practice areas

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Bankruptcy

Business Transactions

Corporate Securities

Domestic and Family Law

Employee Benefits and Retirement Plans

Environmental Law

Financial Institutions

Health Care

Intellectual Property and Technology

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Labor and Employment

Mergers and Acquisitions

Nonprofit, Tax Exempt Organizations

Property Tax

Real Estate

Tax

Venture Capital

Wills, Trusts Estate Planning and Probate

Our Litigation Practice Group has extensive experience in state and federal courts, both at the trial and appellate levels, and frequently represents clients before local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. We also have an active appellate practice, offering clients creative approaches to the presentation of issues on appeal. Recognizing the increasing cost of litigation, we have substantial experience with the techniques and procedures of mediation and arbitration and, when appropriate, encourage the use of these procedures to achieve the client’s objectives by the most efficient means. Our arbitration experience includes the representation of securities brokers and dealers in disputes regarding investment advice and the issuance, purchase and sale of securities, representation of employers and employees in labor and employment disputes, representation of builders and owners in disputes concerning residential and commercial construction, and other matters.

The Broad Spectrum of our Litigation Practice
The depth and breadth of our collective experience and abilities enables us to provide cost-effective, result-oriented advocacy to our clients in labor and employment matters, corporate and securities issues, insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes, environmental problems, products liability litigation, probate and estate controversies, adversary proceedings in bankruptcy cases, banking and lender liability disputes, real estate development and zoning issues, construction litigation and arbitration, franchise and distributorship matters, landlord and tenant relationships, family law disputes, intellectual property and trademark controversies, tax litigation, white collar (primarily securities and accounting-related) criminal defense, and other matters requiring skilled advocacy. In addition to advocating the interests of our clients in court and before administrative agencies, we take pride in the support that our Litigation Practice Group offers to our other practice groups to assist clients in legal compliance, assessing risks and developing strategies for avoiding litigation.

Litigation Practice Areas

Real Estate and Construction Complimentary to our substantial real estate practice, we have extensive experience in the trial and arbitration of disputes concerning zoning and development matters, building and construction contracts, construction defects, purchase and sale transactions, foreclosures, landlord-tenant relations, and title and ownership disputes.

Business and Commercial We handle a wide variety of matters relating to all types of business entities and business transactions, including disputes resulting from the formation and dissolution of business entities, mergers and acquisitions, business reorganizations, securities issues, breach of contract disputes, business torts, and collection matters.

Labor and Employment As part of our labor and employment practice, we have extensive experience in litigating labor and employment cases in federal and state courts, and before governmental agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Our experience encompasses disputes arising out of wrongful discharge, employment discrimination, compensation issues, employee pension and benefit claims, and employment contracts, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, labor-management disputes, and all other aspects of labor and employment law. Our attorneys who emphasize labor and employment law also routinely counsel our clients on compliance and preventative measures regarding the federal Civil Rights Act and Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, wage and hour laws, occupational and safety issues, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, and a multitude of other labor and employment statutes and regulations.

Intellectual Property We represent clients in trademark, trade secret, unfair competition and copyright matters. Our litigation attorneys compliment and support this practice by advocating the intellectual property rights of our clients in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. We also assist our clients in enforcing their rights under design patents and in defending against trademark infringement claims.

Probate, Estate, and Tax The Firm engages in a comprehensive probate and estate and tax practice and members of the litigation department handle litigation in these areas relating to probate and estate disputes, federal and state income and estate tax issues, will contest proceedings, will and trust interpretation controversies, and pre-nuptial agreements.

Family Law We routinely handle a variety of complex domestic issues, including dissolution of marriage, child custody, support, maintenance, division of property, and adoption. We have considerable experience in representing clients in such matters. Because litigation or arbitration of these issues often involves an adversarial examination of the tax, financial, and business affairs of the parties, our lawyers who have specialized knowledge and experience in tax, real estate, and business provide necessary support that is not typically available in the small boutique family law firms.

White Collar DefenseSeveral of our senior litigators have extensive experience representing officers and directors of public companies in federal criminal and SEC investigations. In one recent high-profile case our attorneys successfully represented an officer of a public company in connection with an SEC investigation and concurrent federal investigation into accounting practices at a public company.

Tort and Insurance We frequently represent plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury claims, wrongful death actions, worker’s compensation proceedings and litigation, products liability cases, premises liability suits, and legal and accounting malpractice. We also counsel clients on insurance coverage issues and represent clients in the litigation and arbitration of insurance and re-insurance coverage disputes.

Administrative Law In today’s legal environment many matters are resolved before state and federal administrative agencies. Our lawyers have substantial experience in administrative law and proceedings concerning the chartering and regulation of financial institutions, the licensing and regulation of public utilities and transportation companies, land use planning and zoning issues, environmental matters, and labor and employment.

Bankruptcy We represent debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, trustees and creditors' committees in a wide variety of bankruptcy related litigation, including avoidance actions, discharge and dischargeability actions, contested matters and appeals, in both bankruptcy and federal courts.

Environmental Law We represent clients with environmental issues before stated and federal agencies, as well as in litigation concerning those issues, including matters arising under CERCLA and state remediation legislation.

Financial Institution Law We have substantial experience in matters pertaining to financial institution operations, including card transactions, processing and settlement, payment processing, item processing and related matters, as well as lending issues arising in a variety of commercial contexts and state and federal regulatory issues. We have represented numerous commercial banks, savings and loan associations, mortgage lenders, credit unions, card processors and acquirers and other financial institutions and their customers.

Appellate Practice We represent clients in a variety of appellate matters in both state and federal courts. Our attorneys often appear in the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Representative Cases

Illustrative of the breadth of our litigation practice, we have represented:

• The Insurance Commissioner of the State of Hawaii as liquidator of an insolvent life insurance company in fraud, constructive trust, and professional liability actions brought to recover assets for the benefit of policy holders; our lawyers recovered in excess of $75 million.
• An agency of the Peoples Republic of China as a creditor in bankruptcy proceedings in Denver, Colorado, and as a plaintiff in professional liability litigation against a big six accounting firm.
• A major international tire and wheel manufacturer in products liability litigation.
• A national food concern in a major trademark infringement action;
• A Denver, Colorado company in the enforcement of its design patent and its trade dress and trademark rights under the Lanham Act.
• Four Senators of the Colorado General Assembly who, in an original proceeding in the Colorado Supreme Court, challenged the constitutionality of transportation revenue anticipation notes to be issued by the State of Colorado, without a vote of the people, to finance highway construction; the Court determined that the issuance of the notes without a statewide public vote would violate the Colorado constitution.
• A major manufacturer of pre-stressed concrete products used by the manufacturer in its construction activities to build a parking garage for a third party; in a case of first impression, the Colorado Court of Appeals held that because the manufacturer’s actions in using the products to construct a building fell within activities delineated in the construction statute of repose, the manufacturer was protected from plaintiff’s negligence and strict products liability claims by the statute of repose.
• A self-insurance pool which provides general liability and property insurance to most of the public school districts in Colorado in a reinsurance arbitration against major U. S. reinsurance companies, recovering in excess of $1 million; our attorneys who handled the arbitration also represented the self-insurance pool in litigation against various Lloyd’s of London reinsurance syndicates, recovering in excess of $8 million.
• Telecommunication companies in litigation and arbitration proceedings involving the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including interim compensation disputes between carriers and facilities siting disputes.
• A labor union in successfully defending against the attempt of a major supermarket chain to obtain an injunction to prevent union members from protesting certain actions of their employer.
• Financial institutions in disputes with major credit and debit card processors.
• A corporate plaintiff and its principal shareholder in a fraud and conspiracy action which resulted in multimillion dollar judgments in favor of the entity and the shareholder.
• Numerous owners and developers in construction litigation with general contractors, architects, surveyors, and other construction professionals.
• Securities brokers and dealers in arbitration of disputes concerning investment advice and the issuance, purchase and sale of securities.
• Companies with environmental concerns, including a recently concluded case in the Eastern District of Texas in which we won a judgment of no liability and dismissal in a large CERCLA contribution action.

The attorneys in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Organizations Group include:

Martin D. Buckley
David R. Eason
Richard L. Eason
I.H. Kaiser
Gary M. Kramer
Kenneth S. Kramer
Denise S. Maes
Larry R. Martinez
James R. Nottingham
Bruce E. Rohde
Eugene M. Sprague