Top best Labor Lawyers in ZIP 80401 | 4 available

While my office in in the Lakewood/Golden area, I live in Bennett, Colorado.. My practice focuses on litigation of all types, including construction defects, personal injury, contract disputes, and insurance matters. I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants and have litigated cases through arbitration and in all levels of Colorado courts from county courts up to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.. I was raised in the small town of Plains, Montana in the mountains of western Montana. I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology - Social and Criminal Justice from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, in 1990 and then attended the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis, Minnesota obtaining a Juris Doctorate Degree cum laude in May of 1993. I passed the Colorado Bar Examination and was admitted to practice in Colorado in October of 1993 and was also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in 1993. In 1998 I was admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. I have practiced extensively in both State and Federal Trial Courts in Colorado and have argued appeals before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.. From 1993 through 2001, I worked extensively in the area of civil rights law, pursuing claims before Colorado State administrative bodies and in United States District Court for the District of Colorado related to violations of employee's civil rights, including race and gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and disability discrimination.. In approximately 1999 I began representing homeowners pursuing claims related to construction defects. My firrm, Murray & Damschen, P.C., was formed in March of 2002 to focus on representing home owners and homeowner associations (HOAs) regarding all kinds of construction defect matters including, but not limited to, damages from expansive soils, structural defects and damages, drainage defects, builder's failure to follow engineering recommendations or industry standards, water infiltration, mold, and defective building envelope systems. The firm also handles cases involving real estate transactions in which a seller's has failed to disclose known defects and damages.. Through my years of practice I have also handled numerous personal injury cases, including injuries resulting from automobile accidents, premises liability, negligent security and medical malpractice. I and my firm have worked extensively on insurance-related claims, including bad faith breach of insurance contracts. These cases have involved varying disputes from health care coverage to fire damage to businesses.. I have represented the interests of many individuals and businesses in contract disputes, collection matters and other litigation. I have also represents both landlords and tenants in various disputes.. In addition to my civil litigation practice with Murray & Damschen, P.C., I also accept cases as a Mediator. In January of 2007 I completed 40 hours of Continuing Legal Education training in the theory and practice of mediation. Since that time I have gained experience providing mediation service through various local volunteer agencies. While I mediate all levels of disputes, I offer services at a significantly lower fee schedule in smaller cases in order to encourage parties to mediate cases that may not otherwise be mediated.. I am a Christian and attend Mt. Tabor Baptist Church in Byers, Colorado.

I worked as a Denver Deputy District Attorney for 8 years before going into private practice. I work as a trial lawyer and approach the courtroom with several areas of practice, criminal, personal injury, family law and employment law.. Most recently, I tried Mangus and Colligan v. AMC, LLC and The Lakes at Monaco, LLC in Denver District Court, Colorado, Case No. 09CV3388, the week of September 20, 2010.  A six year old boy drowned in a known dangerous six foot deep pond at the Lakes at Monaco.  His mother had been informed that the ponds were shallow, but they were so treacherous that the fireman who recovered the body needed the assistance of 3 other firemen to get out of the pond.  The defense filed motion after motion which had the effect of making the case difficult to pursue in the pre-trial phase. The jury, however, found zero liability against my plaintiffs and 100% liability against the defendants in awarding the $4,000,000 verdict in only three hours in favor of my clients.. In the civil arena, a number of my cases have been written up in Verdict Search, including Cases of Note in the August 2004 issue. The index lists " Employment - Sexual Harrassment - Hostile Work Environment, Colorado Boss walked around in towel, tried to kiss female employees..." This was Marilyn Ranson v. Paladin Press, No.02-N-1146, U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, Denver, CO. The jury verdict was the maximum compensatory damages under the law and included $50,000 in punitive damages.. Another published jury verdict was Neyer et al., v. Warehouse Liquor Mart, No. 01-CV-3399, Arapahoe District Court, Colorado. Here the jury awarded $3,000,000, the exact amount I asked the jury to award, where two innocent children were killed by a drunken driver who had illegally purchased beer from a local liquor store. I hope this sent a strong message to liquor stores that value profit over the safety of our children.. The important thing is that I will go to trial to get what is required for justice if settlement negotiations do not produce that result.. I do need to put a word about the professional misconduct noted on this site.  It mentions a five month suspension, but in reality, that was never put in effect and I never missed a day of work representing my clients. In that matter, I did not closely supervise an experienced lawyer I had agreed to work with on a case. I was to come in at trial time and do the trial. The other lawyer botched communications and analysis of the law badly and because my name was associated with the case, I was included in the bar review of the matter. It is the only blemish on my professional record. Needless to say, I no longer associated with that lawyer!. My philosophy has always been to vigorously represent my clients.  Judges, other lawyers and former clients refer new clients to me and that is the basis of my practice. In all areas of law, strong representation results in justice for individual clients, who are sometimes overwhelmed by the federal and state prosecutors, or insurance companies who are only interested in flooding a civil litigant in paper to protect their profits.

At Kristofco Law Firm, P.C., we listen to our clients. We understand that while some clients and disputes require litigation, trial, and appeal, not all clients and cases require this same approach. We understand that success comes in many forms and that there is no set formula for the prosecution or defense of a civil lawsuit. While the Firm is prepared and qualified to handle cases through trial and appeal, it is also skilled at achieving our clients’ goals prior to verdict through success in pre-trial hearings, dispositive motions practice, arbitrations, and mediations. Simply put, we believe that successful outcomes are those that meet our clients’ goals.

Experienced Labor attorney serving clients in Lakewood and surrounding areas.