Jeff Vail has over a decade of business litigation, trial, and arbitration experience, successfully representing clients in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Before that he was an Air Force Captain and special-operations intelligence officer. His crisis-management experience ranges from business disputes to planning combat missions with US Joint Special Operations Command units, British Royal Marine Commandos and Polish GROM.
Jeff has significant experience as lead attorney in numerous bench and jury trials in state and federal court, as well as multi-week arbitration proceedings, including:
Lead counsel in major music-industry antitrust lawsuit Christou v. Beatport, LLC, et al., 849 F.Supp.2d 1055 (D. Colo. 2013), completed 13-day jury trial in federal court, managing five attorneys and seven experts/support staff and dozens of depositions; international discovery in Canada, UK, Netherlands; processed more than 500,000 pages of documents; defeated motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and motions to exclude expert witnesses; awarded adverse-inference jury instruction for defendant failure to preserve cell phone text messages; obtained seven-figure net settlement in client’s favor.
Obtained dismissal of $100 million+ reverse veil-piercing claim against client construction company.
Successfully settled claims for client as lead counsel in Whittle v. Marley, et al., involving RICO and breach of fiduciary duty claims against estate of Bob Marley, international discovery and service of process in Canada and Jamaica.
As lead counsel in combined arbitration and simultaneous litigation in state and federal courts, obtained seven-figure settlement of breach of contract and fraud claims against defendants in Colorado, Florida, Washington, D.C, Spain, and France.
Received $2 million judgment at trial for client as lead counsel in breach of fiduciary duty against Quizno’s franchisor; obtained alter ego judgment against main Quizno’s holding entities in Bruckal v. QCE Holdings, et al.
Served as lead counsel in Brown v. A&E Television Networks, LLC, et al., represented bail bondsman Bobby Brown in lawsuit against Dog the Bounty Hunter television franchise, case settled favorably for client.
Served as lead counsel in British Charter Holdings, LLC v. PM Operating, et al., complex, multi-venue litigation in Colorado (Routt County) and Texas (Travis County and S.D. Texas) concerning development of hotel and 40+ multi-million-dollar homes in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; asserted alter ego claims against holding companies of two billionaire families. Net settlement of $3.3 million to client.
Won $630,000 in favor of client and defeated $4 million counterclaim as lead counsel in a two-week AAA arbitration hearing on franchise and fraud claims; successfully obtained judgment against defendant’s owner through alter ego.
Obtained dismissal of all claims on motion to dismiss while representing defendant BP America in putative antitrust class action.
Performed exotic risk mitigation engagements over seven years for high net-worth family office and individuals, including assistance in US, France, Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and Nigeria (K&R, surveillance, investigations, counter-intelligence, and security coordination).
Successfully represented investors in technology start-up as lead counsel bringing fraud and alter ego claims against founders, secured award of $371k following confidential AAA arbitration hearing.
Prevailed at trial as lead counsel in ammunition product defect dispute; after court determined ammunition was not defective, obtained over $400k judgment to client manufacturer for non-payment; prevailed on alter ego claim against individual owner of defendant entity.
Counsel for startup disease management company in business tort lawsuit against major health insurance company; settled for $2.25 million payment to client.
Secured dismissal of medical monitoring class action against client hospital in high profile case of 4,000+ claims of Hepatitis C exposure.
Jeff Vail's appellate experience includes first chair oral argument and appeals to United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court, and the Nevada Supreme Court.
Unlike many attorneys, the challenges of business and entrepreneurship are not just theoretical concepts for Jeff--he has founded and managed several operating and holding companies in the venture capital, technology, and oil & gas sectors. He coordinated multiple patent applications in US, Canada, UAE, and Argentina, and led a seven-figure secured debt/equity investment in an oil & gas technology start-up (through a custom investment vehicle he formed) which achieved a successful exit with multi-x return for all investors.
Jeff is an American Sailing Association certified sailboat captain and has captained boats in the Aeolian Islands (Italy) and Sea of Cortez (Mexico). He has extensive international experience, having worked in or traveled to nearly 50 countries. He is proficient in German, French, and Italian.
Education:
University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Juris Doctor, 2008
United States Air Force Intelligence Officer School, 2000
United States Air Force Academy, Bachelor of Science in Engineering and History, 1999: Top 15% of class, John A. Rupp Award winner for Multidisciplinary Studies Related to History
American Institute for Political and Economic Systems (AIPES), Charles University, 1998 (Prague, Czech Republic)
Exchange Student, Offizierschule der Luftwaffe (German Air Force Academy), 1997, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany