Elizabeth C. Moran
Biography
Betsy Moran grew up in East Denver, one of five daughters of a neurosurgeon and a WWII Army nurse. After receiving a degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1980, Betsy happened upon Pete Pryor and Irnie Johnson in Courtroom 9 of Denver District Court, where she watched as they successfully defended a medical negligence case.
In 1984, after a year of law school at the University of Denver, she joined the firm as Irnie’s law clerk, and has been with the core group of lawyers ever since, first trying cases, and eventually developing an appellate practice. Her practice includes appellate advocacy and motions practice in all areas, including medical negligence, insurance, employment, tort, and commercial law. She has appeared as lead appellate counsel on nearly 40 published appellate cases in the Colorado Court of Appeals, Colorado Supreme Court, and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as many unpublished dispositions.
Her reported cases include Oja v. Howmedica, Inc., 111 F.3d 782 (10th Cir. 1997); Greene v. Safeway Stores, 98 F.3d 554 (10th Cir. 1996); Hall v. Levine, 104 P.3d 222 (Colo. 2005); Svendsen v. Robinson, 94 P.3d 1204 (Colo. App. 2004); Mullins v. Kessler, 83 P.3d 1203 (Colo. App. 2003); Donelson v. Fritz, 70 P.3d 539 (Colo. App. 2002), Freyer v. Albin, 5 P.3d 329 (Colo. App. 1999); Plummer v. Little, 987 P.2d 871 (Colo. App. 1999); Simon v. Coppola, 876 P.2d 10 (Colo. App. 1993), cert. dismissed; and Locke v.Vanderark, 843 P.2d 27 (Colo. App. 1992).
Outside the office, Betsy makes time to run, play the piano, and shepherd her two daughters to soccer, basketball, piano, etc. Since 1993, she has served as a member of the Joint Institutional Review Board for Porter Adventist, Littleton, and now Parker Adventist Hospitals, participating in review of research conducted at those institutions in order to ensure protection of human research subjects. She also serves as a volunteer faculty member/communications coach in the Foundations of Doctoring Curriculum at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Verdicts
Court
Colorado Supreme Court
Client
Gastroenterologist
Issues
After a jury verdict for the gastroenterologist, the trial court ordered a new trial based upon the court’s post-verdict conversations with jurors concerning the verdict. The Colorado Supreme Court granted our petition for original proceeding, and ultimately reversed the trial court’s order for new trial and remanded for reinstatement of the verdict for the doctor. The Court unanimously ruled that, under C.R.E. 606(b) evidence of statements by jurors regarding the basis for their verdict were inadmissible to overturn the verdict.
