A History of Flanders, Elsberg, Herber & Dunn, LLC
Rooted in Longmont: More Than 150 Years of Client-First Legal Service
One firm. One street. One hundred and fifty years.
When Colonel Byron Leander Carr walked from Greeley to Longmont in 1871 to join the newly formed Chicago-Colorado Colony, he was laying the foundation for what would become one of the oldest law firms west of the Mississippi River. More than 150 years later, that firm—now known as Flanders, Elsberg, Herber & Dunn, LLC—still stands at 401 Main Street in Longmont, a witness and servant to the community through every chapter of its history.
A Town and a Firm Born Together
In the summer of 1871, the Chicago-Colorado Colony was established, eventually receiving the name Longmont for the stunning view of Longs Peak to the west. That same year, Byron Leander Carr (1842–1899)—a Civil War veteran who lost his arm in the last battle at Appomattox, a teacher who became the first Longmont public schoolmaster, and a lawyer—walked into Longmont with fellow lawyer Charles E. Day. Together they secured a loan from bankers conducting business on the side of the road using a dry goods box for a desk and opened a law practice at the St. Vrain Hotel on the east side of the 300 block of Main Street.
The hotel burned to the ground in 1879 when a fire started at a bakery on Main Street. Citizens even saw charred legal documents in the streets after the fire burned down the hotel and the law firm with it. The firm was forced to begin the first of many moves that would carry it up and down Main Street over the decades. From the ashes of the St. Vrain Hotel, the firm relocated successively to the Moore and Dell Building, the Union Block Building, 369 Main Street, 321 Main Street, the Cor and Bardill Building, and then 323 Main Street in 1951. In 1964, the firm found its permanent home at 401 Main Street in the First National Bank Building in the heart of downtown Longmont.
Carr wasted no time making himself indispensable to his new community. His firm served as the sole land agent for the Colony and handled real estate transactions for farm lots for sale in the area. Carr also presented Longmont’s petition for incorporation to the County Commissioners and became the 2nd Judicial District Attorney in 1872. In 1875–76, Carr served as one of thirty-nine delegates, and the only Longmont delegate, to the Colorado Constitutional Convention where he drafted the state’s foundational water law provisions, earning the lasting title “father of Colorado irrigation law.” After serving as Attorney General of the State of Colorado, Carr returned to his Longmont firm.
Longmont’s Main Street — Through the Decades
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Main Street, c. 1900-1904 -
East Side, 300 Block Main Street, c. 1906-1920
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4th & Main, c. 1918-1921
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Main Street Looking North, 1936
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Parade on Main Street, c. 1956-1959
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Aerial View Main Street 300 Block 1970
Four Generations in One Firm
Franklin Pearce (F.P.) Secor
Partner From 1881
In 1881, Franklin Pearce (F.P.) Secor (1852–1930) joined the firm after reading law under Carr’s supervision, and the partnership soon became Carr & Secor. F.P. Secor proved to be one of Longmont’s most consequential citizens. He was elected as county judge and helped found the city’s first municipally owned electrical utility. This provided free porch lights for all Longmont homes and earned Longmont its nickname “the city of lights.” He also served as Mayor of Longmont from 1909 to 1910 and rose to first assistant Attorney General of Colorado under Carr.
Perhaps most remarkably, in 1927, F.P. Secor and his close friend Frederick Walter Flanders organized the community opposition that threw the Ku Klux Klan out of Longmont’s city government. The Klan had seized control of the City Council in 1925 and marched openly through the streets. Secor and Flanders rallied a coalition of Longmont residents to vote them out—a moment of civic courage that defined this firm’s character for generations to come.
Gray Secor
Partner From 1907
F.P. Secor’s son, Gray Secor (1884–1965), joined the firm in 1907 and practiced there for fifty-eight years. Gray believed deeply that the law was meant for ordinary people and used every legal means possible to simplify procedures and keep costs reasonable for his clients.
During the Great Depression, when farmers across Boulder County faced losing their land to tax sales, Gray quietly bid on their tax deeds himself, and always allowed every farmer to redeem their property long after the legal deadline had passed. The farms recovered; the families stayed. It was, as John C. Flanders later recalled, the firm’s philosophy of taking care of clients made tangible.
Laurence Burdette Flanders, Jr.
Partner From 1940
Laurence Burdette Flanders, Jr. (1917–2008), Gray Secor’s nephew and the grandson of F.P. Secor, graduated first in his class at the University of Colorado Law School in 1940, then served three years in the U.S. Navy during WWII aboard the battleship U.S.S. Nevada, including at Normandy on D-Day and at Okinawa. Laurence Flanders returned to the firm after the war. He and Ted Schey, a partner of the other major law firm in town, used to meet at the Longmont Drug for coffee every day to discuss cases they represented for opposing clients and try to work out a solution that was best for both clients. They said that for twenty to thirty years no lawsuits went to trial out of Longmont because of their commitment to civility and collegiality.
John C. Flanders
Partner From 1970
John C. Flanders (1945–2026), Laurence Flanders’ son, graduated from Stanford University and the University of Colorado Law School before joining the firm in 1970. He practiced at 401 Main Street for more than four decades, many of those years alongside firm partner R. Lee Elsberg. John Flanders once met with feuding farmers in a kitchen with a six-pack and before he left, they realized they didn’t want to have a dispute after all.
From F.P. Secor in 1881 to John Flanders in 1970, four generations of the same family had now called this firm home. This is a thread of continuity that may be unmatched in Colorado legal history.
The Firm Today
On May 1, 2010, Flanders, Elsberg & Dunn, LLC merged with Herber & Nash, P.C., bringing together nine attorneys and significantly expanding the firm’s capacity to serve Boulder County clients. Through every name change, two things have remained the same—a presence on Main Street and a commitment to putting clients first.
Since 1964, the firm’s home has been 401 Main Street, and the firm’s support staff reflects the same staying power: average tenure has historically exceeded fifteen years. This is an institution that treats everyone, staff and client alike, as neighbors worth investing in. Longmont has grown from a small colony to a city of more than ninety thousand, and the firm has grown with it, guided by the same commitment to community that a one-armed Civil War veteran carried into a frontier hotel on Main Street 150 years ago.
Experienced Attorneys
Since 1871, Flanders, Elsberg, Herber & Dunn, LLC has thrived as Northern Colorado's trusted law firm, delivering exceptional legal representation, personalized service, and clear communication. Discover the difference our knowledgeable local attorneys can make for you. Contact our Longmont office today at 303-776-5380 or online
