James Avery

Bar / Professional Activity

• Admitted to practice in the US District Court -Southern District of Indiana, 2003
• Indiana Trial Lawyers Association
• Colorado Bar Association
• Admitted to practice in the US District Court-Colorado, 1983
• Admitted to practice in the Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, 1983
• Admitted to practice in the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals, 2020
• Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, 2018
• Admitted to State of Indiana bar, 2003
• Admitted to New York State bar, 1984
• Colorado Trial Lawyers Association
• Admitted to State of Colorado bar, 1983

Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)

• Confidential 7 figure settlement against local children's hospital and university physician related to the loss of a limb (leg) by 12 year old patient undergoing elective surgery., 2022
• Confidential settlement of legal malpractice case involving breach of fiduciary duty in relation to elder guardianship., 2025
• Represented victims of child sex assault in the Colorado Supreme Court in case determining the constitutionality of the "look back" provision of the Child Sex Abuse Accountability Act, in A.S. v. Aurora Public Schools, 531 P3d 1036. (Colo. 2023)., 2023
• Filed the Boulder Marshall Fire Mass Tort action against Xcel Energy as the largest negligence damages case in Colorado history (over $2 billion property losses)., 2022
• Established new law in Colorado related to the Dead Man's Statute concerning the exclusion of deceased party's testimony in medical malpractice lawsuit, taking case to the Colorado Supreme Court, Case No. 16SC676. , 2018
• Settlement of mass tort action against general hospital for exposing patients to HIV due to negligent hiring of infected surgical tech., 2018
• Confidential settlements in 2010: Paraplegic sued Cardiothoracic surgeon for medical malpractice after paralyzing injury suffered during removal of paraspinal tumor. Survivors of young male who died from aortic dissection sued local emergency physician and clinic for failure to make correct diagnosis. Insured sued Dairyland Insurance Co. for bad faith as a result of refusal to pay underinsured motorist benefits policy limits.
• $1 Million insurance Bad Faith Settlement by property owner against Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and Great Northern Insurance Company. Property owner suffered water penetration during 2013 Colorado floods, which developed into mold inside the dwelling. Parties could not agree on damages, and Chubb demanded appraisal under the policy, which contained a $10,000 mold limitation. Property owner sued for bad faith in U.S. District Court, 2016
• James Avery notable trial result: $1.6 million jury verdict in favor of 14 year old who suffered heat stroke in youth basketball league game operated by Gold Crown Foundation, Inc. 
• Patient claiming $9 million damages prevailed in Colorado Court of Appeals and established new law in Colorado that Dead Man's Statute has no applicability where insurance covers any judgment. Clark v. Brookoff, 2014CA1131 (4-7-16). Patient had been prescribed Ketamine without warning of the risks, and trial court ruled over objection that statements of physician (deceased) were inadmissible under Dead Man's Statute. Judgment overturned and new trial granted, 2016
• Obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $1.25 million for an auto accident victim who suffered soft tissue injuries including post-traumatic concussion induced headaches (MTBI-mild traumatic brain injury). Settled case post-verdict for $1.05 million. This is the largest known award and settlement in Colorado for post-concussion headache syndrome, 2012

Representative Clients

• Mr. Avery and Denver Injury Law LLC represents wildfire victims in the Boulder Marshall Fire class action/mass tort lawsuit filed on 3/30/22 in Boulder District Court, which claimed over 1,000 homes and businesses, resulting in over $500,000,000 in estimated damages (not including general damages and emotional distress). Possibly the largest negligence damages case in Colorado history. Wildfire Victim hotline: 303.818.2602, 2022
• Mr. Avery represented child sex assault victims in the Colorado Supreme Court in a constitutional law case, A.S. v. Aurora Public Schools, 2023 CO 39., 2023
• Representing a group of clients who were sexually abused and minors at a prominent local private school. Involved in passage of the new Colorado legal reforms eliminating statutes of limitations and creating a new cause of action in minor sex assault cases, 2020
• Representing patient against local children's hospital for complications from leg amputation related to complications from surgery., 2018
• Settled case (quadriplegic) against major product manufacturer for negligent marketing of bone growth product, 2017
• Lead trial lawyer representing hundreds of victims exposed to HIV and Hepatitis by Rocky Allen at five hospitals around the U.S., including Seattle (WA) Northwest Hospital, La Jolla (CA) Green Hospital, Glendale (AZ) Thunderbird Medical Center, Phoenix (AZ) John C. Lincoln Medical Center, and Englewood (CO) Swedish Medical Center., 2016
• Lead trial lawyer representing dozens of families whose infant children underwent unnecessary skull removal surgery at Children's Hospital Colorado at the hands of its Chief of Neurosurgery Edward McCleary, M.D. The case resulted in a confidential settlement and indirectly lead to the reorganization of Children's Hospital to require University Physicians in all department head positions, 2001
• Mr. Avery represented dozens of victims of Western Monetary Consultants of Ft. Collins in a mass tort Ponzi scheme litigation which bankrupted the company and sent the CEO, William R. Kennedy, Jr. to prison for consumer fraud in precious metals sale practices., 1995

Special Licenses / Certifications

• Private Pilot License, 2015
• Motorcycle License, 1975
• Sports Car Racing License, 2009

Pro bono / Community Service

• Established Care4Children a charitable organization operating in Central Africa., 2019
• The Sudan Project; Home Christian Fellowship; Brain Injury Association of Colorado.
• Sponsored 'gifted and talented' educational charity for children in foreign countries., 2018
• Sponsoring a new charity to provide educational opportunity for disadvantaged children, www.care4children.org, 2013
• Supporter of War Child, a nonprofit association for the benefit of the child victims of war.

Honors

• Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a Trial Lawyer Honorary Society dedicated to the preservation of the civil justice system in America. www.trialcounsel.org, Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, 2018
• Selected every year since the inaugural year 2019, in the fields of class action, insurance bad faith litigation, personal injury litigation, and product liability litigation., America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators, www.americastop100highstakeslitigators.com, 2025
• Mr. Avery has again been named one of America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in 2024. This is the eighth year in a row that Mr. Avery has received the award., America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigator, America's Top 100 LLC, 2024
• America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigator, America Top 100 Litigator James Avery has been selected as a Top 100 High Stakes Litigator again in 2023, 2023
• Avery has been selected again in 2022 as one of America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators (multiple 7 figure verdicts)., America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigator, America's Top 100, 2022
• Selected to America's Top 100 Attorneys High Stakes Litigators for 2021, America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigator for 2021, America's Top 100 Attorneys
• James Avery was awarded "Top Lawyer" by Denver Post 5280 magazine in 2020, Denver 5280 Top Lawyers, Denver Post, 2020
• Selected as a Top Attorney of North America for inclusion in the 2015-2016 Special Edition of Who's Who Top Professionals., Top Attorneys of North America, Who's Who, 2015
• Selected for inclusion in Newsweek Magazine's National Top Lawyers for 2011., National Top Lawyers, Newsweek Magazine, 2011
• Named one of the "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" in Colorado by The American Trial Lawyers Association., Top 100 Lawyers, The ATLA, 2007
• James W. Avery, of the Avery Law Firm, has been selected to the 2015 list as a member of the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. NADC is an organization dedicated to promoting the highest standards of legal excellence. Its mission is to objectively recognize the attorneys who elevate the standards of the Bar and provide a benchmark for other lawyers to emulate., Nation's Top One Percent, National Ass'n of Distinguished Counsel, 2015

Educational Background

• B.A., Austin College, Texas, 1979

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

• Discusses the imposition of joint liability of physicians after the enactment of new tort reform laws limiting joint and several liability of tortfeasors., Author, The Pro Rata Liability Act and Imposition of Joint Liability Against Physicians, The Colorado Lawyer Magazine, 1998

Other Outstanding Achievements

• Selected to America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigator for 2020
• Represented named victim and served as lead attorney (A.S.) in the Colorado Supreme Court case of Aurora Public Schools v A.S., considering the constitutionality of the Colorado Child Sex Abuse Accountability Act, 2023
• Top Litigator James Avery has been recognized for 30 years rating as an Outstanding Lawyer by Martindale., 2023

• Class Action Plaintiffs
• Mass Tort Plaintiffs
• Personal Injury Plaintiffs
• Wildfire Victims