Personal Injury

Complicated catastrophic injuries, product liability, and medical malpractice.

Personal Injury

• Dangerous Property
• Wrongful Death
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents

Accidents & Personal Injury

• Slip & Fall
• Sports Injuries

Car/Auto Accidents

• Felony Auto Accident

Dangerous Products/Product Liability

• Design Defects
• Manufacturing Defects

Medical Malpractice

• Anesthesia Malpractice
• Birth Injuries and Defects
• Elder and Nursing Home Abuse
• Emergency Room Errors
• HMO Managed Case
• Medication Malpractice
• Prescription/Drug Malpractice
• Surgical Errors
• Wrong Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis
• Nursing Home Negligence
• Spinal Cord Injury

Serious/Catastrophic Injuries

• Amputation
• Birth Injury
• Burn Injury
• Head/Brain Injury
• Paralysis

CO, May 1977
Bar Number: 8037

Colorado State and Federal Courts (1977), Michigan State Courts (by examination - 1983), the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (1981) and the United States Supreme Court (1981).

Faculty of Federal Advocates: Board of Directors, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, member; Board of Directors 2000 to 2004, President's Circle, American Association of Justice (formerly ATLA, member since 1980), American, Colorado, Denver, Michigan Bar Associations, Instructor and Diplomat - National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Thursday Night Bar Volunteer, and Pro Bono Award 1985.

Teaching Positions - Accredited Presentations

• "Civil Law Practice, Jury Trials and Damage Awards in the United States," and "Ski
  Accident in the United States" SKILEX February 2008, Tarvisio/Udine, Italy, February
  2008.
• 3rd & 4th Annual Conferences, Recreation & the Adventure Program Law & Liability April 2005 & 2006. Page No. 5.
• Ski Law in the United States, Law Education Institute, January 7, 2005, Snowmass, Colorado.
• How to Try a Medical Malpractice Case in Colorado, Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education, April 1, 2004.
• "Avalanche Liability Law & Ski Law in the United States, A Practical Guideline to Ski Accident litigation for non-U.S. Attorneys" SKILEX 2004, Obergurgl/Sölden Austria. March 21, 2004.
• Civil Litigation Update, Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education, September 19, 2003.
• Ethics 2001 Conference, December 7, 2001, Denver, Colorado, Segment: Nine Commandments of Malpractice Prevention.
• Faculty, "Preventing Legal Malpractice," Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal
  Education & Seabury and Smith, January 5th, 19th and 26th 2001.
• Faculty, Recreational Tort Law, Colorado Tort law update (Continuing Legal Education in
  Colorado) October 25, 2000.
• Faculty, Current Topics in Legal Ethics, Colorado Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Boulder, Colorado, University of Colorado School of Law (September 1999).
• The Nine Commandments of Malpractice Prevention, National Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Vail, Colorado, Practicing Law Institute (January 1999).
• American Inns of Court, Thompson G. Marsh Inn, Lead defense counsel, moot court presentation, Jones v. Clinton (Feb. 1998).
• Faculty, LEX LEGIS, Avoiding Malpractice - "The Nine Commandments of Avoiding Legal Malpractice" - December 1997.
• Faculty, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TRIAL ADVOCACY, 1995 to 1996.
• National Business Institute: "Trial Advocacy for the Occasional Litigator" May 1995.
• Faculty, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Western Regional Session 1994, 1995.
• "Persuasive Evidence in a Recreational accident Case," Faculty Sports Injury and the Law, American Trial Lawyers of America, Accredited: Newport Beach, California, February 21, 1986.
• "Computer Assisted Legal Research," Accredited, Denver Bar Association, March 15, 1982.
• "Problems and Solutions in Representing the Plaintiff in a Ski Case," Accredited, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, April 16, 1982.
• "Ski Law," Accredited by the Colorado Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal Education and presented to the bar associations for: Arapahoe County, Boulder County, Denver County, Pitkin County, Routt County, Weld County, Southwest Colorado, Ninth Judicial District, Fourteenth Judicial District, Texas Trial Lawyers and Dartmouth College Bar Associations.

Publications - Peer Reviewed Articles

• James H. Chalat with Eric Samler and Christopher P. Koupal, Ski Law in Colorado: The
  Timorous No Longer Stay at Home, 31 THE COLORADO LAWYER 211, February 2002.
• With Linda J. Chalat, Restitution in Criminal Actions: Considerations for Civil Trial Lawyers, TRIAL TALK, Oct/Nov 2001 at 40 to 41 (Colorado Trial Lawyers Assn.).
• With Linda J. Chalat, Ski Law for Beginners, Intermediates, and Experts. TRIAL MAGAZINE, Aug. 2001 at 26 (Journal of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America).
• Liability of Skier for Injury to Another Skier 46 PROOF OF FACT 1, West's 1998. Page No. 3.
• Liability of Ski Area Operator for Skiing Accident, 45 PROOF OF FACT 115, West's 1998.
• Colorado Ski Law, 27 THE COLORADO LAWYER , No. 2, at 5-18, February 1998.
• JACOB A. STEIN, CLOSING ARGUMENT, THE ART AND THE LAW, §331 Jury-Function, Clark Boardman Calahan, 1995.
• The Constitutional foundations of Modern American Tort Law, 16 THE COLORADO LAWYER 970, September 1987.
• With Lea Kroll, The Development of the Standard of Care in Colorado Ski Cases, 15 THE COLORADO LAWYER 373, March 1986.
• Ski Collision and Ski Equipment Cases, 34 TRIAL TALK 303, October 1985.
• With Feurhelm, From Wright to Sunday and Beyond, 4 THE UTAH LAW REVIEW 885, 1985.
• Michigan's Ski Law, 63 THE MICHIGAN BAR JOURNAL 355, May 1984.
• Continuing Changes in Colorado's Ski Law, 13 THE COLORADO LAWYER 407, March 1984.
• Colorado Ski Act Update, 10 THE COLORADO LAWYER 1611, July 1981.
• Ski Tips for Attorneys, 9 THE COLORADO LAWYER 452, March 1980.

Publications - Non-Peer Reviewed Professional Articles

• James H. Chalat, "$1.5 Million settlement in Utah skier collision case, Kotun v. Howe" Utah
  Association for Justice, August 2008.
• With Linda J. Chalat, The Nine Commandments of Malpractice Prevention, 22 TRIAL LAWYER183-189, 1999.
• "Expert Testimony the Dancing Ballerina" 7 THE EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL No. 2, February 1995.
• $2,150,000 Verdict - General Negligence - Skiing Accident , 9 NATIONAL JURY VERDICT REPORTER 12, November 1994.
• Summary Judgment based on the Colorado Ski Act, 43 TRIAL TALK 32-33, July/August 1994.
• Structured Settlement Reached in Skier/Skier Collision 40 TRIAL TALK 169-170, June 1991. Page No. 4.
• With Stephen C. Kaufman, Judge Arraj Clarifies Comparative Negligence Statute, Case report: Wong v. Sharp, 39 TRIAL TALK 154, June 1990.
• Publisher, SKI SAFETY NEWS, 1989 to 2000.
• Two Skiers' Collision on Slopes = $242,000 - 20% Comparative Negligence in U.S. District Court for Colorado 37 TRIAL TALK 120-121, April 1988.
• "Report of the Judicial Poll Committee," The Proclamation, First Judicial District Bar Association Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 3, September 1986.
• Instructions for the Ski Instruction Case, 35 TRIAL TALK 18, April 1986.
• "In the Wake of Tragedy the Time Has Come for Safety," Rocky Mountain News, December 20, 1985, p. 101.
• $143,380 Verdict in Ski Injury Case, 33 TRIAL TALK 30, July 1984.
• Colorado Ski Safety Act--Presumption of Skier's Negligence Held Unconstitutional, 32 TRIAL TALK 25, November 1983.
• Ski Law, SKI AREA MANAGEMENT Vol. 21, No. 3, National Ski Areas Assn., May & June 1983.
• The Changing Role of the Ski Patroller, THE NATIONAL PATROLLER (The National Ski Patrol System, Inc., Winter 1982).
• Law and Computers, 29 TRIAL TALK 27, July 1980.

In 2007, the firm successfully tried a Colorado medical malpractice case in which the jury returned a $10.1 Million verdict for their 9-year-old client. The verdict was one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Colorado history.

In 2009, the firm settled a ski collision lawsuit for $1.5 million and a claim against a ski area for a lift accident also for $1.5 million.

5

Colorado and Michigan.

The lawyers of Chalat Hatten & Koupal are committed to their clients and to their professional responsibilities to the community. The firm handles a wide range of catastrophic personal injury cases involving automobiles, trucking, and skiing accidents, medical and legal malpractice claims, explosions, and wrongful death cases. The lawyers in the firm have repeatedly appeared on the annual list of Colorado Super Lawyers. Jim Chalat has a national reputation in ski accident law. Handling ski cases across the United States, he has achieved several multi-million dollar awards for ski accident victims.

Jim Chalat began practicing law in Colorado in 1984, opening the law offices of James H. Chalat, P.C. The firm has since grown to five attorneys with over 75 years of combined trial experience.

Entered private practice in 1977 directly following admission to the bar, after two short lived partnerships, struck out on my own in 1984 and began James H. Chalat PC which evolved into the current firm.

Voted a Colorado "Super Lawyer," 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers; Rated "A/V" by Martindale-Hubble; Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, The National Board of Trial Advocacy (Continuously re-certified since 1988); Faculty of Federal Advocates Board of Directors since 2008; Senior member of the Thompson G. Marsh American Inn of Court, The American Inns of Court, President, 2004 to 2005; Alfred C. Harrell Award, in recognition of professionalism, service and excellence 1999 to 2000; Special Assistant Disciplinary Counsel, State of Colorado, Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel - 1991 to 1996.

(303) 861-0506

Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Yes

No.

Our hourly rates depend upon the nature of the work, ranging from $500/hour to $200/hour.

We offer a free initial consultation, and will take the time needed to discuss your matter, answer your questions and present the options for pursuing a claim.

We do not require a retainer.