Phillip A. Vaglica

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (cum laude) and the University of Notre Dame School of Law, Mr. Vaglica has 48 years of civil and criminal litigation experience in state and federal courts. He has been lead counsel representing corporations, individuals, partnerships, and governmental agencies/entities at both the trial and appellate court level in cases dealing with a wide range of issues to include criminal defense, federal civil rights defense, commercial, banking, real estate, narcotics, fraud, racketeering, money laundering, lender liability, contracts and professional liability. While the majority of his trial and appellate practice has been focused on the representation of individual, corporate, and institutional defendants, he has extensive experience supervising litigation decisions for corporations, governmental agencies and various national insurance carriers.

After graduation from law school, Mr. Vaglica served in the United States Army (1973-1978) as a captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the continental United States and Korea. Subsequently, Mr. Vaglica served as a Colorado Deputy State Public Defender (1978-1979) where he was responsible for a heavy felony and misdemeanor caseload. In those positions, Mr. Vaglica tried numerous cases to both civilian and military juries. Mr. Vaglica was a frequent lecturer on liability to the Colorado Sheriffs Association and also taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, and business law for the University of Maryland.

Some of the matters which Mr. Vaglica litigated in private practice include the following:

• Successfully represented a plaintiff in securing a jury verdict of seven figures in a real estate fraud case;
• Successfully defended (at a week-long class certification hearing) efforts to certify a class against a Colorado county;
• Successfully defended (at trial in a first-degree homicide case which was affirmed by the Colorado Supreme Court) a criminal defendant in a case in which the government destroyed evidence;
• Argued (in an en banc appeal in the Colorado Supreme Court) the seminal case concerning the distinction between RICO and COCCA;
• Successfully defended (at a four-week jury trial) local government officials in a wrongful termination/§1983 lawsuit;
• Successfully defended (at two three-week jury trials) and in three (3) appeals a multi-million-dollar malicious prosecution/§1983 action which spanned ten (10) years in federal litigation;
• Successfully brought (settled at trial) a multi-million-dollar mesothelioma/asbestos case;
• Successfully defended (at an AAA arbitration) both an attorney and a law firm in a multi-million-dollar malpractice action filed against them;
• Secured a permanent injunction and damages at trial on behalf of a restaurant chain in a trade dress infringement action; and
• As co-counsel, successfully represented a major Colorado law firm and its principal members in a three-week bench trial and in multiple appeals in an action brought by the Colorado Attorney General.