Richard Podoll

Richard B. Podoll, Co-Founder and Partner

• Practice Areas: Commercial Litigation; Construction Litigation; Insurance Litigation; Fraud Litigation; Condominium Litigation; Estate Litigation; Tort Litigation; Business Litigation; Fiduciary Litigation
• Admitted: 1978, Colorado, U.S. District Court, District of Colorado and U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit; 1983, U.S. Supreme Court
• Law School: University of Denver, J.D., 1977
• College: Tufts Univeristy, B.A., cum laude, 1975
• Member: Denver and Colorado Bar Associations, Member - Litigation, Banking Litigation Section
• Born: New York, N.Y., February 13, 1954

Mr. Podoll’s practice is exclusively complex commercial litigation. He has experience in insurance coverage analysis, bad faith insurance litigation as well as in class action litigation.

Mr. Podoll graduated from Tufts University with honors in 1975. In 1977 he graduated from the University of Denver Law School.

Mr. Podoll is a trial lawyer. He has tried numerous cases in State and Federal Court. His practice concentrates on cases relating to bad faith breach of insurance contracts and coverage issues, lender liability cases, breach of fiduciary duty cases, real estate and complex commercial litigation.

Examples of Business & Partnership Disputes, Trial Achievements:

• 1997-A $10.5 million jury verdict in a breach of fiduciary duty case in Denver District Court.
• 1999 - A $2 million judgment in a breach of contract case in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
• 2002 - A $1.1 million judgment in a bad faith breach of insurance case in the Jefferson County District Court.
• 2005 - A $50 million class action settlement in an insurance bad faith case in the United States District for the District of Colorado.
• 2007 - A $2 million class action settlement in a bad faith business practices case in the Northern District of California.
• 2010 - A successful defense at trial of a purported claim of a 10-year non-compete provision in state court in Greeley, Colorado.
• 2012 - A $2 million arbitration award in a lender liability breach of contract case in Dever, Colorado.
• A Tenth Circuit Decision enforcing an insurer's obligation to defend, that led to a $180,000 settlement with an insurer who had refused to honor a $30,000 defense obligation.

Mr. Podoll has settled scores of high-dollar value complex cases for both plaintiffs and defendents that cannot be reported becasue of confidentiality provisions that are typical in settlements of complex litigation.

Guest Lecturer at Harvard Law School

*Mr. Podoll has also been asked to present a lecture to the insurance law class at Harvard Law School on the topic of insurance bad faith during academic years: 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.