Francis V. ("Frank") Cristiano 

Greenwood Village, Colorado

• Member, Board of Directors - Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, 2003 - Present
• Co-Chair - Interprofessional Committee of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, 2005 - Present
• Member - The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, 2003 - Present
• Fellow - Colorado Bar Foundation, 2006 - present
• Editor - Professional Malpractice for "Trial Talk," 1988 - present

• Halgrimson v. Reichert, Pueblo County District Court, Case No. 99 CV 620. Medical malpractice case. Three and one-half week jury trial, May 2002. Won  verdict of $701,000. No settlement offer from defendant prior to trial.
• Confidential Medical Malpractice Case Arbitrated in January 2003. Won arbitration award of $1,260,238. No settlement offer from defendant prior to trial.
  
  
• Pragmatic Computing, Inc. Money Purchase Plan, et al. v. Wachovia Securities, NASD Arbitration No. 02-06220. Received arbitration award for investor fraud, including payment of interest and costs, in excess of $400,000, in July 2004. No settlement offer from respondents prior to hearing.
  
  Other Recent Significant Litigation Results:
• Recovered on behalf of clients, by way of settlement or satisfaction of judgment or award, total recoveries well in excess of $1 million in each of past four years, including 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
  
  Significant Appellate Cases:
• Kauntz V. HCA Healthone, LLC, Colorado Court of Appeals, Case No.: 2005 CA 2341.
  Pending case, where underlying malpractice case was settled with physician shortly before trial, but Plaintiffs continued to pursue a separate claim against hospital for negligently credentialing physician to perform epidural procedures at its facility, knowing that physician's entire formal training for epidural procedures amounted to an unmonitored 1 1/2 day week-end course, which the course sponsor admitted should have only been a starting point for formal training. Seminal issue presented on appeal is whether Colorado's Peer Review Act, intended to abrogate the common law of negligent credentialing and immunize hospitals from such claims
• Quiroz v. Goff, 46 P.3d 486 (Colo. App. 2002).
  Malpractice case which defines when the statute of limitation begins to run where the tort victim knows that he has suffered injury as a result of complications from a medical care provider, but doesn't realize until later that the physician's treatment may have been negligent.
• Spahr V. Secco, 330 F.3d 1266 (10th Cir. 2003).
  Defines in the Tenth Circuit when question of arbitrability is decided by the Court versus the arbitration panel and the applicability of First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938 (1995) and Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg, 388 U.S. 395 (1967) to that issue.
• State Farm v. Tye, 931 P.2d 540 (Colo. App. 1996).
  Frequently cited case in State of Colorado. Established right of underinsured motorist claimant to settle with liability carrier for less than policy limits of liability policy, but still pursue claim under underinsured motorist policy for difference between underinsured motorist coverage limits and amount paid on liability policy, without deduction for difference between amount recovered on liability policy and the liability policy limits.
• Spoor v. Serota, 852 P.2d 292 (Colo. App. 1992).
  Frequently cited case in State of Colorado, which defines doctrine of res ipsa loquitur medical malpractice cases.
• Bittle v. Brunetti, 750 P.2d 49 (Colo. 1988).
  Involved challenge of age old precedent in the State of Colorado, to lack of recognized civil duty of landowners to comply with local ordinances to promptly remove snow and ice from adjoining pubic sidewalks. 

Bar Admissions:

• Colorado, 1976
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 1976
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1998
• U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 2006

Education:

• University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado, May, 1976
  J.D.
  
  
• Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles, California
  1973-74
  Law Review: Law Review Candidate, Top 10% of freshman class, 1974
  
  
• University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 1972
  B.A., Political Science

Published Works:

• Negligent Credentialing Claims Revisited - the Current Status of the Case Law, Trial Talk 55(1)51, December/January (2005-2006)
  
• Significant Case Law Developments in Legal Malpractice Law: a Twelve Month Review, Trial Talk 55(1)20, December/January (2005-2006)
  
• Significant Medical Malpractice Case Developments: a Twelve Month Review, Trial Talk 55(1)40, December/January (2005-2006)
  
• The True Story of the Statute of Limitations in Healthcare Malpractice Cases - a Bad Result is not Dispositive of When the Statute Begins to Run, Trial Talk 54(1)33, December/January (2004-2005)
  
• Recent Legislative and Case Law Developments in Malpractice Law - a Twelve Month Review, Trial Talk 54(1)7, December/January (2004-2005)
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Malpractice Law, Trial Talk 52(1)12, December/January (2002-2003)
• Claims for Negligent Credentialing and the Shroud of Peer Review, Trial Talk 52(1)30, December/January (2002-2003)
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Medical, Legal and Clergy Malpractice, Trial Talk 48(1)14, December/January 2000
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Malpractice, Trial Talk 47(10)13, December/January 1998
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Malpractice Law, Trial Talk 46(10)5, January 1997
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Professional Negligence, Trial Talk 44(2)17, February 1995
  
• Recent Case Law Developments in Medical and Legal Negligence, Trial Talk 44(1)11, January 1994
  
• Damage Award Caps in Medical Negligence Cases--And Much More--Schultz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C., Trial Talk 42(8)16, September 1993
  
• United Blood Services v. Quintana -- When Industry Standards are Not Enough, Trial Talk 41(12)359, January 1993
  
• Claim for 'Wrongful Birth' Recognized by the Colorado Supreme Court -- Liniger v. Isenbaum, Trial Talk 38(3)79, March 1989
  
• Colorado's New Health Care Malpractice Statutes, Trial Talk 37(9)281, September 1988

Classes/Seminars Taught:

• What I Look for in Legal Malpractice Cases, Lawyers' Professional Liability Insurance Risk Management Seminar, Star Insurance Company, October 8, 1998
  
  
• UM and UIM Coverage, Insurance Issues in Tort Claims Seminar, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, February 26, 1997

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• Denver and Colorado Bar Asociations
  Member; Co-Chair, Interprofessional Committee
• Colorado Trial Lawyers Association
  Eagle Sponsor; Member of Board of Directors 2003-present
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  Member
• The Million Dollar Advocates Forum
  Member
• Colorado Bar Foundation
  Fellow
• Faculty of Federal Advocates
  Member
• Minoru Yasui Inn of Court
  Member