Marie Williams

(720) 449-1195

marie@moorewilliams.com

Marie Williams is an appellate lawyer and legal strategist. For nearly two decades, she has defended clients around the country in a wide variety of litigation involving some of the most complex legal issues. Marie has particular expertise defending banks and insurance companies in class actions and other complex 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. Marie previously was an equity partner in the Appellate Advocacy Practice and Business Litigation Group of an AmLaw 100 firm for 9 years.

• Argued a case of first impression in the Tenth Circuit related to tolling the statute of limitations for members of a putative class.
• Successfully obtained extraordinary relief from state supreme courts, including through certified questions of law and original proceedings.
• Over the span of 15 years, successfully defended one of the largest automobile insurers against numerous class action and individual cases alleging policy breaches and statutory violations, and requesting unlimited insurance benefits. Class certification was denied in every instance, and the denials were affirmed on appeal.
• Successfully defended a mortgage lender on appeal in multiple cases alleging improper foreclosure and other mortgage-related claims.
• Fearlessly argued to a Colorado Court of Appeals judge that a decision he had authored just months prior was wrongly decided.
• 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.

• Insurance
• Financial Services
• Health Care
• Energy
• Construction

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

Clerkship

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

Education

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

Professional Memberships

• 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
• 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
• Colorado Lawyers Committee - Board of Directors; YLD Board 2015-16
• 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