JOHN W. GRUND

EDUCATION
B.A. (English), Pomona College, 1972
M.A. (English), University of Washington, 1974
J.D., University of Colorado 1977

BAR LICENSURE/MEMBERSHIPS

State Bars:
Colorado, 1978
Wyoming, 1991

Federal Bars:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1991
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1990
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1978
United States District Court for the District of Colorado, 1978
United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, 1991

Mr. Grund practices and has practiced law pro hac vice in several other state and federal jurisdictions.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Law Clerk to The Honorable Fred M. Winner, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Colorado, January-August, 1978.

Shareholder, Tilly & Graves, P.C., September 1978 to October 1991. Shareholder, Montgomery, Green, Jarvis, Kolodny & Markusson, P.C., October 1991 through October 1996.

Founding Shareholder, Grund & Breslau, P.C., November 1996 to June 2003, predecessor to Grund & Nelson, P.C., June 2003 to February 2007, and Grund, Dagner & Nelson, P.C., February 2007 to present.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS
Member, Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions (by appointment of Chief Justice Luis D. Rovira), 1987 to present (Chair of Subcommittee III concerning Product Liability, Professional Malpractice, Insurance Bad Faith, and other tort claims, 2000 to present).

Member, Colorado Supreme Court Committee Concerning the Use of Magistrates (by appointment of Chief Justice Mary J. Mullarkey), 1998 to 2000.

DRI Service Award, presented at Defense Research Institute's Annual State Representative Meeting, Denver, Colorado, March 12, 1999.

Member, Defense Research Institute Amicus Curiae Committee (by Appointment of DRI President), 1999 to present (Vice-Chair, 2000 to 2005; Chair, 2005 to present).

Member, Colorado Civil Justice Reform Task Force (by Appointment of Governor Bill Owens), 1999 to 2001.

Colorado Defense Lawyers Association's 2001 John W. Grund Excellence in Leadership Award (First Recipient), presented August 18, 2001.

Member, Defense Research Institute Strategic Planning Committee (by Appointment of DRI President), 2002 to 2004.

Selected, The Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law Specialty (2007 ed.).

Selected, Colorado Super Lawyers, Personal Injury Defense: General (Law & Politics 2007 ed.).

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association, 1978 to present (Member, Litigation and Torts and Insurance Practice Sections).

Colorado Bar Association, 1978 to present (Member, Interprofessional Committee, 1981 to 1987).

Colorado Bar Foundation, 1993 to present.

Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, 1978 to present.

Defense Research Institute, 1987 to present (Member, Product Liability, Trial Techniques, Legislative, and Amicus Curiae Committees).

Denver Bar Association, 1978 to present (Member, Interprofessional Committee, 1981 to 1987).

International Amusement and Leisure Defense Association, Inc., 2001 to present.

International Association of Defense Counsel, 2001 to present.

Wyoming State Bar, 1991 to present.

PROFESSIONAL OFFICES
Secretary and Director, Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, 1982 to 2001.

Editor, Defense Forum (monthly newsletter of Colorado Defense Lawyers Association), 1982-1996; Contributing Editor, March 1996 to September 2001.

Chairman, Interprofessional Committee, Denver Bar Association, 1984-85.

Vice-Chairman, Aviation and Space Law Committee, ABA Torts and Insurance Practice Section, 1988 to 1993.

Colorado Representative to Defense Research Institute's State and Local Defense Organization Committee, 1993 to 1995.

Co-Chair, Colorado Defense Lawyers Association Legislative Committee, 1998-99.

Vice-Chair, Defense Research Institute Amicus Curiae Committee, 2000 to 2005.

Chair, Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions Subcommittee III, 2000 to present.

Chair, Defense Research Institute Amicus Curiae Committee, 2005 to present.

PUBLICATIONS
"Juror View of Scene," "Conduct of Trial," and "Jury Instructions" -- Chapters contained in Colorado Courtroom Handbook for Civil Trials (CLE in Colorado, Inc. 1998; Supp. 2001 & 2006).

Grund, J.W. & Miller, J.K., Personal Injury Practice -- Torts and Insurance (West 2d ed. 2000) (4 vols.) (part of West Group's Colorado Practice Series) [Supplemented annually].

Author of the "Torts" chapter, Annual Survey of Colorado Law, CLE in Colorado, Inc. (1999 to present).

As Editor of Defense Forum, from 1982 until 1996, Mr. Grund authored and published each month's newsletter, including monthly summaries of 75-125 new cases dealing with tort, insurance and litigation-related topics from the state and federal courts in Colorado, as well as from other state and federal jurisdictions around the country. After becoming a Contributing Editor, he continued to author summaries of the Tenth Circuit and Wyoming Supreme Court slip opinions, as well as published opinions from the United State District Courts for the Districts of Colorado and Wyoming, and from other federal appellate and district courts around the country.

As a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions, Mr. Grund shares with the judges and the other attorneys who are members of this committee responsibility for the authorship of any new civil jury instructions, as well as revisions and additions to existing instructions and the Notes on Use. He serves as the Chair of Subcommittee III, which develops and supplements instructions given to juries in civil trials involving claims of product liability, professional malpractice, insurance bad faith, and other tort claims. That subcommittee first drafted the jury instructions and Notes on Use, setting out the legal requirements for claims of bad faith breach of insurance contracts and recently drafted instructions for use in legal malpractice cases.

LEGAL SEMINARS AND PRESENTATIONS
"Product Liability Law in Colorado," Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, Vail, Colorado (August 1982).

"Liquor Liability and Other Trends in Premises Liability -- For the General Practitioner," Continuing Education Services, Denver, Colorado (April 4, 1986).

"Trial Tactics in the Catastrophic Injury Case," Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, Vail, Colorado (August 1990).

"Enhancing Trial Skills," Boulder County Bar Association, Boulder, Colorado (March 1994).

"Product Liability: Designing Products to Reduce Legal Liability," Small Business Symposium - Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of Colorado, Denver, Colorado (November 16, 1994).

"The No-Fault System: How It Works and Making It Work," Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Denver, Colorado (February 6, 1997).

"Automobile Case Law Update," Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, Vail, Colorado (August 23, 1997).

"The Selection, Care, Feeding and Handling of Expert Witnesses," Colorado Trial Lawyers Association/Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, Tucson, Arizona (March 20, 1998).

"Expert Qualifications and the Application of Daubert/Kumho Tire," CLE in Colorado, Inc., Denver, Colorado (November 4, 1999).

"Panel Discussion of 1986 Tort Reform and Subsequent Developments," CACI (Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry) Tort Reform Retreat (November 30, 1999).

1 "Litigating the Duty to Defend," Continuing Legal Education Providers, LLC, Denver, Colorado (February 25, 2000).

"Insurance Law in Colorado," Lorman Education Services, Denver, Colorado (August 20, 2002).

"Jury Instructions," Denver Bar Association, Young Lawyers' Division, Denver, Colorado (May 26, 2004).

"Case Law Update," Colorado Bar Association and Colorado Society of CPAs, 2006 Litigation Support Conference, Denver, Colorado (December 14, 2006).

Mr. Grund is an AV-rated attorney whose practice has focused on litigation in the tort, and insurance fields, with emphasis on product liability, amusement/recreation, aviation, medical and professional liability, and insurance law. He has frequently been retained by clients to handle cases involving catastrophic personal injuries, wrongful death and other, often sensitive and publicized issues, and in complex litigation, he has assumed the roles of local, managing, and trial counsel in various multi-district proceedings.

Mr. Grund also devotes a portion of his time to work as a consultant and expert witness in the areas of legal malpractice and insurance law, the latter including cases arising primarily out of claims for bad faith with respect to all types of policy coverages.

In addition to trial work, Mr. Grund has provided insurance and noninsurance clients alike with coverage opinions and counsel, in light of the then-existing legal and statutory requirements and restrictions. He has also advised self-insured and private clients in the product liability field and helped them to develop warnings and instructions for their products and to protect their interests in transactional matters. Mr. Grund's written opinions, testimony, and drafting assistance have also been solicited by state senators, state representatives and clients regarding proposed legislation relating to civil litigation and tort and insurance law.

In his work as a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions, Mr. Grund chairs the subcommittee that develops, revises, and supplements instructions given by Colorado state and federal judges to juries in civil trials involving claims of product liability, professional malpractice, insurance bad faith, and other tort claims.