Contact:

Practice Areas:

Clerkships:

  • Hon. Judge James S. Casebolt, Colorado Court of Appeals
  • ________________________

Education:

  • J.D., University of Colorado
    School of Law, 1996
    Recipient, 1996 Cortland H. Peterson Writing Award for most outstanding law review article
  • B.A., Cornell University, 1990
  • ________________________

Bar & Court Admissions:

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • United States District Court for the District of Colorado
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • State of Colorado
  • ________________________

Presentations and Articles:

  • "Habitat Conservation Planning under the Endangered Species Act: No Surprises and the Quest for Certainty," University of Colorado Law Review, Vol. 67 (1996)

Eric Fisher

Partner

Eric focuses his intensely analytical approach to law on class actions, oil and gas litigation, construction defect litigation and appellate practice. Over the past several years, he has spent considerable time defending one of Colorado's leading oil and gas companies in a class action royalty dispute involving complex legal and scientific issues.

Eric played an important role in these cases:

Season ticket holders of the Denver Broncos Football Club filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the Broncos had raised ticket prices in violation of a Mile High Stadium lease with the City and County of Denver--seeking $150 million in damages. Reilly Pozner, which is ongoing litigation counsel for the Denver Broncos and its ownership, prevailed at halftime in a trial to the court based on a ruling that plaintiffs had failed to present evidence to support its claims.

GenCorp (formerly General Tire & Rubber) began charging its unionized retirees premiums for their healthcare coverage. In response, retirees brought ERISA claims and sought class certification of a nationwide class seeking reinstatement of their prior health benefits. Reilly Pozner succeeded in defeating class certification--a denial that was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case subsequently resolved on grounds favorable to GenCorp.

In 2005, the Loveland-based Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League sued Broomfield Ice, an ownership group that had launched a CHL expansion team to play in the new Broomfield Event Center. The Eagles claimed that the proposed team would infringe upon their exclusive CHL franchise territory. After a successful defense by Reilly Pozner in Larimer County District Court (and a related action in Arizona state court), the Rocky Mountain Rage took to the ice.

In 2004, Robinson Brick contracted with an environmental testing company to ensure that the emissions from its kiln smokestacks complied with federal Maximum Containable Control Technology standards. Because of incorrect testing results, Robinson purchased the wrong emissions control equipment and then spent additional money with two other companies in an unsuccessful attempt to make the emissions compliant. In 2006, Robinson Brick became a subsidiary of General Shale Brick. In 2008, Reilly Pozner successfully sued the three companies for the cost of these errors on behalf of General Shale.

Central Parking Systems is suing a number of rental car companies, claiming that these companies should be required to pay the fines for cars rented by individuals who park in its lots but fail to pay. In this ongoing case, Reilly Pozner is defending DTG Systems, which owns the Dollar and Thrifty rental car franchises.

In an expansive soil case, the trial court found Monterra Homes liable for construction defects to the current owners of several houses built by Monterra. After this decision, plaintiffs brought garnishment proceedings against the builder's commercial general liability insurer--Assurance Company of America (a Zurich North America company). The district court found in favor of plaintiffs on all claims for coverage. Zurich hired Reilly Pozner on appeal. In a published opinion with broad impact on insurance coverage for construction defects, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed several of the district court's coverage rulings and held that the earth-movement exclusion applied; that non-economic damages were not covered under a CGL policy; and that attorney fees were not covered as "costs" under the policies. The Colorado Supreme Court took certiorari on an unrelated issue, but did not disturb the Court of Appeal's coverage rulings.

In an ERISA class action seeking change of control benefits for management employees, Reilly Pozner represented a group of employees from Pioneer Seed Company against DuPont. After certification, DuPont sought to eliminate the class by settling with individual class members and repeatedly sought decertification. Reilly Pozner prevailed on all such attempts, ultimately retaining class status for a class of seven members and securing a favorable resolution.

In 2010, the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association was sued in a purported class action by retirees claiming that the Colorado General Assembly’s modification of a cost of living adjustment is unconstitutional. The General Assembly’s modification of the COLA provision is necessary to remedy underfunding of the PERA pension system due to the impact of the economic collapse of 2008 and because of COLA payments in the 2000s that significantly outpaced inflation. Similar funding shortfalls are facing public pension systems throughout the country and this case is receiving national attention as it will be one of the first to provide guidance on these issues.

 

"I use my training as a lawyer to give back to the community. In a pro bono lawsuit undertaken by the Colorado Lawyers Committee, I successfully argued for certification of a class of welfare recipients who lost benefits when they were improperly sanctioned or terminated from the 'Colorado Works' program. I am also on the board of Karl Mecklenburg's REACH Foundation, which sponsors a reading program for 27,000 children attending Denver Public Schools.