Erin Frohardt Tatman

Associate

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P 303.244.1920
| F 303.244.1879

Education

Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 2012, cum laude
Order of the Coif
Northwestern Law Review, Articles Editor
Colgate University, B.A., 2007, Chemistry

Practice Areas

Industries

Erin F. Tatman focuses her practice on the defense of professional liability and product liability claims. Her professional liability clients include healthcare professionals and institutions, lawyers, and law firms. Erin also defends corporations against product liability and consumer fraud and injury lawsuits, including concussion and traumatic brain injury cases. A chemist by training, Erin is at home debunking plaintiffs’ bad science and developing scientifically sound defenses for her clients.

Prior to joining Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell in 2013, Erin served as a judicial law clerk to The Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Erin has also worked as a land assistant for a large oil and gas company in Colorado and as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health Imaging Probe Development Center and Laboratory of Computational Biophysics.

Legal Memberships, Activities, and Honors

Colorado Rising Stars
    Professional Liability Defense, 2016-2018
Legal Aid Foundation
   Associate Advisory Board, 2015-present
   Associates Campaign Representative, 2015-present
Colorado Women's Bar Association
Colorado Bar Association
Denver Bar Association

Community Memberships, Activities, and Honors

Denver Kids Inc., 2015-present
   Mentor, Spring 2018
   Board of Directors Development Task Force
   Young Professionals Council, Vice Chair, 2018-2019
   YPC Networking & Professional Development Chair, 2017-2018

Personal Interests

Climbing, crossword puzzles, and camping with her husband and dogs

Erin F. Tatman defends clients against professional liability and product liability lawsuits. Her clients include individual healthcare providers, healthcare organizations, lawyers, and law firms. Erin also defends corporations against product liability claims, including class actions. Colorado Super Lawyers has named Erin a Rising Star for three straight years.

Representative Cases Professional Liability Professional Liability

Hired two weeks before trial to defend a client in Pennsylvania against medical malpractice and negligence claims. The case settled during voir dire for well under half the plaintiff's demand.
Hired at the start of expert discovery in Washington to defend a healthcare provider against malpractice and negligence claims brought by a patient who suffered a stroke. The case settled extremely favorably just before trial.
Won motion to compel plaintiffs' privilege documents in a legal malpractice dispute in Illinois and defended the motion to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Successfully defended a physician and hospital in a birth trauma case in Illinois. Handled damages claims, prepared defense witnesses, and conducted a mock trial. The case settled a month before trial on terms that saved WTO's client eight figures. The client was extremely pleased.

Product Liability Product Liability

Successfully settled claims against a motorized wheelchair manufacturer in Connecticut state court.
Hadjih v. Evenflo (D. Colo. 2015) - Won a complete defense jury verdict in federal court for Evenflo in a $15 million failure-to-warn trial arising out of permanent injuries to a child involved in an accident while riding in an Evenflo infant seat. This was the retrial of one claim from a 2012 case, which WTO won on the issues of design defect and consumer expectation. Failure-to-warn was taken from the jury on directed verdict, then appealed to the Tenth Circuit and sent back to the trial court for jury consideration.
Defended a medical device maker against product liability and wrongful death claims involving a fire that allegedly broke out in the vicinity of a wheelchair manufactured by the company. The case settled favorably for WTO's client.

Class Actions Class Actions

Represented a major commercial insurer in nationwide concussion and traumatic brain injury class action litigation involving the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Hockey League, and U.S. Soccer Federation.
Snyder v. ACORD, 2016 WL 192270 (D. Colo.) - Successfully represented seven codefendants in a property insurance class action lawsuit in Colorado. Plaintiffs claimed they were systematically underinsured in a "monumental" conspiracy, in violation of federal RICO and antitrust laws, and involving virtually all property insurers in Colorado as well as industry trade groups. WTO served as liaison committee counsel, and the joint defense group ultimately won its motion to dismiss.
Represented Whirlpool Corp. in various consumer product class action matters nationwide.
Represented Farmers Insurance in two Washington insurance class actions alleging unrepairable damage claims under UIM property-damage coverage.
Cortez v. USAA CIC - Won summary judgment for USAA based on a plaintiff's lack of standing in a putative class action regarding the contractual time limitation for medical payments coverage.

Other Relevant Experience Other Relevant Experience

Defended against claims in New Mexico that WTO's client failed to appropriately assess the risk represented by two siblings who killed their foster mother.
Successfully represented franchisor Comfort Dental Group in a dispute in which a subfranchisor challenged the legality of the underlying business model. WTO also squashed follow-on litigation involving a complex lease dispute.

Bar and Court Admissions

Colorado
Illinois
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit