James H. "Jim" Chalat

Jim Chalat is proud to have been named to Best Lawyers in the fields of professional malpractice and personal injury. Jim was first named to Best Lawyers in 2014, and has appeared in every edition since. Best Lawyers named Jim as the 2017 Lawyer of the Year in Denver for Plaintiff's Professional Malpractice law, and was also named in 2022 as Lawyer of the Year in Plaintiffs' Legal Malpractice Law - Denver.

Jim was admitted to practice in Colorado in 1977. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Board Certified in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a sustaining member of the American Association for Justice and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Chalat’s work has allowed him to engage with a diverse range of clients, from a profoundly disabled son of Hispanic American farm laborers, to Olympic Athletes, urban office workers, physicians, and elite business people.

His commitment to his clients and his success in the courtroom has not gone unrecognized. Jim has been selected for the Colorado SuperLawyers list each year that members of the Colorado Bar have been considered for the distinction. Since 2015, Denver's premier magazine 5280 has named him as one of only five "Top Denver Lawyers" in the personal injury category.

Mr. Chalat is an active member of the community investing time in pro bono case work, law school lectures (Harvard Law School and his alma mater the University of Denver Sturm College of Law), and youth mentoring. Each year, the firm receives the Colorado Supreme Court’s Pro Bono Achievement Award which requires each attorney to volunteer more than 40 hours annually to matters benefiting financially disadvantaged clients. Jim has also volunteered for the Colorado State Bar Association’s high school mock trial program and was active for over 20 years in the Inns of Court in Denver, an organization focused on legal ethics and professionalism.

Born in California, raised in Detroit, and educated at the University of Michigan and the University of Denver College of Law, Mr. Chalat has settled in Colorado. He is father to four grown children and husband to fellow law partner, Linda Chalat.