Firm Overview
Giometti & Mereness, P.C., is recognized as one of the top civil litigation firms in Colorado. Mr. Giometti and his associates are highly experienced trial attorneys who have conducted dozens of jury trials in both state and federal courts, mainly in Colorado, but also in Idaho, where Mr. Giometti is licensed as well. The focus of the firm’s practice is representation of insurance companies and their insureds in first and third-party claims. For more than 35 years, Mr. Giometti has successfully represented numerous carriers and their insureds in hundreds of civil matters, including declaratory judgment actions; bad faith litigation; wrongful death actions; motor vehicle accident cases, including UM and UIM claims; premises liability cases; construction defect litigation; fire and explosion cases; product liability actions; ski accident cases; and other tort and statutory actions.The firm frequently provides coverage opinions to carriers and handles coverage investigations, including EUOs.
In addition to its insurance defense practice, the firm represents contractors, construction companies, and other business entities in a variety of contract and business matters. With some frequency, Mr. Giometti also represents plaintiffs in wrongful death cases and claimants in bodily injury, insurance, ERISA and other tort and probate matters. The firm often serves as personal counsel in cases where liability coverage is disputed or there is a potential of excess liability; and the firm defends individuals and businesses in wrongful death actions and other litigation in which no insurance coverage may be available. Since 2010, Mr. Giometti has frequently served as an expert witness regarding insurance industry standards, primarily for carriers, but also for claimants, in insurance bad faith litigation, both in Colorado and Idaho.
Giometti and Mereness P.C. also maintains a strong commitment to enhancing the quality of law practice in Colorado through the firm’s educational efforts, including multiple publications and professional seminars. Giometti and Mereness P.C. literally “wrote the book” in several areas of Colorado law, including wrongful death, automobile insurance and auto accident litigation, and insurance bad faith. These publications and seminars are described in more detail elsewhere in this website.
History
After serving for ten years as a shareholder and president of Seaman, Giometti & Murphy, P.C., Mr. Giometti established Gregory R. Giometti & Associates, P.C., on October 6, 2006. Mr. Giometti graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1982, and then practiced in Boise, Idaho for five years before moving his practice to Denver in 1987. Among his other experience, Mr. Giometti worked as in-house counsel for The Travelers Insurance Company from 1989 to 1991. In January 2018, Giometti & Associates P.C. became Giometti & Mereness P.C. with the addition of John Mereness as a shareholder in the firm.
Our Philosophy
At Giometti & Mereness, P.C., we strive to provide the best representation to our clients in every case. Since most of our cases involve litigation, and have the potential to go to trial, intense preparation is the best guarantor of success. Both during the discovery process and at trial, we try to be better prepared than our opponents. Whenever necessary, we utilize the latest trial presentation technology to facilitate the jury’s understanding of the evidence and to gain acceptance of our arguments. Over the years, this philosophy has enabled us both to achieve numerous favorable settlements for our clients and to win many highly contested cases at trial.
Awards
During his career, Mr. Giometti has achieved professional recognition from his peers for his firm’s commitment to legal excellence. Giometti &Mereness P.C. has an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. In 2003, Mr. Giometti was selected as a member of the Colorado Bar Foundation.
In 2011, Mr. Giometti became a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), with the rank of advocate. In 2012, Mr. Giometti was awarded the C.L.E. Award of Excellence by the Colorado Bar Association. In 2015, Mr. Giometti was recognized as one of the top three personal injury defense attorneys in Colorado by 5280 Magazine.
Wrongful Death Cases
One of the areas of practice in which the firm concentrates is wrongful death law. In this area, the firm handles several categories of cases, including: (1) cases referred by insurers to defend insureds against whom a wrongful death claim has been asserted; (2) representation of spouses, heirs or parents of a decedent for the purpose of bringing a wrongful death action against an at-fault party; and (3) representation of defendants, or potential defendants, in wrongful death cases in which such clients need personal counsel because insurance coverage is disputed or denied, or there is exposure to excess liability or exemplary damages.
The firm has enormous experience in a variety of wrongful death cases, including wrongful death claims arising from motor vehicle accidents, industrial accidents, premises liability, nursing home accidents, medical malpractice and murder-suicides.
Since 1997, when Mr. Giometti published his book, Colorado Handbook of Wrongful Death Law, which was most recently updated in 2019, he has often received calls from Colorado attorneys who have questions about wrongful death matters. When receiving these calls, Mr. Giometti generally provides brief, free initial consultations. If you are a person who needs, or who has a family member who needs, advice about a wrongful death matter, Mr. Giometti will extend the same professional courtesy of a free initial consultation to you. The same is true if you represent an insurance carrier against whose insured a wrongful death claim is being made. Please feel free to contact Giometti & Mereness P.C. if you have any type of question about a wrongful death matter.
