Chad Colton

Experience

1. Shareholder

   Markowitz Herbold Pc

   Mar 2011 — Present · Portland, OR, US

   Defeated Nike’s eight-figure claims at trial against NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. for alleged “glove violations” and disclosure of confidential information.(See OBJ’s post here and article here). Chad joined the case as lead trial counsel days before trial to architect the trial strategy, select the jury, and deliver opening statements and closing argument.Won a nearly $30 million jury verdict for Shark Tank celebrity James Martin against an international penny stock scammer known as the “Wolf of Montreal.” (See article here.) The verdict included $23.4 million in lost profits, RICO multipliers, and punitive damages, plus attorney fees and the return of a large vineyard property. Chad joined the case and worked with the existing litigation team at the mid-way point of the case.Served as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in Opal Labs Inc. v. Sprinklr, Inc, one of the largest trade secret jury trials (if not the largest) in Oregon history.(See article here.) After a multi-week jury trial on claims for the theft of Opal’s software, the defendant paid what the Portland Business Journal called “a landmark settlement.”Parachuted in as lead counsel in a Seattle jury trial involving claims for willful patent infringement over a revolutionary fire safety invention.Served as lead defense counsel for the Boy Scouts of America in a set of more than 150 cases in Oregon and Guam, seeking collective damages of several billion dollars.Secured full dismissal of claims against Traeger Grills through a series of motions in a multimillion-dollar trade secret and contract case in Ohio involving electronic payment processing.Won a full defense verdict for Boyd Coffee Company in a federal jury trial in Los Angeles involving multimillion-dollar, bet-the-company claims for breach of a distribution agreement. Chad joined the case shortly before trial.

Education

• Brigham Young University

  Bachelor of Arts

  2003

• Lewis & Clark Law School

  J.D., cum laude

  2006