Denise M. Chanez is a director and co-founder of Saiz Chanez Sherrell + Kaemper (SC Law). Denise focuses her practice on defending healthcare providers in medical malpractice and long-term care cases. She has defended numerous hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities, as well as physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and administrators throughout the State of New Mexico. She has extensive experience handling all aspects of medical malpractice and long-term care cases at the trial level in both state and federal courts.

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Denise is listed in Best Lawyers in America for her experience and expertise in Litigation – Health Care, and she was named Albuquerque Health Care Litigation Lawyer of the Year in 2020 by Best Lawyers in America. Since 2014, Denise has been listed in Southwest Super Lawyers as both a Rising Star and a Super Lawyer. Denise has also earned the title of Litigation Star in medical malpractice through Benchmark Litigation. In 2016, Denise received the State Bar of New Mexico’s Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year award. 

 

Denise is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Denise served as the co-chair of the State Bar of New Mexico’s Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession for seven years. She is a co-chair of the State Bar’s Arturo Jaramillo Summer Law Clerk Program, which connects diverse law students with legal clerkship opportunities. Denise previously served as the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association’s president from 2013 to 2015. She continues to serve on the Board of the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association Foundation, and she is a longtime chair of the NMHBA Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.

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Denise has received many awards for her diversity work, including the State Bar of New Mexico’s President’s Award and the Mexican American Law Student Association’s Fighting for Justice Award. Denise was also named a Top Lawyer Under 40 by the Hispanic National Bar Association, a Woman of Influence, and a 40 Under Forty recipient by Albuquerque Business First, as well as one of the nation’s “Top 100 Influencers in Law” by The Business Journals.

 

​Denise is proud to be a native New Mexican with roots in southern New Mexico. She was born in Silver City, and she grew up in Las Cruces. She received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude in journalism from the University of New Mexico.

 

After spending several years working for local television stations in Albuquerque and El Paso, Denise decided to pursue a career in law. Denise graduated magna cum laude from the University of the New Mexico School of Law in 2006.

 

Following law school, Denise clerked for the Honorable Edward L. Chávez, former Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Before starting her firm, Denise was a director at one of New Mexico’s largest law firms, where she defended clients in medical malpractice and long-term care cases for nearly 12 years. 

 

Denise enjoys spending time with her family, including her husband, Tim Atler, who is an appellate lawyer, her son, Aiden, and her daughter, Lucía. She loves yoga, watching her children play sports, and reading books.