Kris J. Kostolansky

Kris Kostolansky counsels businesses, and represents their interests in court in intellectual property, commercial contract, business tort, ‎and employment law disputes. He works with companies to implement best business practices to ‎avoid litigation and streamline business operations. Kris has tried numerous cases, both jury and ‎non-jury.

More About Kris J. Kostolansky

Education

• J.D., cum laude, Boston University School of Law, 1980
• B.A., magna cum laude, University of Michigan, 1977

Bar Admissions

• Wyoming, 1992
• Colorado, 1984
• Ohio, 1980

Court Admissions

• Wyoming Supreme Court
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
• Colorado Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
• Ohio Supreme Court
• Northern District of Ohio
• U.S. District Court

Community

• Denver, Colorado, Ohio, and Wyoming Bar Associations, Member

Representative Matters

Business Litigation

• Lead counsel in a 3 week jury trial in Meeker, Colorado, defending a developer and his family ranch against a $31.6 million tort/contract claim. The jury awarded $1 in nominal damages. October, 2020.
• Lead counsel in a 8 day New York City Arbitration before retired SDNY Judge Shira Scheindlin. Obtained a multimillion award on behalf of two executives previously denied phantom stock benefits. 2020.
• Lead counsel for petroleum corporation in price-fixing antitrust litigation. Successfully settled 2019. 
• Lead counsel for the largest minority shareholder in nationwide franchise company. Case filed in Wyoming State Court; successfully settled 2020.  
• Lead counsel in arbitration involving multimillion-dollar arbitration regarding breach of partnership agreement. 2016.
• Obtained multimillion-dollar award in arbitration regarding breach of partnership agreement. 2015.
• Obtained and affirmed on three appeals a multimillion-dollar verdicts for client in a multi-jurisdictional business tort dispute. 2019.
• Obtained reversal of trial court judgment limiting First Amendment rights. 2013.
• Lead counsel for a small information technology firm in a complex breach of outsourcing contract action ‎against a Fortune 50 company. Multimillion-dollar verdict obtained in arbitration.

IP Litigation

• Counsel for patent owner in Smart Card credit card litigation. Two cases; District of Colorado; resolved successfully. 2017.
• Lead counsel for patent owner and apparel manufacturer. Central District of California; case resolved successfully. 2017.
• Patent counsel for defendant distributors of lithium-ion batteries used in portable computers and other electronic devices. District of Colorado; case dismissed on motion. 2016.
• Counsel for company in patent litigation regarding the extraction of copper during the mining process (Northern District of Arizona).
• Lead counsel in trademark infringement action brought on behalf of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. District of Colorado; case resolved successfully. 2015.
• Lead counsel for company in extensively litigated business methods patent case regarding the selection of health care providers. District of Colorado; case resolved successfully. 2015.
• Lead counsel for one of Canada's largest engineering and construction firms in a breach of ‎contract/fraud case involving new technology in the mining industry. District of Wyoming; case ‎resolved successfully.
• Counsel for company in litigation protecting trade secrets with patent overtones in the fetal bovine serum industry.
• Lead counsel in a complex/copyright and trademark case expanding the rights of intellectual ‎property holders. Health Grades, Inc. v. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Inc., 634 F.Supp.2d 1226 (D. ‎Colo. 2009).
• Obtained state court jury verdict in favor of a Denver-based technology company for theft of trade secrets. 2011.
• Counsel for nationwide architectural design firm in litigation against nationwide building products company for copyright infringement, favorable settlement.

Employment Litigation and Counseling 

• Lead counsel for United Air Lines, Inc. in the first Americans With Disabilities Act case taken to trial by ‎that company. Jury returned a defense verdict.
• Set precedent beneficial to all employers in the Rocky Mountain Region by persuading the Tenth Circuit ‎Court of Appeals that disparate impact analysis may not be used to prove age discrimination. Ellis v. United Air Lines, Inc., 73 F.3d 999 (10th Cir. 1996). Ten years later, the United States Supreme ‎Court interpreted the ADEA to permit such claims.
• Counseled more than one hundred businesses and individuals in connection with non-competition and ‎trade secret issues involving a host of industries, including, internet advertising, aerospace, ‎construction, broker-dealer relationships, in-house counsel, specialty chemicals, manufacturing, product distribution, ‎packaging, sporting goods, healthcare, landscaping, employee placement/staffing, insurance brokerage, internet ratings, and veterinary medicine. Lead counsel in numerous jury and non-jury trials and preliminary injunction hearings regarding non-competition agreements.

Class Action Litigation

• Representative cases include: foodborne illness, price-fixing, and bank fraud.

News

Publications

Client Alerts

Blog Posts

Events

• Speaker, Lewis Roca 2016-18 Employer Roundtables
• Lecturer at numerous corporate-sponsored seminars involving employment law issues, ‎with a focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other Federal and state statutes.