Colin Deihl is an experienced trial lawyer. He has tried multi-week jury trials, bench trials, and binding arbitrations. He has litigated cases throughout the United States in both state and federal court and before administrative agencies. Colin has served in a number of leadership positions within Faegre Baker Daniels, including as a member of the firm's worldwide management committee and as hiring partner for the Colorado offices.

Colin's practice focuses on resolving complex business disputes, particularly those involving environmental, land use, and real estate issues.  He also advises clients about permitting, rulemaking, and compliance matters. 

Among Colin's representative experiences are the following:

• Lead counsel for a construction contractor in a $20 million CERCLA contribution case arising out of the government's clean-up of the Summitville mine site in Southwestern Colorado. The case involved novel legal issues concerning the interplay between the common law collateral source rule and CERCLA's prohibition on double recovery. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of TIC. Friedland v. TIC-The Industrial Company, 2008 WL 185693 (D. Colo. 2008); affirmed 566 F.3d 1203 (10th Cir. 2009); cert. denied 130 S.Ct. 1080 (2010).
• Defending large public utility in ongoing lawsuits brought under the Clean Air Act alleging violations at the Cherokee Station coal fired power plant in Denver, Colorado, and at the Comanche 3 power plant in Pueblo, Colorado.
• Directed strategy for defeating natural resource damages claim arising out of the contamination of the Illinois River Watershed in eastern Oklahoma, including the depositions of numerous experts responsible for putting together the State of Oklahoma's contingent valuation survey.  Oklahoma v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 565 F.3d 769 (10th Cir. 2009); 258 F.R.D. 472 (N.D. Okla. 2009).
• Lead counsel for USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey, in a putative nationwide class action alleging consumer fraud and breach of contract claims brought against both USA Hockey and its 92-member board of directors  (S.D. Ohio 2010).
• Lead counsel for mezzanine lender on the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Denver, Colorado, in multi-million lawsuit against guarantors, resulting in transfer of hotel to client (2010).
• Won summary judgment on behalf of private rancher in lawsuit against the City of Steamboat Springs to prevent the city from violating the terms of a trail easement (2010).
• Won summary judgment on behalf of client in which the Eastern District of Washington invalidated a Washington statute prohibiting the importation of new radioactive and hazardous waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. United States v. Manning et al., 434 F. Supp. 2d 988, (E.D. Wash. 2006); United States v. Manning, 527 F.3d 828 (9th Cir. 2008).
• Lead trial counsel for pipeline company, in the successful defense of a multi-million dollar arbitration claim for alleged breaches of environmental representations and warranties in connection with the sale of gas-gathering facilities. The three-judge panel ruled in favor of our client and awarded no damages to complainant (2005).

Pro Bono

• Asylum
• Education
• Environmental
• Post Decree Clinic

Honors

• Benchmark® guide to America's leading lawyers 2008 — Mention

Civic Activities

• Center for Legal Inclusiveness — Board Member
• Boy Scouts

Presentations

• Panel on Hydrofracing & Energy
  Corporate Affiliates Achieving Results Executive Workshop (2012)
• The Role of Land Use in Old Energy Development
  CLE International (2011)
• Hydraulic Fracturing Litigation Update (for Environmental Quality & America's Energy Future)
  CLE International (2011)
• Hydraulic Fracturing Litigation Update
  CLE International (2011)
• Proposed Revisions to the FTC Green Guides
  National Food Manufacturing Association (2011)
• Proposed Revisions to the FTC Green Guides
  American Hazard Group (2011)
• Greenwashing Claims and Related Environmental Legal Risk Management
  American Hazard Group (2010)
• Hot Topics in Renewable Development
  Energy Development on Public Lands Seminar (2010)
• Litigation Risks Presented by Climate Change
  Faegre & Benson Seminar (2008)
• Zoning Authority, Procedures and Judicial Review
  Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (2005)
• A Primer on Local Government Regulations of Land Use and Development
  Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (2001)
• A Primer on Local Government Regulation of Land Use
  Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (2000 and 2001)
• Managing Growth in Montana
  Montana League of Cities and Towns (2000)
• Recent Developments in Urban Renewal
  Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (1999)
• New Nationwide Wetlands Permits
  Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute Annual Conference
• Recent Environmental Issues in the Construction Industry
  Faegre & Benson Construction Law Seminar

Legal Updates

• Citizen Suits: Public Interest or Private Advocacy
  Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (2000)
• Editor, Continuing Legal Education Manual
  Colorado Environmental Law, Federal Publications, Inc. (1994)
• Antarctica: An International Laboratory
  18 Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 423-456 (1991)
• co-author, The First Applications of the Nollan Nexus Test: Observations and Comments
  13 The Harvard Environmental Law Review 585-606 (1989)