The Denver office of national law firm Polsinelli recently welcomed the national litigation team of James Miller, Paul Wood and Tom Wagner to the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice. Miller and Wood, with a combined 69 years of complex and high profile litigation experience, join Polsinelli as shareholders while Wagner joins as an associate.
“Jim, Paul and Tom bring with them a deep understanding of litigation issues and how to effectively help our clients navigate complex processes, manage risk and resolve disputes,” said Polsinelli Commercial Litigation Chair Russ Jones. “Growing our profile with a powerful litigation team focused on national commercial and financial issues will greatly benefit our clients and team.”
Miller and Wood have practiced as a litigation team for more than two decades, and they’ve worked with Wagner for the past four years.
In his 39 years of practice, Miller has focused on the securities industry, banks and financial institutions, energy companies and technology-based businesses. Miller has served as lead counsel in both trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts and is considered a “go-to” lawyer concerning the trial of complex cases to juries. He has extensive litigation, arbitration and mediation experience in securities industry disputes, including customer, industry, and employment disputes. Miller represents broker dealers and registered investment advisors in regulatory and administrative proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), New York Stock Exchange, and State Regulatory Agencies. His practice includes broker recruitment litigation and protocol raiding cases.
“The opportunity to join the Polsinelli team was a chance for us to foster stronger client relationships with reasonable rates and a national footprint,” Miller said. “We look forward to continuing our work with national clients and helping support the growth of the commercial litigation team at Polsinelli.”
For the past 30 years, Wood has successfully prosecuted and defended complex commercial and employment, cases for his clients in the oil and gas, banking, telecommunications, real estate, manufacturing and securities industries in 17 different states. Wood has represented securities broker/dealers and other financial service firms before FINRA and in court on a wide range of claims, including customer complaints, fraud, “raiding” and recruitment, and protocol compliance. His knowledge of the securities industry allows him to formulate effective strategies based on his client’s overall business goals, not just the facts of a particular case. Wood’s extensive experience in a broad range of complex commercial cases allows him to aggressively pursue the strategy to resolution.
“We were attracted to Polsinelli because of the opportunity to practice with other attorneys who share our goal of providing quality representation for our clients through our deep understanding of their businesses, their needs and the issues impacting them,” Wood said.
As an associate, Wagner focuses his practice on commercial litigation involving antitrust matters, fraud and breach of contract for a wide range of industries including finance, securities, banking and construction. He has drafted a successful petition for certiorari to the Colorado Supreme Court on a state banking law, and he also served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for Colorado.
Miller received his law degree from the University of Wyoming and a B.A. in Rhetoric and Public Debate from California State University. Wood received his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a B.A. in history from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Wagner received his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a B.A. in History and B.S. in Geology from the University of Montana at Missoula.
