Issue of Law

• Publication year: 2003
• Pages: 33

32 Colo.Law. 33 Colorado Lawyer 2003.

2003, June, Pg. 33. Issue of Law

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33

Vol. 32, No. 6, Pg. 33

The Colorado Lawyer
June 2003
Vol. 32, No. 6 [Page 33]

Departments
Appellate Practice
Issue of Law
by Andrew M. Low

Andrew M. Low is a partner in the firm of Davis Graham &amp Stubbs LLP, Denver. Low heads the firm's appellate practice. This special department is published quarterly

The discovery motions before Magistrate Judge Tony Holderman had occupied most of the morning. Holderman rapidly lost his patience and took out his ire on both counsel. Still smarting from some of his barbed comments, I decided I deserved one of the overstuffed roast beef sandwiches for which The Courthouse Steps is justly famous

I walked in and looked for an empty table, but quickly saw that the house was full and that at least three other groups were already waiting. I was about to leave when I saw Tim Flegleman at a booth in the corner beckoning for me to join him. I decided that sharing a table with Flegleman was a small price to pay for a perfect roast beef sandwich.

As I slid into the booth, I saw that Susan Victor was already sitting with Flegleman. Victor, a former judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals, led a thriving boutique firm that handled only appeals. "What do you have going, Susan?" I asked.

"Just argued in the Tenth Circuit," she said.

I turned to Flegleman. "And how's it going with you, Tim?" I asked.

"Couldn't be better," he said, beaming. "I have about thirty minutes of testimony to present this afternoon. We'll do closings, and then the case should go to the jury before the end of the day."

"What's the case?" I inquired.

"I represent an electrical utility in Delta County. A worker on a farm was unloading long sections of metal irrigation pipe from a truck. As he handled one section of pipe, he lifted one end high into the air because he was planning to tip the pipe over the edge of the truck and let it drop onto the ground. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that he was parked directly underneath the power line that supplied electricity to the farm. Just as he let go of the pipe, it contacted the overhead line. For a split second he was part of the circuit and suffered serious burns. He sued the power company, claiming the accident was caused by its negligence. His experts testified the company could have done any number of things to...