Qualifications

Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell handles trials, appeals, arbitrations, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution involving complex civil litigation, including class actions and multidistrict litigation, on a local, regional, and national scale. Our qualifications to provide these legal services effectively and efficiently include the following.

• Our client base is made up of many of the best-known companies, including several of the current Fortune 100, and many more of the Fortune 500.
• We have significant litigation experience across multiple practice areas in a wide variety of industries.
• We have a nationally recognized ability to try high-stakes business litigation cases throughout the country. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in 15 states and the District of Columbia, have served as lead trial counsel in all 50 states, and have tried cases to verdict in 40 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.
• We have appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, 11 of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, 65 of the 94 U.S. District Courts, over a dozen state supreme courts, and several federal regulatory agencies.
• Our attorneys are widely recognized leaders in the development of case law in several areas of major importance to the business community, including punitive damages, federal preemption, and the use and admissibility of expert evidence.
• Our trial practice emphasizes "difficult cases in difficult places." We have successfully defended corporations in notorious "plaintiffs' jurisdictions" nationwide.
• The cases we try are often pivotal, influencing legal interpretations and shaping business decisions.
• Six of WTO's 27 partners have been elected Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Firm Chairman Mike O'Donnell is the Chair of ACTL in Colorado.
• Martindale-Hubbell has awarded the AV^® Peer Review Rating to 78% of our partners.
• Chambers USA 2010 ranks WTO among the top 12 product liability litigation firms in the U.S., and among the top four commercial litigation firms in Colorado.
• Chambers USA 2010 includes seven WTO partners in its general commercial, product liability, and employment listings.
• Best Lawyers^® 2010 includes 10 WTO partners and ranks WTO tied for first in Colorado in personal-injury litigation and number one in product-liability litigation.
• Colorado Super Lawyers^® 2010 lists 16 WTO partners. Seven are among the top 50 lawyers in Colorado, and three of these seven have been on the top 10 list multiple times, including in 2010.
• The Legal 500 U.S. 2010 ranks WTO among the top 10 law firms nationally and lists seven WTO partners in the areas of product-liability and mass-tort defense in the automotive and consumer-products industries.
• Over 60% of WTO associates have served a federal or state appellate judicial clerkship.
• We maintain a 1:1 partner to paralegal ratio for maximum efficiency.
• We retain in-house trial consultants at no expense to our clients and have excellent relationships with other trial consultants.
• The firm maintains a matter-centric document management system.
• WTO is a member of The Network of Trial Law Firms, an international network of 24 trial law firms and over 6,000 lawyers. As a member, we regularly co-host or co-sponsor legal education seminars for litigators and the clients we invite as our guests, at no cost to our clients.
• The Denver Business Journal named the firm the number one "Best Place to Work in Denver" in 2008 and number two in 2009 in the large-company category, and the highest rated law firm in all size categories.
• In 2010, the Denver Business Journal awarded WTO its Partners in Philanthropy award in the medium-business category.

For more information about our capabilities, please contact Michael O'Donnell, Chairman, at 303.244.1850 or odonnell@wtotrial.com.