Marissa S. Ronk

Biography

Cases

• Serving as national counsel for a major international company in litigation involving over 180 cases of alleged PCB exposure.
• Representing a large CBD manufacturer in multimillion-dollar commercial litigation involving breach of contract issues.
• Won a $1.25 billion exit fee dispute for an electric distributor against its generation and transmission provider. The groundbreaking decision followed one of the first remote trials in the nation in the COVID-19 era.
• Serving as lead national trial counsel to a major U.S. distributor of vaping products in federal multidistrict litigation in California. WTO is liaison counsel to all of the distributor defendants in the litigation.
• Represent a major international oil and gas company in litigation regarding leasehold rights across hundreds of thousands of acres.
• Won an "extraordinary remedy" from the Colorado Supreme Court reversing a trial-court order implying a waiver of the attorney-client privilege. The unanimous opinion establishes that the mere "fact that privileged information might become relevant in a given lawsuit could not alone be enough to establish an implied waiver."
• Recovered all funds claimed in a breach of contract dispute between two Fortune 20 companies.
• Represented a Fortune 20 company in an international arbitration hearing that resulted in a settlement, after the hearing concluded, for more than 90% of our client's claim.
• Won a motion to dismiss with prejudice a putative class action in federal court in California. The plaintiff alleged violations of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and California's Rosenthal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
• Won a Rule 21 petition (an "extraordinary remedy") for Ford to the Colorado Supreme Court in a case involving general jurisdiction and venue claims. The opinion makes it harder for companies with no connection to Colorado to be sued in the state.
• Represent Skyjack Inc. as national trial counsel in product liability cases involving aerial lift and boom equipment.
• Serve as SWAT counsel for a major insurer for healthcare professional liability.
• Represented a major Colorado manufacturer in its winning motion to dismiss class action litigation alleging illegal pesticide use.
• Defended several manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup in a multimillion dollar dispute in which plaintiff alleged her consumption of the product caused her diabetes. The Western District of New York dismissed the complaint with prejudice and that dismissal was upheld by the Second Circuit.
• Represented multiple corporations in various class action matters alleging recording of calls in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. Negotiated dismissal of them all for a nuisance fee.
• Defended national automobile manufacturer in putative class action alleging economic damage resulting from repairs to driver's seat. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their case without payment.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

Articles

• "Trial by Webcam: Tips From a Firsthand Experience," Law360, (May 28, 2020).
• "The Affordable Care Act and Colorado's Collateral Source Rule,"Co-Authored, Denver Law Journal, (June 21, 2016).

Other Articles/Presentations

• "Colorado Supreme Court, following US Supreme Court's ‘Bauman,' Rejects Broad General-Jurisdiction Theory," Washington Legal Foundation's The Legal Pulse, (October 31, 2016).
• "WTO WILLS: Taking Ownership of Your Career," (March 2, 2016).

Press

• Benchmark Litigation 2021 Includes 23 WTO Lawyers
• Lessons Learned From One of Nation's First Virtual Trials
• Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Elects Six New Partners
• WTO Leads Top 100 in Colorado Super Lawyers
• Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Welcomes Three Associates
• Law Week Colorado, "WTO Brings on Three Associates," June 24, 2015.

Other Experience

Legal Memberships, Activities, and Honors

Personal Interests