(720) 449-1195

marie@moorewilliams.com

Marie Williams is an appellate lawyer and legal strategist. For nearly two decades, she has represented clients in a wide variety of trial-court litigation and appeals involving some of the most complex legal issues. 

Marie has particular expertise defending banks and insurance companies in class actions and other complex commercial litigation. She also has experience handling insurance coverage litigation, employment and ERISA litigation, a panoply of contract and tort litigation, and appeals from administrative rulings in a variety of industries. 

Before joining forces with Ruth Moore, Marie was most recently a solo practitioner focused on appeals. She also was an equity partner in the Appellate Advocacy Practice and Business Litigation Group of an AmLaw 100 firm for 9 years.

 Education

• University of Colorado School of Law, J.D., 2000, Order of the Coif, University of Colorado Law Review (Casenote & Comment Editor)
• Wake Forest University, B.S. in Mathematics, 1997, magna cum laude, Nancy Susan Reynolds Scholar

 Clerkship

• Justice Allison H. Eid, Colorado Supreme Court, 2006

 Admitted to Practice

• Colorado
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• United States District Court for the District of Colorado

Notable Appeals

• Successfully obtained extraordinary relief from the Colorado Supreme Court in a case where the trial court excluded the client's expert testimony on the eve of trial without considering Rule 37(c)(1)'s harm and proportionality analysis.
• Successfully obtained reversal of a trial court order finding an employee's non-compete agreement void for lack of consideration.
• Successfully defended a decision by the Board of Assessment Appeals for the State of Colorado to provide tax exemption to the client for its transitional housing units.
• Successfully defended the trial court's denial of a motion for attorney fees filed by an insured who had obtained reformation of his insurance policy issued by the client.
• In a matter of first impression in Colorado, successfully obtained reversal of a denial of the client's motion for attorney's fees, with the Court of Appeals holding that a party who prevails in an action to pierce the corporate veil of a corporation may recover the attorney fees and costs incurred therein under certain conditions.
• Successfully defended the denial of a motion for class certification where the class representative's individual claims already had been adjudicated by the trial court.
• Successfully defended the trial court's reformation of the client's insurance policy to maintain the aggregate policy limit contained in the original and to make the effective date of the reformation coincident with the reformation itself, such that no bad faith claims would survive.
• In a matter of first impression in Nebraska presented through a certified question of law, successfully persuaded the Supreme Court that an insurer may depreciate labor cost in determining the actual cash value of damaged property.  

Trial-Level Experience

Until 2016, Marie's practice focused on not only appellate advocacy, but also business litigation. Marie gained experience in every aspect of trial-court litigation, including first-chairing jury and bench trials, which informs her judgment and her work as an appellate lawyer. Just a few examples of her experience include:

• First-chaired federal court trials against a major automobile insurer and, in a case that originally sought unlimited insurance benefits on behalf of a statewide class over a span of 25 years, limited the client’s liability to a single award of $40,000 in insurance benefits.
• Successfully defended national banks against claims of wrongful lending practices, a challenge to the constitutionality of Colorado’s foreclosure statute and the bank’s related processes, and unauthorized access to an account by a teller.
• Defended a major national bank against claims of breach of fiduciary duty in the context of residential mortgage-backed securities.
• Represented a utility company on affirmative claims against an insurance broker for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraudulent nondisclosures and misrepresentations.
• Through both binding arbitration and dispositive motions, successfully defended an employer in the food and beverage industry against claims of workplace discrimination.

Professional Affiliations

• Colorado Bar Association - Appellate Practice Subcommittee
• Colorado Women's Bar Association - Publications Committee, Editor, Outside the Law, The 1891 Blog; Judicial Committee, Due Diligence Volunteer
• Colorado Lawyers Committee - Board of Directors; YLD Board 2015-16
• National Native American Bar Association
• Colorado Hispanic Bar Association
• First Judicial District Bar Association

Community Involvement

• Girl Scouts of Colorado - Troop Leader; Service Unit Manager; Membership Connection Committee; MCC Representative to the GSCO Board of Directors
• Open Space Golden - Board of Directors
• Children's Hospital Colorado - NICU Family Advisory Committee

• Colorado Super Lawyers, Appellate, 2017-2019
• Colorado Super Lawyers Rising Star, Appellate, 2011 & 2013-2016
• Law360 Rising Star, Insurance, 2014