Archive

THE END OF CAPP AND THE RISE OF NEW RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE IN COLORADO The Colorado Supreme Court will end the CAPP rules for new cases effective June 30, 2015 and establish new civil procedure rules effective July 1, 2015. The Colorado Supreme Court is on the march to set new rules of civil […]

In 2012 the Colorado Supreme Court made effective the Civil Access Pilot Project in six counties: Jefferson, Gilpin, Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas.  The alteration to the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure is monumental.  No sensible lawyer will practice in those counties on business actions including those based on contracts, most torts,derivative actions, product liability […]

Litigation, often thought to be driven by financial gain, is frequently driven by vengeance. Litigation and its precursor claim presentation are frequently driven by emotion such as vengeance not reason not even financial gain. Even in the most seemingly pedestrian disputes between companies the underlying motivation for the claim or the defense is personal satisfaction […]

JUDGE ERROR MAKES PREDICTION OF CASE OUTCOME DIFFICULT Judge error makes predicting outcome of case difficult if not impossible. The usual reasons given are the uncertainty of the evidence available, the believability of the witnesses, the obscurity of the law applicable, the quality of representation, the unknown biases of the fact finder and so on. […]

Copyright claims jurisdiction in Colorado state courts – Long v. Cordain In a recent decision the Colorado Court of Appeals decided that a complaint containing copyright related claims was not preempted by the federal Copyright Act and that Colorado State Courts had jurisdiction over such claims. “Long’s complaint advanced four state-law causes of action: breach […]

Colorado Trade Secrets Owners May Use Non-Compete Agreements to Protect Trade Secrets in conjunction with the Colorado Uniform Trade Secrets Act to prevent employees from misappropriating trade secrets. Colorado has enacted two statutes which can be read together to enable an employer to protect its trade secrets. Colorado has a very strong policy favoring the […]

Exploring Trademarks for the General Reader A trademark is a name, sign or symbol used in association with goods or services to indicate to a potential purchaser the source of the goods or service We all are familiar with trademarks even if we are not conscious of them and how they work. The most common […]

Introduction to Patent Law In the United States a patent is the only effective method for an inventor to prevent others from practicing the invention.  Litigation is often necessary to prevent infringement of the patent.  Patent litigation is an expensive and frequently painful process to endure.In the United States a patent is the only effective […]

website article – January 2, 2015 COLORADO PAROLE EVIDENCE RULE The parole evidence rule is a rule of contract law not a rule of evidence. The premise of the rule is the written terms of a contract should not able to be varied by extrinsic evidence including oral (parole) statements made before or during the […]

Arbitration is a form of alternate dispute resolution based on a contract between the parties. Arbitration is based on a contract between the parties.  Arbitration proceedings may permit discovery, live testimony before the arbitrator whose decision, depending on the circumstances, may be binding and enforceable in Court. In both Federal and State Courts arbitration agreements […]