Kenneth R. Morris

Areas of Practice

Kenneth R. Morris practices in the area of commercial litigation and appeals, with an emphasis in complex commercial litigation, breach of contract, employment law disputes, insurance disputes, intellectual property issues, and construction law.  In addition to appearing in state and federal court, Mr. Morris has represented numerous clients in arbitration and mediation in Colorado and California.
Among other cases:

• In a five-day bench trial in Denver District Court, Mr. Morris and his co-counsel won a substantial verdict for their client, a large design/build firm, under Colorado’s Mechanic’s Lien Trust Fund Statute, C.R.S. § 38-22-127.
• Mr. Morris represented homebuyers in a protracted fraud and construction defect case, ultimately securing a substantial settlement from the sellers and their broker.
• Mr. Morris secured a sizeable settlement in a negligence and inverse condemnation action against a local municipality and an uphill neighbor after a landslide caused significant damage to his client’s property.
• Mr. Morris successfully defended a general contractor against breach of contract and construction defect claims.  All claims against the general contractor were dismissed, and the client received a settlement payment in his favor.
• In a three-day arbitration arising out of the sale of a company, Mr. Morris successfully defended the seller’s estate against claims of fraud and negligence, and won a six-figure arbitration award in his client’s favor.
• In a protracted property access dispute involving multiple parties, Mr. Morris negotiated a global settlement which provided for an access easement for his client’s land-locked parcel, permitting him to develop his property.
• In a dispute over pension rights for California public employees, Mr. Morris drafted the appellate briefs which reversed the trial court’s denial of his clients’ claims and established important precedent regarding the pension rights of public employees.
• Mr. Morris has successfully represented a number of clients seeking to reverse their insurance carriers’ decision to deny coverage for medical claims.
• Mr. Morris has also advised various municipalities in Colorado and California on a variety of matters ranging from pension matters to contracts to building codes.

Education

Mr. Morris received his Juris Doctorate in 1995 from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.  While there, he served as an advisor for the Moot Court and Appellate Advocacy Programs, and also was an Associate Editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly and a Law Clerk for the Berkeley Community Law Center.

In June 1992, Mr. Morris received a Masters of Theological Studies from the Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He graduated summa cum laude, and his thesis paper, entitled Theological Sources of William Penn's Concept of Religious Toleration, was published in the Journal of Church and State.

In June 1988, Mr. Morris received a Masters Degree in Christian Ethics from New College Berkeley, in Berkeley, California.  His thesis, entitled Puritan Roots of American Universalism, was published in the Scottish Journal of Theology.

In June 1983, Mr. Morris received a Bachelor of Arts in Russian from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.  Following graduation, Mr. Morris spent a semester studying at Leningrad State University in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Mr. Morris also spent two summers (1982, 1983) honing his Russian language skills at the Summer Slavic Workshop at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Bar and Professional Activities 

Mr. Morris was admitted to the California Bar in December 1995. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of California.
Mr. Morris has been a licensed member of the Colorado Bar since January 2005, and was also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in 2005.

Mr. Morris was a litigation associate at the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins LLP for four years following law school, and then practiced general commercial litigation in Marin County, California, as a member at Ragghianti Freitas LLP from June 2000 through December 2004.  Prior to joining Garlin Driscoll Howard LLC as “Of Counsel” in March 2008, Mr. Morris was “Of Counsel” at Jester & Gibson, LLP in Denver, Colorado.

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