Brian Molzahn

molzahnb@hallevans.com
Direct - (303) 628-3401
1125 17th Street, Suite 600
Denver, Colorado 80202
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Hall & Evans has litigated more civil appeals in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals than any other Colorado law firm as well as more civil appeals before the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court. Brian Molzahn is a member of this group.

As any appellate attorney will tell you, this practice is enjoyable because of the unique challenges that present themselves with each case. Often, these challenges involve uncharted areas of the law or areas in which there is direct disagreement as to what the law should be. Guiding a client through these areas as well as the appeals process is what makes appellate practice so interesting and fulfilling.

Brian Molzahn handles civil appeals for a wide range of businesses, especially those operating within the construction industry (commercial, residential and public). In this capacity, he represents owners, developers, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, insurers, and real estate brokers. Appeals include:

A contractor built a large apartment development in Longmont, subcontracting the framing to our client. When the building developed leaks, the builder was sued and in turn tried to recover $3 million from the subcontractor. At the trial level, we won summary judgment for our client under the statute of limitations. The contractor appealed, and we are currently defending the appeal in the Colorado Appeals Court.

When a very large warehouse in Adams County was burglarized and burned to the ground, insurers and property owners successfully sued their burglar and fire alarm company for $40 million in damages. We were retained to appeal the decision on the basis of a contractual limitation of damages provision within the burglar alarm service contract. The case is currently pending in the Colorado Appeals Court.

In spite of a clause in the contract that called for arbitration rather than trial, a homeowner sued our client, a home inspector.  The trial court denied our client’s motion to compel arbitration.  In a case currently pending in the Colorado Appeals Court, we argue that the arbitration and non-arbitration clauses involved are so intertwined as to be inextricable and therefore the arbitration clause should prevail.

From 1997 to 1999, Brian Molzahn served as judicial clerk to The Honorable John N. Hourihane, Illinois Appellate Court. In 2000, he continued in that capacity as judicial clerk to The Honorable May Jane Theis, Illinois Appellate Court. In both of these clerkships, he prepared opinions clarifying, explaining and expanding upon various aspects of Illinois statutory and common law.

Prior to serving as a judicial clerk, Brian Molzahn spent three years as a research staff attorney in the Illinois Appellate Court, where he prepared hundreds of non-precedential orders related to both criminal and civil appeals. He also completed special projects and assisted in the training of new staff attorneys. All of this experience provided important insight into the inner, day-to-day workings of the appeals process.

Publications

Research Staff, DePaul Business Law Journal

Presentations

“Colorado Construction Defect Claims,” Sept. 2004.

Memberships

American Bar Association
Colorado Bar Association
Denver Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association

Education

DePaul University School of Law, J.D., 1994
          American Jurisprudence Award Recipient
                    Contracts
                    Federal Estate and Gift Taxation
                    Illinois Civil Procedure
Wheaton College, B.A., Political Science and Economics, 1990.

Admitted to Practice

Colorado, 2002
Illinois, 1994
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2001

Outside the Office

When not helping clients with their appeals, I enjoy skiing, 5-10k road races (Bolder Boulder in particular), golf and working in my back yard.