Livingston Keithley

Livingston Keithley is an AV-rated trial attorney with a litigation practice focused on representing businesses and management in high-stakes commercial, real estate, and restrictive covenant disputes. With a strategic and client-focused approach, Livingston advises investors, start-ups, and Fortune 500 companies in matters involving complex commercial transactions, contract enforcement, corporate governance, professional liability, vicarious liability, real estate, and employment law. 

In commercial litigation, Livingston regularly handles cases involving unfair competition, trade secrets, misappropriation of confidential information, and the enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. He has successfully litigated a wide array of disputes, including breach of contract claims, shareholder and investor conflicts, merger and acquisition disputes, and internal management disagreements. 

In real estate litigation, Livingston represents business and individual clients in disputes concerning purchase and sale of real property, lien priority, disclosure deficiencies, title disputes, mechanic’s liens, and boundary disputes.  Livingston has served as lead counsel or co-counsel in real estate litigation actions in over twenty states and three countries. 

A seasoned litigator, Livingston guides clients through all phases of a dispute—from early negotiation through trial and final judgment—across jurisdictions throughout the United States. He is widely recognized in the legal community, having been named a Colorado Super Lawyer multiple times following several years as a “Rising Star” honoree. In 2012, he was recognized as a member of the Denver Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” class. Livingston also holds an AV-Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and is a Fellow of the Colorado Bar Foundation. 

Before entering private practice, Livingston clerked for the Honorable John Daniel Dailey of the Colorado Court of Appeals, where he gained valuable insight into judicial reasoning and appellate practice. 

BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS:

• Colorado
• U.S. District Court for Colorado
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (expired)
• Various state and federal courts pro hac vice

 

LEGAL EDUCATION:

• University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, J.D. 2004
• Georgetown University, Washington, DC, B.A. – Government, 1998

 

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:

• Colorado Bar Association
• Denver Bar Association
• CBA/DBA Professionalism Coordinating Council (2007-2020)
• Minoru Yasui Inn of Court (Executive Secretary, 2004-07, 2008-09; member, 2002-present)
• Colorado Catholic Lawyers Guild (President, 2011; Board, 2007-2021)
• Colorado Bar Foundation (Fellow, 2015-present)
• University of Colorado Law Review – Associate Editor, 2003-2004

SIGNIFICANT CASES

• Represented Fortune 500 national product distribution company in civil action against competitor who hired senior executive that possessed trade secrets and confidential information.
• Represented international engineering company in recovering the value of book of business taken by group of employees who left company to start a competitor business.
• Represented group of investors of publicly-traded corporation in trial court and appellate court to obtain judicially-ordered meeting of shareholders, in order to pursue derivative claims against managers for breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent activity, and to validate shareholder vote for new director slate.
• Represented investor and manager of manufacturing company in pursuing co-investor who had misappropriated the patents and technology, and surreptitiously assigned them to a third company.
• Represented co-owner of local retail business in corporate dissolution action and receivership.
• Successfully defended corporation against claims for violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims based upon acts of independent contractor.
• Defended publicly traded pharmaceutical company concerning claims by terminated regional sales representative under the Colorado Wage Claim Act.
• Represented terminated chief executive in negotiation concerning enforcement of terms of employment agreement, severance, and stock options.
• Successfully defended purchaser of $7 million commercial real estate parcel against quiet title claims from historical prior owner in chain of title seeking to invalidate deeds.
• Successfully defended co-owner of commercial real estate development company against claim by former co-owner for imposition of an interim receiver during pending dissolution action.

PUBLISHED DECISIONS:

P.F.P. Family Holdings, L.P. v. Stan Lee Media, Inc., 252 P.3d 1 (Colo. App. 2010)
Telestrata, LLC v. NetTALK.com, Inc., et al., 126 F.Supp.3d 1344 (S.D.Fl. Aug. 19, 2015)

AWARDS:

• Eagle Scout
• Forty Under 40, Denver Business Journal – 2012
• Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent peer rating
• Colorado SuperLawyers, 2014-2016, 2018-2025
• Colorado SuperLawyers “Rising Star,” 2010-2013
• Finalist, “Up and Coming Lawyer”, Law Week Colorado 2009
• Council Silver Beaver Award, Denver Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, 2014
• Saint Thomas More Award, Colorado Catholic Lawyer’s Guild, 2014

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:

• E-Discovery Tips and Tricks, 33rd National CLE Conference, Labor & Employment Law Section, Vail, Colorado (Jan. 2016)
• Ethics and Cybersecurity, Colorado Catholic Lawyers Guild Seminar (Oct. 2015)
• E-Discovery: Tools and Tricks, Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel (2014 Winter Meeting)
• Author, Keeping it Human: A (Rather) New Lawyer’s Perspective on Professionalism, 42 Colorado Lawyer no. 10, p. 69 (October 2013)
• Author, Should a Lawyer Ever Be Allowed to Lie? People v. Pautler and a Proposed Duress Exception, 75 University of Colorado Law Review 301 (2004)
• Co-Author, How to Litigate Your First Civil Trial in Colorado, National Business Institute Seminar, Denver, Colorado (August 2003)