Otten Johnson represents businesses, individuals and governmental entities in commercial, real estate, and land use disputes across the Rocky Mountain region. Our team handles litigation, arbitration, mediation, and settlement negotiations, taking each case down the path that best fits the client’s situation. The work of running a business does not stop when a dispute begins, and our role is to handle the legal process so the client does not have to.
How we help
Trial and appellate advocacy
We prepare every case as if it will go to trial. That approach shapes the motions we file, the discovery we pursue, and how we evaluate settlement offers from the start. Solid trial preparation often creates room to resolve cases short of trial, and our team is straightforward with clients about when going to trial serves them and when an earlier resolution is the right call. Our lawyers also deliver skilled appellate advocacy, helping clients identify the issues to present on appeal and the arguments to advance them. Otten Johnson attorneys have litigated cases before judges, juries and appellate panels throughout the Rocky Mountain region, with past matters including a complete defense verdict in litigation over the design of Denver International Airport, more than $100 million in condemnation awards for property owners across Colorado, and the successful defense of land use appeals concerning billions of dollars in development.
Arbitration and mediation
Our team is at home in arbitration and mediation as well. We have arbitrated commercial disputes and mediated business and real estate matters with experienced neutrals. The procedural and strategic differences between court, arbitration, and mediation are real, and we work with clients to choose the right path when there is a choice to be made.
Creative settlements
Most cases settle. When ours do, the terms often go beyond a dollar figure, including restructured business arrangements, tax considerations, and changes to ongoing commercial relationships.
Where we have depth
Our litigators have handled disputes across the subject areas our clients face most often. In real estate, our docket has covered construction, insurance coverage, land use and development, special district matters, eminent domain, and easement and real property disputes. In business matters, our work includes bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, business ownership and sale, intellectual property and unfair competition, employment, financing and lender liability, professional malpractice, and securities.
Continuity of team matters in litigation. The lawyers who hear the dispute at the start are the lawyers who are still there when it ends, whether that comes at trial or appeal, in mediation, or through settlement.
