Sam Bacon

Sam Bacon

Shareholder

sbacon@wsmtlaw.com
Main: 303-830-2500
Licensed in: Colorado, Wyoming


OverviewExperience & ResultsPractice AreasHonors & InsightsEducation & Admissions
Overview

Sam is an accomplished and versatile trial attorney and litigator with extensive courtroom experience representing companies and individuals in a range of complex civil litigation disputes.

He has successfully represented clients in the fields of natural resources, real estate, eminent domain, employment, trade secret, and all types of contractual issues. Before joining the firm, Mr. Bacon clerked for the Honorable Chief Justice Nancy Rice at the Colorado Supreme Court, interned for the Jackson, Wyoming Town Attorney, and practiced with the Denver litigation firm Reilly Pozner LLP.

Experience & Results
  • Representation of project manager in complex construction dispute concerning multi-million dollar claims of improper billing, construction defects, misrepresentations, and failure to meet standard of care.
  • Representation of large oil and gas lessee defending claims that lease had terminated due to lack of production in paying quantities, including cross-claims for indemnification and derivative liability.
  • Represented oil and gas company in successful bench trial regarding allegations of contamination and negligence.
  • Representation of oil and gas company in a dispute over title to leasehold interests in approximately 26,000 mineral acres in the Wamsutter field located in Carbon and Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming.
  • Won summary judgment in federal court for large Colorado corporation on multi-million dollar claims for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and fraud.
  • Led trial team in obtaining favorable jury verdict in real estate dispute involving claims of breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud.
  • Successfully defended a breach of contract claim on a multi-million dollar sale of refining equipment involving a major Colorado oil and gas company.
  • Briefed and won an interlocutory, “Rule 21” appeal directly to the Colorado Supreme Court, resulting in a reversal of an adverse multi-million dollar judgment against client.
  • Obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict on behalf of a major oil and gas producer in a royalty dispute with a lessee.
  • Successfully brought breach of contract, conversion, and fraud claims on behalf of a landowner against mineral lessee, obtaining a favorable pre-trial settlement.
  • Prevailed on all claims in a bench trial concerning breach of a real estate contract and breach of fiduciary duties.
  • Successfully defended a corporate client against misappropriation of trade secret and unjust enrichments claims.
Practice Areas
  • Mediation & Arbitration
  • Complex Commercial Litigation
  • Oil & Gas Litigation
  • Contract Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Employment
  • Eminent Domain
  • Appeals
  • Trial
Honors & Insights
  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© “Ones to Watch” in the fields of Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law, Environmental Law, Oil and Gas Law, 2022-2023
  • “Why Waste Water? A Bifurcated Proposal for Managing, Utilizing, and Profiting from Coalbed Methane Discharged Water,” 80 U. Colo. Law Rev. 571 (2009).
  • 2009 Winner of the University of Colorado Law Review Courtland H. Peterson Writing Award for Most Outstanding Student Comment
  • Associate Editor & Student Note Committee Chairman, University of Colorado Law Review
  • Officer in Environmental Law Society at the University of Colorado School of Law
  • Honors graduate and member of Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society at University of Vermont
  • Board Member, The Nathan Yip Foundation
  • Single Cast can be Cutthroat Business,” The Denver Post.
  • Try Fishing Other Side of Yucatan,” The Denver Post.
Education
  • Clerk, Honorable Chief Justice Nancy Rice, Colorado Supreme Court
  • J.D., University of Colorado School of Law, 2009
  • University of Colorado Law Review, Associate Editor and Student Note Committee Chairman
  • B.A., Political Science, Economics, University of Vermont, cum laude with honors, 2005
Bar Admissions / Qualifications
  • Colorado, 2009
  • Wyoming, 2009
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota