Denver Complex Litigation Blog

White collar criminal defense: Bounty hunter facing fraud charges

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in white collar criminal defense on Friday, August 30, 2019.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted by an employee of Verizon Wireless to look into the actions of a Colorado man who claimed to be a law enforcement officer wanting to help those on the brink of taking their own lives. According to reports, this individual was actually a bounty hunter wanting assistance finding people to bring in. Due to the statements he allegedly made to various mobile provider employees, he is now facing fraud charges.

The accused was the owner of the Colorado Public Safety Task Force, which was recently shut down. He is said to have used his company to trick mobile providers into giving him real-time locations of several individuals who had jumped bail. He allegedly claimed to be a police officer when he called to get this information. The cellphone provider employees, knowing that law enforcement officials have the right to collect this type of information, willingly handed it over.

If a complex civil litigation case did not go your way, appeal

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in complex civil litigation on Friday, August 16, 2019.

Most lawsuits are settled without either side ever having to set foot in a courtroom. Why? It costs less for everyone to settle and move on as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, settlement agreements cannot always be reached, and some Colorado residents may find themselves taking their complex civil litigation cases to court. If doing so does not prove useful and the judge's call favors the opposing party, it may be possible to appeal the ruling.

Appealing the court's decision will not prove an easy feat. One needs to make sure he or she has good reason to do so. Appealing a court's decision is not asking for a new trial; it is asking the appellate court to review the facts and overturn the lower court's ruling. To start the appeals process, one needs to file an appellate brief, which involves supplying evidence that supports one's position. One must also be prepared to discuss why he or she thinks the lower court judge failed to apply the law correctly.

Why would Tri-State invite federal energy regulation?

On behalf of Otto.Law on Sunday, August 11, 2019.

Have you ever heard of a large company that welcomed federal oversight? What about one that actually went so far as to invite regulation?

Most companies want government regulation about as much as they want to bleed money. But in a rare, legal twist, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association recently asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to regulate its rates in Colorado and neighboring states.

Intellectual property litigation: A bit about trade secrets

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in intellectual property litigation on Friday, August 2, 2019.

There are four basic types of intellectual property. In a previous post, this column addressed copyrights. This week, the topic will focus on trade secrets. A bit about intellectual property litigation and its benefit to Colorado business owners will also be discussed as well.

Trade secrets are any information that gives one's business an economic advantage over his or her competitors. This can be a number of things. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the following are considered trade secrets:

Formulas
Patterns
Programs
Techniques
Processes
Devices
Compilations

When water damage can lead to construction defect litigation

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in real estate and construction defect litigation on Sunday, July 28, 2019.

Building a home is supposed to be an exciting thing. However, for many Colorado residents, that feeling of excitement can quickly wear off when a problem is found with the property that can cost a fortune to repair, affect the resale value and even affect one's health. Water damage, according to a report released at the end of 2018, is believed to be a big issue, particularly in new builds. When the builder or any subcontractors are believed responsible for it, construction defect litigation may help victims achieve compensation for their resulting losses.

Several people in another state shared their stories of buying luxury homes from reputable builders only to find, years down the line, that water damage had destroyed their foundations and caused their homes' wooden insides to decay. These damages went unnoticed because they are challenging to see without tearing the homes apart. For some homeowners, such damage cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.

Isn't all civil litigation complex?

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in complex civil litigation on Saturday, July 27, 2019.

Have you found yourself in a dispute that requires some legal assistance to resolve? Does the problem involve more than one party, high stakes, a challenging subject matter or the need for expert witnesses -- among other things? If you can say yes to any of the above, you may be dealing with a complex civil litigation case. Such cases can prove challenging to fight in a Colorado court without the right help.

When dealing with a legal matter, you might use the words complex and complicated interchangeably. The truth is, these words, when it comes to legal terms, have different meanings. All lawsuits can be complicated, meaning things may not be as straightforward and you thought. But not all are complex, meaning they are more involved than the typical civil case.

Is there room for AI in the American justice system?

On behalf of Otto.Law on Thursday, July 25, 2019.

Could your next judge be a robot? Not likely anytime soon, but we may already be closer to the days of robojudges than you would expect.

According to Medium, computer scientists from University College London have already developed an AI that can review legal cases. The system reviewed 583 cases from the European Court of Human Rights and reached the same decision as the human judges 79% of the time. It also matched the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings more than 70% of the time after it reviewed 199 years’ worth of cases.

Intellectual property litigation: A bit about copyrights

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in intellectual property litigation on Saturday, June 22, 2019.

Copyrights are valuable assets, probably some of the most valuable assets company owners in Colorado and elsewhere may have. When copyright infringement becomes an issue, intellectual property litigation may be necessary to resolve it. Then again, it may not. Every case is different.

Copyrights can be obtained to ensure that people retain authorship of their original works. Various types of intellectual property may be granted copyright protection. A few examples include:

Music
Books
Works of art
Computer programs

What can we learn from insider trading?

On behalf of Otto.Law on Friday, June 21, 2019.

The phrase “insider trading” means different things to different people. If you haven’t spent much time investing in stocks and other securities, you probably think of rich people like Martha Stewart going to jail for cheating the system. Once you’ve started investing, though, your ears may perk up as you hear the words because they mean someone’s giving you a good sign of future changes.

The truth is that insider trading is both these things. There are legal and illegal versions. Moreover, you can legally buy and sell stocks in the company where you work—so long as you follow the guidelines. And it’s possible to break the law for insider trading even if you’re not a Goldman Sachs investment banker or you’ve never met anyone at the company.

Colorado white collar criminal defense: Charged with tax evasion?

On behalf of Otto.Law posted in white collar criminal defense on Friday, June 7, 2019.

Tax evasion is a serious criminal offense that can carry significant penalties if one is convicted. Colorado residents who have found themselves facing such charges can likely help their situations by retaining legal counsel who has experience litigating white collar criminal defense cases. In short, when facing such charges, who is at one's side matters.

Tax evasion is defined as the deliberate failure to pay or underpay one's tax liability. Now, mistakes do happen; the tax laws are not easy to understand, but when tax evasion charges are filed, it is because the Internal Revenue Services believes that more than a mistake was made. A few examples of tax evasions include: