Dean R. Vanatta was the founder of Vanatta, Sullan, Sandgrund, Sullan & Smith, P.C., the firm's name before it was changed in October, 2007 to Sullan², Sandgrund, Smith & Perczak, P.C.  Mr. Vanatta was a respected Colorado trial attorney and mentor to many young lawyers.  He is now retired from the practice of law.

Dean was born in Iowa in 1939, moved to Colorado at the age of seven, and has lived in Colorado ever since. He attended the University of Colorado, obtaining a B.S. in Business Administration in 1962 and a L.L.B. in 1965. He was a member of the Board of Editors of the University of Colorado Law Review where he authored several case notes and legal articles. He was managing editor of the Law Review in 1965. He has post graduate training in alternative dispute resolution from CDR Associates in Boulder, Colorado, the American Arbitration Association, and JAMS-ENDISPUTE. He was admitted to practice before all Colorado courts, the U.S. District Court, the United States Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

After graduating from law school in Boulder he practiced primarily in insurance defense and bonding work in Denver for several years. His expertise eventually expanded into many other areas including personal injury, property damage, construction defects and disputes, products liability, premises liability, employment discrimination, and insurance and bank litigation. He was also an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange.

In 1984, Mr. Vanatta and Scott Sullan, who had worked as an associate with Mr. Vanatta for several years, formed what became Sullan ² , Sandgrund, Smith & Perczak, P.C. (formerly Vanatta, Sullan, Sandgrund, Sullan & Smith, P.C.) From 1995 to 2001, Mr. Vanatta was on the panel of JAMS-ENDISPUTE, an organization that provides arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution services nationally and internationally. He specialized in construction dispute and construction defect arbitration and mediation. Mr. Vanatta still occasionally provides private mediation, arbitration and expert witness services.

Mr. Vanatta has been active in various charitable activities and is a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries, and the Volunteers of America. He resides with his wife Jerilyn in Castle Pines and Tuscon, enjoying mountain biking, tennis, golf, music, his beautiful grandchildren and the other good things that life has to offer.