Nelson Boyle

Nelson Boyle serves as Senior Counsel at Singleton Schreiber's Denver, Colorado office, where his practice spans civil rights, personal injury, insurance recovery and bad faith, class actions, mass torts, sexual assault and human trafficking, wrongful death, trucking accidents, and motions, writs, and appeals. A Colorado native, Mr. Boyle brings nearly 20 years of litigation experience fighting for plaintiffs in Colorado's state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Mr. Boyle is widely recognized for his appellate acumen, having handled matters as both merits and amicus curiae counsel that have resulted in published opinions addressing insurance bad faith, the Colorado Governmental Immunity and Premises Liability Acts, pleading standards, and other significant legal issues. His appellate work has spanned an exceptionally broad range of matters, including personal injury, civil rights, premises liability, child sexual abuse, medical and legal malpractice, class actions, and criminal appeals. Mr. Boyle has also served as a trusted resource for trial counsel, assisting with civil discovery, motions practice, jury trial preparation, and the preservation of appellate issues, including drafting targeted trial briefs and advocating for fair and accurate jury instructions.

Mr. Boyle earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, a Master of Arts in American History from New Mexico State University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University. He is admitted to practice before the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals, Colorado trial courts, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, the United States Tenth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Boyle's commitment to the legal community extends well beyond the courtroom. The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA) honored him with its 2012 New Trial Lawyer of the Year award and its 2016 Outstanding Service to CTLA award, recognizing his dedication to consumer and plaintiff advocacy and his leadership within the organization. He currently serves as a Trustee for the Colorado Legal Aid Foundation, as Chair Emeritus of CTLA's Amicus Curiae Committee, and as a volunteer member on the Amicus Curiae Committees of CTLA, the American Association for Justice (AAJ), and the Colorado Bar Association (CBA). He has previously served as a Commissioner and Chair of Colorado's Second Judicial District Judicial Performance Commission, on the CTLA Board, as an AAJ Governor, and on AAJ's New Trial Lawyers Board. He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Colorado Super Lawyers, Avvo, and Marquis Who's Who.

Outside the office, Mr. Boyle keeps active by skiing, hiking, traveling, and camping with his family. He and his wife have backpacked in the Grand Canyon, including a single-day rim-to-rim traverse, ascended Yosemite's Half Dome, and have set their sights on completing the Colorado, Arizona, Northern Colorado, and Santa Fe to Taos trails in segments over the coming years.

Affiliations

Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado

Membership

Member, American Association for Justice

Member, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association

Member, Colorado Bar Association

Member, Denver Bar Association

News

Nelson Boyle, “Chapter 20 – Assessment of Costs on Appeal,” in Román, Gilbert A., Ed., Colo. Appellate Handbook (2025 Ed.)

Nelson Boyle, “Chapter 21 – Interest on Judgments Pending Appeal,” in Román, Gilbert A., Ed., Colo. Appellate Handbook (2025 Ed.)

Nelson Boyle, “Chapter 23 – Voluntary Dismissal,” in Román, Gilbert A., Ed., Colo. Appellate Handbook (2025 Ed.)

“Case Law Update,” CTLA Blockbuster 2024 & 2025

“Preserving Appellate Issues,” Trial (Aug. 2023)

“Preserving Your Appellate Record,” CTLA Convention 2023, Blockbuster2022, New Trial Lawyers College, Mar. 2015; Wyo. Trial Lawyers Ass’n Convention 2022

“Should I Handle My Own Appeal or Co-Counsel/Hire an Appellate Specialist?,” Colo. Litigators’ Summit 2022, Panelist

“CBA Appellate Update CLE,” June 2022, May 2023, May 2024, May 2025, May 2026 Co-Moderator (2022-2026) and Co-Organizer (2022-2024)

“Oral Arguments,” CBA Appellate Law Miniseries, Oct. 2021, Co-Moderator

“Rule 23,” “Rule 49,” and “Rules 51 & 51.1,” in Colo. Civil Procedures Forms & Commentary, ed. by Debra Knapp (West 2019), coauthored with Brian Matise

“Construction Defect Municipal Ordinances: The Balkanization of Tort and Contract Law,” (3 Parts) The Colorado Lawyer, vol. 46, nos. 2-4 (Feb.-Mar.2017) (co-authored)

Professionalism CLE presentations and interactive discussions, CTLA Convention, Aug. 2016, 2017, & 2018

“Use Strategic Trial Briefs,” AAJ NLD Sidebar, Spring 2016 

“Defeating summary judgment,” Trial, May 2016

“Responding to Summary Judgment Motions,” presented at CTLA’s Make your Case Seminar, Dec. 2015

“What Do You March For?” Trial, Aug. 2015

“Selma,” CTLA’s Trial Talk, Oct. / Nov. 2015

“Amicus Committee Update,” Trial Talk, Feb/Mar 2012 & Aug/Sep 2015

“UM and UIM Insurance: Sources, stacking and suing for bad faith,” Law Week Colorado 12:3 (January 20, 2014) (co-authored)

“Third Party Administrator Liability,” Presentation at Pay Now - Pay More Later, a CTLA Members-Only Seminar, Dec. 2011

“Medicaid Liens - Your Client Has Due Process Rights,” Trial Talk, Aug./Sep.2011, also presented at CTLA Convention Aug. 2011

“Sanctuary: An Investigation of Religious Grassroots Social Movements in the1980s,” M.A. Thesis, New Mexico State University, May 2000

“The House: Grant’s Peace Policy and Four Mescalero Apache Agents,”Southern New Mexico Historical ReviewVII:1 (January 2000). Presented at Conference, May 5, 1999

People v. Perez, 214 P.3d 502 (Colo. App. 2009), rev’d sub nom., 231 P.3d 957 (Colo. 2010) (criminal case involving illegal search)

Kisselman v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 292 P.3d 964 (Colo. App. 2011), cert. denied (Colo. 2012) (insurance bad faith under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 10-3-1116(1))

Averyt v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 265 P.3d 456 (Colo. 2011) (as amicus curiae counsel) (reversal of new trial order)

Kennedy v. Corrections Corp. of Am., 2012 WL 5878159 (Nov. 20, 2012) (denial of motion to dismiss in First Amendment 1983 Claim)

Hansen v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2013 COA 173, 383 P.3d 28 (Colo. App. 2013) (insurance bad faith involving Colo. Rev. Stat. § 10-3-1116(1)), rev’d sub nom., 375 P.3d 115 (Colo. 2016)

Daniel v. City of Colorado Springs, 2014 CO 34, 327 P.3d 891 (Colo. 2014) (parking area of a public golf course qualified as a facility within a recreation area for waiver of immunity under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA))

Landmark Towers Assn. Inc. v. UMB Bank, N.A., 2016 COA 61,436 P.3d 1126 (Colo. App. 2016) (Injunction against illegal taxation, taxation without representation), rev’d sub nom., 2017 CO 107, 408 P.3d 836 (Colo. 2017)

Romstad v. Colorado Springs, 650 Fed. Appx. 576 (10th Cir. 2016)

Nibert v. GEICO Cas. Co., 2017 COA 23, 488 P.3d 142 (Colo. App. 2017) (as amicus curiae counsel) (insurance bad faith)

Walker v. Ford Motor Co., 2017 CO 102, 406 P.3d 845 (Colo. 2017) (as amicus curiae counsel) (product liability)

Berthold v. ICAO, 2017 COA 145, 410 P.3d 810 (Colo. App. 2017) (worker’s compensation)

Landmark Towers Assn. Inc. v. UMB Bank, N.A., 2018 COA 100, 436 P.3d 1139 (Colo. App. 2018), cert. denied (Colo. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S.Ct. 566 (2019) (On remand from 2017 reversal, affirmed injunction against illegal taxation, taxation without representation)

Forfar v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2018 COA 125, 436 P.3d 580 (Colo. App. 2018), cert. denied (Colo. 2019) (Colorado’s evidentiary collateral source rule applied to Medicare benefits received through SSDI)

Nanez v. ICAO, 2018 COA 162, 444 P.3d 820 (Colo. App. 2018) (as amicus curiae counsel), cert. denied (Colo. 2019) (worker’s compensation)

Przekurat by and through Przekurat v. Torres, 2018 CO 69, 428 P.3d 512 (Colo. 2018) (Colorado Dram Shop Act, social host)  

Orr v. United States, 145 Fed. Cl. 140 (Fed. Cl. Aug. 30, 2019) (Fifth Amendment Takings)

Bolt Factory Lofts Owners Ass’n Inc. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 2019 COA 121, 487 P.3d 1105 (Colo. App. 2019) (permissive intervention by insurer in trial court after protective settlement by insured defendant)

Pella Windows & Doors Inc. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office of Colo., 2020 COA 9, 458 P.3d 128 (Colo., App. 2020) (worker’s compensation)

Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Bolt Factory Lofts Owners Ass’n Inc., 823 Fed. Appx. 686 (10th Cir. 2020) (dismissal of bad faith counterclaims while state appeal was pending)

Garcia v. Centura Health Corp., 2020 COA 38, 490 P.3d 629 (Colo. App. 2020) (as amicus curiae counsel) (illegal assertion of hospital liens in violation of Colorado law)

Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Bolt Factory Lofts Owners Ass’n Inc., 2021 CO 32, 487 P.3d 276 (Colo. 2021) (permissive intervention by insurer in trial court after protective settlement by insured defendant)

Busnardo v. Hamilton, 2021 WL 12344515 (Colo. App. May 13, 2021) (unpublished) (CGIA notice was not deficient) 

Harvey v. Catholic Health Initiatives, 2021 CO 65, 495 P.3d 935 (Colo. 2021) (as amicus curiae counsel) (illegal assertion of hospital liens in violation of Colorado law)

Brown v. Long Romero, 2021 CO 67, 495 P.3d 955 (Colo. 2021) (as amicus curiae counsel) (assertion of direct negligence claims against individual defendant’s employer)

Gorges v. Kunkel, 2021 WL 12344584 (Colo. App. 2021) (unpublished) (assertion of direct negligence claims against individual defendant’s employer)

Gill v. Waltz, 2021 CO 21, 484 P.3d 691 (Colo. 2021) (worker’s compensation settlement extinguished claims for personal injury damages against tortfeasor)

Doe v. Wellbridge Club Mgt., 2022 COA 137, __ P.3d __ (Colo. App. 2023), cert. denied (Colo. 2023) (health club’s recreational negligence waiver did not protect club from claim for sexual assault of a teenage club member) 

Air Solutions, Inc. v. Spivey, 2023 COA 14, 525 P.3d 682 (Colo. App. 2023), cert. denied (Colo. 2023) (contract breach, specific performance of 49% of shares in company allowed where damages would be inadequate remedy)

Matthews v. Douglas County School Dist. RE-1, 2023 WL 4305824 (June 28, 2023) (unpublished) (special education under the IDEA)

Aurora Pub. Sch. v. A.S., 2023 CO 39, 531 P.3d 1036 (Colo. 2023) (as amicus curiae counsel) (retrospective application of law waiving statute of limitations is unconstitutional)

Anderson v. Griswold, 2023 CO 63, 543 P.3d 283 (Colo. 2023), rev’d sub nom., Trump v. Anderson, 144 S.Ct. 662 (2024) (as amicus curiae counsel) 

Said v. Magdy, 2024 COA 109, 562 P.3d 123 (Colo. App. 2024) (timeliness of notice of appeal for order denying an Anti-SLAPP special motion to dismiss where defendant moved for reconsideration before noticing the appeal)

Hice v. Giron, 2024 CO 9, 542 P.3d 385 (Colo. 2024) (as amicus curiae counsel) (CGIA waiver for officer in pursuit)

Woodall v. Godfrey, 2024 COA 42, 553 P.3d 249 (Colo. App. 2024) (as amicus curiae counsel) (excessive force claim under Colorado’s ELEIA civil rights statute)

Willis v. Twin Shores Master Ass’n, Inc., 2025 COA 37, 568 P.3d 807, cert. granted, 2026 WL 125139 (Colo. Jan. 12, 2026) (resident but non-owner of a condominium could sue for damages after fall causing injuries in a common area)

Treppeda v. Farmers Ins. Cas. Ins. Co., 2025 WL 3239516 (Nov. 20, 2025) (unpublished) (attorney fees awarded improperly upon dismissal of declaratory judgment claim)

Boulder County Cmm’rs v. Suncor Energy USA, Inc., 2025 CO 21, __ P.3d __ (Colo. 2025) (as amicus curiae counsel) (Federal Clean Air Act does not preempt state tort claims), certiorari granted in Supreme Court of the United States

Bianco v. Rudnicki, 2025 CO 49, 576 P.3d 160 (Colo. 2025) (interest on damages is part of economic damages award that falls within the good cause exception to Colorado’s damages cap under the Health Care Availability Act (HCAA))

Banner Health v. Gresser, 2025 CO 60M, 579 P.3d 882 (Colo. 2025) (application of exception to HCAA statutory damages cap)

Castillo v. Stem School Highlands Ranch, 2025 COA 88, 582 P.3d 1045 (Colo. App. 2025), cert. pending (Colo. 2026) (parents of school shooting victim, a verified hero, were not entitled to a ruling on dispositive motions nor a trial despite clear public policy favoring fact-finding to protect against future school shootings) 

Smith v. City & County of Denver, 2025 COA 70, 577 P.3d 477 (Colo. App. 2025), cert. pending (Colo. 2026) (firetruck operator and city dismissed with finding that CGIA immunity was not waived even when operator wrongly thought he had a green light, blindly entered the intersection without “clearing” the lane in which plaintiff’s car traveled, and slammed firetruck into that car severely injuring the plaintiff) 

Weatherill v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 2026 COA 11M, __ P.3d __ (Colo. App. 2026) (statute of limitations equitable tolling under discovery rule for claims under Colo. Rev. Stat. 10-3-1117)