Sean Grimsley of Olson Grimsley

Sean Grimsley

Partner

sgrimsley@olsongrimsley.com
303-535-9151

Sean is one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers, trying four cases to judgment in Olson Grimsley’s first year alone. He was lead counsel in the country’s first trial against a preterm infant formula manufacturer for causing necrotizing enterocolitis where he and his team secured a $60 million compensatory damages verdict against Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil (story here). He co-led a trial team that won a $20+ million judgment against Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, for unlawfully monopolizing the market for calcium silicate pipe insulation (story here). And he co-led a trial team in Cook County, Illinois, against two makers of Zantac—GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim—for causing his client’s prostate cancer, ultimately settling on confidential terms with GSK and trying the case against Boehringer Ingelheim to a hung jury (story here). It was the first trial against a Zantac manufacturer that did not end in a defense verdict.

Sean brings an unparalleled breadth of legal experience to the firm. He spent 17 years as a trial lawyer and partner at Bartlit Beck. He has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Washington, D.C., Deputy Chief Counsel to President Obama’s Commission investigating the BP oil spill, Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado in its pattern and practice investigation of the Aurora Police and Fire Departments, and most recently General Counsel for two years at Ibotta, a billion-dollar tech startup in Denver. He has tried cases to judgment for plaintiffs and defendants, in civil and criminal matters, in eight states and Washington, D.C., and has argued multiple appeals in state and federal court.

Prior to starting Olson Grimsley, Sean led the team that secured dismissal of the Grenfell Tower fire victims’ products liability mass action against Arconic in Philadelphia, tried a nine figure arbitration for a major energy company plaintiff, tried an eight-week antitrust jury trial in S.D.N.Y. for defendant Sabre resulting in a $5 million verdict on US Airways’ $1+ billion claim, and readied for trial a major plaintiff-side patent case that settled favorably shortly before trial. You can see Sean in action presenting root cause findings to the BP Oil Spill Commission here.

Sean is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America. He has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a National and Local Litigation Star and named to Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame and Top 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers in America.

Sean clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the D.C. Circuit.

He graduated from Michigan Law School in 2000, after earning B.A.s in Liberal Arts (Plan II) and Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Sean lives outside of Denver, where he also serves on the Board of Trustees for Minds Matter Colorado.

 Attorneys

Litigation Manager

Paralegal

Legal Assistant

Head of Operations