truck, and passenger bus collisions, and in cases involving medical negligence and defamation.
CASE HIGHLIGHTS
Kristeen has an unparalleled dedication to seeking justice for her clients. Her tenacity to discover the truth in complex factual situations has been her professional trademark. She settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Halliburton after her personal investigation of hundreds of thousands of documents revealed a systematic under-reporting of the number of hours driven by commercial drivers, resulting in driver fatigue, and ultimately, the death of her clients’ brother.
She represented the family of a twenty-six year old man who died by electrocution while working for a drilling company in the Jonah Field in southwest Wyoming. Government investigators were unable to determine how the electrocution happened. During Kristeen’s investigation into the man’s death, she personally drove hundreds of miles to interview witnesses, piece together conflicting stories, and ultimately, she uncovered evidence that supervisors of the rig worked to cover up their fault in the young man’s death. The case settled soon thereafter and was reported in the New York Times.
Kristeen is currently investigating the rights of landowners against big oil companies stemming from royalty and contract disputes in hot drilling areas across the country, including the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana, the Niobrara Shale in Wyoming, and other places throughout the country.
