Law Week Colorado names Will Hauptman a 2023 Up & Coming Lawyer

Denver: Law Week Colorado has featured Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell (WTO) Associate Will Hauptman in its 2023 Up & Coming Lawyers issue. Hauptman was one of only three attorneys honored with the distinction. Nominations focus on professional achievements and commitment to community. 

WTO Associate Will Hauptman

The award highlighted Hauptman’s courtroom successes in the past year. These include his winning argument before the Colorado Court of Appeals and delivering the opening statement in a major federal case. Both cases involved legal malpractice claims. When asked why he focuses on the defense of lawyers and law firms, Hauptman cited the variety. “I have to become an expert of sorts in whatever area of law my clients practice. No two days are the same.” 

The award also emphasizes Hauptman’s volunteer work with the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee. Ethics, Hauptman said, has been ingrained in him for a long time. As an undergraduate, he served as chair for the University of Colorado Honors Council, which adjudicates cases of academic misconduct. “I began thinking about ethics and integrity . . . well before I went to law school.” This interest makes a career in legal malpractice a natural choice. 

Hauptman doesn’t just talk the talk. In selecting him, Law Week highlighted an anecdote from the nomination. In a case filing, opposing counsel shared a specific date with the court. Hauptman realized that date must be a mistake, yet he did not think the court would see it as a mistake. Had the court granted the date, opposing counsel “would have been in a really bad position.” Hauptman called the opposing counsel to alert them to their mistake, and they fixed it  before the court could rule and it would be too late. 

“When Will applied to WTO, the Colorado Supreme Court justice . . . for whom Will clerked called me to tell me we would be making a mistake not to hire Will—and he was right,” said Carolyn Fairless, a co-managing partner at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell. “From day one, Will has earned my trust to handle some of our most challenging cases. He has not just lived up to, but exceeded, our high expectations.”

Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell lawyers have taken more than 1,100 trials and arbitrations to verdict or award and 300 appeals to opinion all across the nation, with exceptional results for our clients. 

Established in 1998, WTO today numbers more than 100 trial lawyers and litigators. The firm represents sophisticated clients in high-stakes civil trials, appeals, and related litigation ranging from complex commercial to class actions to catastrophic torts.