Chris Koupal, a partner of Chalat Hatten & Koupal, has extensive trial experience - second chairing a med mal case resulting in a $10.1 Million verdict and acting as lead counsel in a 2009 trial resulting in $100,000 in punitive damages.

Christopher P. Koupal is a partner at Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC. A Colorado native, Mr. Koupal graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Denver College of Law. While in law school, Mr. Koupal served as a member and a general editor for the Denver University Law Review. Mr. Koupal also served as an extern law clerk to the Honorable Wiley M. Daniel, Chief United States District Judge for the District of Colorado.

Mr. Koupal's practice concentrates on civil trial work, with an emphasis on ski and snowboard accidents, professional negligence, premises liability, and automobile accidents. Mr. Koupal has tried cases to verdict in Colorado state and federal courts, including acting as lead counsel in a 2009 premises liability case where a Denver jury returned a verdict in his client's favor including a six-figure award of punitive damages. In 2007, Mr. Koupal was trial counsel in a medical negligence case where the jury returned a $10.1 million dollar verdict; one of the largest verdicts of its kind in Colorado history. Mr. Koupal has been a featured lecturer on the topic of ski and snowboard litigation, and has been invited to lecture for the Colorado Bar Association on issues relating to lawyers' professional liability. Mr. Koupal has twice been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Colorado Super Lawyers / 5280 Magazine.

Bar Admissions

Colorado, 2004

U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 2004

Education

University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado Doctor of Jurisprudence - 2003 Honors: Harold M. Wendy Memorial Scholar

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO B.A. - 1999 Major: Sociology

Published Works

CRS § 10-1-135 and the Changing Face of Subrogation Claims in Colorado, The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 40, No. 2, 2011

Ski Law in Colorado: The Timorous No Longer Stay At Home, The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2002

Classes/Seminars

Speaker, Professional Liability Issues for Litigators: Disqualification of Counsel, Presenter, CBA CLE, 2010

Speaker, The Basics of Ski Law,, The Colorado Association of Professional Paralegals and Legal Assistants, 2006

Professional Associations and Memberships

Colorado Bar Association, Member

Denver Bar Association, Member

American Association for Justice, Member

Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Member

American Bar Association, Member

Judge William E. Doyle Inn of Court, American Inns of Court

Honors and Awards

Harold M. Wendy Memorial Scholar, University of Denver College of Law Eagle Scout, BSA

Past Employment Positions

The Hon. Wiley Y. Daniel, US Dist Ct., for the District of Colorado, Denver, CO, Extern, 2003