Kevin Hannon is the founder of our Firm. His national practice includes environmental and toxic torts, insurance bad faith, products liability, business torts, automobile and other personal injury claims. Kevin is licensed to practice in Colorado, the District of Columbia, Missouri and Wisconsin. He serves as Of Counsel to the law firm of Gray, Ritter and Graham, P.C. and serves clients all over the United States.
Two of Kevin’s environmental trials, Orjias v. Louisiana-Pacific and Escamilla v. Asarco, each resulted in the largest jury awards in environmental cases in Colorado at the time of verdict. The Escamilla case resulted in a $28 million verdict and the clean-up of a neighborhood of 570 homes. His work in NWIS v. Public Service resulted in the application for closure of a leaking underground natural gas storage facility. In Wilks v. Phelps Dodge, Kevin, as lead counsel, achieved for a community with contaminated groundwater a settlement including a medical monitoring program, replacement drinking water wells and monetary compensation for his clients. In many of Kevin’s environmental cases, he has negotiated not only a monetary payment for his clients, but remediation of the contamination.
Kevin has served and now serves as lead counsel in several environmental class actions in several states including Arizona and Missouri. Kevin has successfully completed cases involving air, groundwater, soil and noise pollution from above- and underground storage tanks, smelters, waferboard manufacturing plants, tanker trucks. Kevin continues to represent businesses and individuals for personal injury and property damage from solvents, heavy metals, lead waste, lead paint, radiation, pesticides, petroleum products, and other substances.
Kevin has brought actions against insurers for their failure to pay auto, health, property damage and other insurance benefits. Kevin has been accepted as an expert in court in insurance bad faith. Kevin has also successfully represented clients against many types of product manufacturers, including automobiles and medical products. Kevin has special training in the area of brain and spinal cord injuries, and has lectured in this area of the law.
Kevin has received several professional awards. In 1993, Kevin received the “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award from the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation in Washington, D.C. for his work in Escamilla. In 1996, Kevin was awarded the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association “Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer” award. In 2000, Kevin received the “Case of The year Award” from the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association for the Firm’s work in NWIS v. Public Service Company of Colorado. Kevin is a frequent national author and lecturer on environmental issues, insurance bad faith and trial practice.
Kevin authors articles on environmental issues for the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association’s monthly magazine Trial Talk and various national publications. Kevin was a panelist on the American Trial Lawyers Association National College of Advocacy 1995 Toxic Torts Seminar and the 1999 and 2000 ALI/ABA Toxic Torts Seminars. He has co-chaired CTLA’s Environmental Law Seminars, and has done public speaking for CTLA on environmental matters. He has testified before the Colorado state legislature on environmental matters for CTLA. He is a former member of the Board of CTLA.
During law school Kevin served as Science Advisor for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a national public interest law firm. While at TLPJ, Kevin provided technical and legal review for products liability, medical malpractice and hazardous waste, pesticide, and other chemical exposure cases and 21 Clean Water Act Citizen Suits. Included in his work were assignments for Anderson v. Cryovac, which later became the subject of the movie “A Civil Action.”. Before beginning his law career, Kevin worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in both the air quality and toxic substances programs. Kevin wrote and guided Agency, Office of Management and Budget, and public review of regulation establishing reporting requirements, including reporting form and instruction manual, for every new chemical manufactured in the United States.
Kevin received his law degree from Georgetown University in the night program. Kevin received a Masters in Environmental Management and his undergraduate degree from Duke University. While at Duke, Kevin was manager of the Duke Basketball Team, including the team that played in the NCAA finals in 1978.
Since moving to Denver, Kevin has served on the Management Committee for the NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Tournament. He worked for the Colorado Baseball Partnership and on the Management Committee for the Colorado Baseball Commission in the drives to build a new baseball-only stadium and to locate a Major League Baseball franchise in Colorado.
Areas of Practice
- Environmental and Toxic Torts
- Insurance Bad Faith
- Products Liability
- Business Torts
- Automobile
- Other Personal Injury
Bar Admissions
- Colorado, 1986
- District of Columbia, 1988
- Missouri
- Wisconsin
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
- J.D. – 1986
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- M.A. (Cum Laude) – 1980
- Major: Environmental Management
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- A.B. (Dean’s List) – 1979
- Major: Political Science
- Honors: Manager, Duke Basketball Team
- Honors: NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Tournament, Management Committee
Representative Cases
- Orjias v. Louisiana-Pacific
- Escamilla v. Asarco
- NWIS v. Public Service
- Wilks v. Phelps Dodge
Classes/Seminars
- Panelist, Toxic Torts Seminar, American Trial Lawyers Association National College of Advocacy, 1995
- ALI/ABA Toxic Torts Seminars, 1999 – 2000
- Speaker, CTLA on Environmental Matters, CTLA’s Environmental Law Seminars
Honors and Awards
- Trial Lawyer of the Year, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation, 1993
- Colorado Trial Lawyers Association “Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer” Award, 1996
- “Case of The year Award”, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Member, 1986 – Present
- Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Member, 1986 – Present
- Colorado Bar Association, Member, 1986 – Present
Past Employment Positions
- Gray, Ritter and Graham, P.C., Of Counsel