Michael Ogborn

Litigation can be brutal. Too often, individuals and businesses suffer needlessly because lawyers insist on doing things “the same old way.” Not with Mike. Mike’s trademark is his relentless pursuit of new and better answers. His hallmark is the recognition that better answers come only with understanding. Not just surface familiarity, but a true appreciation of your world. Mike takes the time to listen, to answer questions, and to ask questions. He doesn’t just ask “where do you want to go?” He gets you there.

As a young lawyer, Mike honed his courtroom presence as a deputy district attorney working for former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, then the Denver District Attorney. Now, as a civil trial lawyer with 30 years of experience, Mike focuses his practice on business litigation, personal injury and construction litigation. Mike brings his leadership and presence to obtain significant verdicts and settlements for his clients. Mike is a past President of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. He is a Colorado Super Lawyer® in the field of Business Litigation. The National Trial Lawyers have included him in the list of Top 100 Trial Lawyers.  Mike understands that not all cases are cases that should be tried, but each case should be prepared as if it will be tried to give the client the best opportunity to achieve a fair or adequate result.

As a former President of the Colorado Trial Lawyers’ Association (CTLA), Mike was the leader of Colorado’s largest plaintiff and consumer law association. Mike has practiced with his father, Murray, since 1996. Murray and Mike were the first father-son team to serve as presidents of the CTLA. Mike currently performs day-to-day management oversight for the Firm of 22 lawyers.

In addition to being active in with his children’s activities and sports, Mike is the past president of his Home Owners Association and now elected to the Metropolitan District serving his community. Mike stays active with all five of his kids. When not working or cheering for his children in their endeavors, he likes to spend time in the gym and ride his motorcycle.

• Colorado, 1991
• Nebraska, 1998
• South Dakota, 2020

• University of Denver Sturm College of Law, J.D.
• University of Colorado at Boulder, B.A. in English

Three decades of litigation experience with over 200 cases tried to a jury.

• Colorado Super Lawyer
• National Trial Lawyers Top 100

• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Colorado Trial Lawyers Association
• The National Trial Lawyers

After the Utah office of a large national law firm mishandled a client’s subdivision application for an 8,650-acre ranch near Park City, Utah, causing the client to lose 40% of its valuable density rights, Mike was an instrumental part of the trial team that obtained one of the largest legal malpractice jury verdicts in recent U.S. history. The jury awarded all of the $21.36 million that Mike requested at trial, but assessed 40% comparative fault against the client, thus reducing the award to $12.8 million. The trial court recently awarded an additional $1.46 million for prejudgment interest. 910 Cattle Company v. Stoel Rives, LLP, Case No. 100907407, Third District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah.

A South Dakota real estate agent and financial advisor representing an elderly couple talked them into rejecting a number of qualified offers for a large ranch the couple owned. Instead, the agent had the couple sell the ranch to the agent for approximately half the amount that had been offered by other potential purchasers. Mike and his partner, Murray Ogborn, presented the case to a jury in Burke, South Dakota, and received a verdict in favor of the clients in the amount of $1,568,200. On remand after appeal, the total award to the client was in excess of $2,000,000 (inclusive of costs and prejudgment interest).

When a construction company discovered that all of its aluminum forms had been stolen and reported a claim to its insurance company, the company’s insurance carrier denied the claim and refused to reimburse the company for the loss of forms. Mike brought suit for insurance bad faith. After a jury trial, the insurance carrier was found to have breached the insurance contract in bad faith, and he construction company was awarded in excess of $900,000.

Vice President of Heritage Greens – Metropolitan District