Ernst Legal Group, LLC

Focus and practice areas

Ernst Legal Group works in a narrow slice of civil litigation. The firm handles defamation cases, education law matters, and disputes over speech and due process rights. Those areas overlap more than they might appear to at first glance.

Defamation work at the firm covers both libel and slander under Colorado law. The firm represents people who say they've been defamed. It also defends people accused of defamation, which is a less common posture for a small firm to take on.

The education side includes Title IX matters, student discipline, and tenure disputes. The firm represents professors, students facing expulsion or disciplinary hearings, and families of K-12 students. First Amendment and media law round out the list.

Who the firm's clients are

The firm names businesses, individuals, students, and teachers among its clients. That spread makes sense given the practice areas. A defamation claim can arrive from a business protecting its reputation or from a private person named in a post.

In my opinion, the willingness to take both sides of a defamation case says something useful about how the firm approaches the work. Plaintiff-only defamation practices are easier to market. Handling the defense side requires a different set of arguments and a different comfort level with First Amendment law.

How the team is built

Ernst Legal Group is led by Dan Ernst, its principal attorney. He carries both a J.D. and a Ph.D., and the site lists him as the attorney directing the firm's practice.

Ernst has practiced as a civil litigator for ten years since graduating from NYU Law. Before law, he taught philosophy and international law as a professor at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, Korea. His academic path started with a B.A. in physics from U.C. Berkeley, followed by a doctorate in political philosophy from Yale.

That background is unusual for a litigator. Physics, then political philosophy, then law, with a teaching post between the doctorate and the bar.

Why the academic history matters here

Education law cases often turn on university procedure. A Title IX hearing, a tenure denial, and a student conduct board all operate inside institutional rules that outsiders rarely encounter. Someone who has held a faculty appointment has seen how those bodies function from the inside.

The same applies to defamation and First Amendment work. Both fields ask courts to weigh speech against harm, and the doctrine draws heavily on political theory. A doctorate in that subject is directly relevant to the arguments a lawyer makes in these cases.

The site names one attorney. Prospective clients contacting Ernst Legal Group should expect to work with him on their matter.

Where the firm litigates

The firm is based in Denver and serves clients across Colorado. Its listed courts include Colorado state and federal courts, the Colorado Court of Appeals, and the Colorado Supreme Court.

Appellate practice at both levels is worth noting. Defamation and First Amendment law move through appellate decisions, and a firm working in these areas needs to be able to follow a case up when the trial result requires it.

The Colorado focus is clear from the firm's own description. Defamation law varies by state, and a practice built around Colorado statutes and Colorado courts is working within one body of law rather than spreading across several.

What the record shows

Ernst Legal Group has operated since 2019. That gives the firm several years of independent practice, on top of Ernst's decade as a civil litigator.

The firm maintains company pages on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. Its website describes practice areas in plain terms and identifies the attorney handling the work.

As a reviewer, the thing I look for in a listing like this one is whether the stated focus matches the stated credentials. Here it does. A firm claiming defamation, education law, and First Amendment work, led by an attorney with a law degree, a political philosophy doctorate, and a former faculty appointment, presents a consistent picture.

Reading the practice area list

The listed areas cluster tightly. Defamation, libel, slander, Title IX, education law, First Amendment, due process, and media law all concern what people say about each other and what institutions may do in response.

Due process appears alongside the education work for a reason. A student facing expulsion and a professor facing tenure revocation both have procedural rights, and enforcing those rights is often the substance of the case.

Media law connects to the defamation practice. Publishers, broadcasters, and online platforms face defamation exposure, and the legal questions they encounter sit in the same area of law.

What prospective clients can expect

The firm handles matters at the trial level and on appeal, within Colorado. Its work covers civil disputes, and its subject matter is speech, reputation, and educational institutions.

Anyone dealing with a university disciplinary process, a Title IX complaint, a tenure dispute, or a K-12 school matter falls within what Ernst Legal Group describes doing. The same goes for someone facing a defamation claim or considering bringing one.

The firm's small size means direct contact with the attorney handling the case. Clients working with a solo practice deal with the lawyer who knows the file.

Ernst Legal Group opened in Denver in 2019 and continues to practice defamation, education law, and First Amendment litigation in Colorado courts.