Image of Attorney Heather Salg

Practice Areas

  • Insurance Defense
  • Litigation

Admissions

  • Colorado
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court of Colorado

Heather A. Salg

Partner

Phone: 303.623.1800
Email: hsalg@messner.com
Office: Greenwood Village

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BackgroundEducation & HonorsAwardsAssociationsNoteworthy

Heather A. Salg is a Partner in our Litigation Practice Group who has tried over 60 trials and arbitrations to verdict. She primarily defends insurance companies and their insureds, as well as large self-insurers in Federal Court and District Courts throughout Colorado. Her primary goal as an insurance defense trial attorney is to develop the relevant facts as quickly and economically as possible, provide an early and accurate assessment based on the facts and law, resolve matters as soon as they can be resolved, and zealously defend those cases if necessary, before a jury.

Ms. Salg has been a presenting speaker in Colorado and nationally regarding the defense of bad faith claims. She has presented and written about evidentiary problems associated with the reasonable value of medical expenses (“billed v paid”), Premises Liability, and best claim handling practices. She has written articles for the Colorado Lawyer and Claims Management Magazine. She has been a faculty presenter for the ABOTA Masters in Trial Program, and she is a Continuing Legal Education speaker for the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the Denver Bar Association, and the National Business Institute.

In 2013 Ms. Salg was invited to be a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an organization with a primary mission of preserving the constitutional vision of equal justice for all Americans and our civil justice system. ABOTA is an invitation-only organization consisting of lawyers who have tried a minimum of 20 civil jury trials to conclusion.

Ms. Salg has been AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell since 2009. She was named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2012 and has been named a Super Lawyer annually since 2014.  She has been repeatedly listed as a Top Lawyer by 5280 Magazine, named to the Super Lawyers’ lists of Top 50 Women attorneys in Colorado, and the Colorado Super Lawyers Top 100 list of Colorado attorneys.

Ms. Salg is an active member of the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association (“CDLA”). She has repeatedly chaired professionalism events that are co-sponsored by the Colorado Defense Lawyer’s Association and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association at Mock Trial events for the Colorado Bar Association and Denver University Law School. She is also an active part of the community judging events for DECA, Speech and Debate.

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  • University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado J.D. – May, 1998
  • Honors: Recipient, Award for Scholastic Excellence in Real Estate Seminar
  • University of Denver, Daniels College of Business, Denver, Colorado M.B.A. – 1998
  • Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado, B.A. cum laude – 1993
  • Major: Political Science
  • 5280 Magazine’s Top Lawyer 2016, 2017, 2018
  • AV, Preeminent – Rated, Martindale-Hubbell, Since 2009
  • Colorado Super Lawyers: Rising Star 2012, Super Lawyer 2014-2023
  • Colorado Super Lawyer: Top 50 Women List 2017,2018, 2023
  • US News & World Report Best Lawyers in America: 2022-2024

 

  • Colorado Bar Association
  • Denver Bar Association
  • Colorado Defense Lawyers Association
  • Council on Litigation Management
  • Colorado Defense Lawyer’s Association, Board of Directors, 2010-2012; General Liability Committee Chair, 2016
  • Colorado Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); 2013-present

Classes/Seminars

Presenting Speaker for the National Business Institute on Insurance Bad Faith “Set Up” in Colorado December 2017

Presenting faculty at 2017 CDLA Trial Academy on “Examining Experts”

Chairperson and Presenting Speaker for the Colorado Bar Association 2017 Commercial Motor Vehicle Accident Law: Plaintiff and Defense Perspectives April 21, 2017

Chairperson for the Colorado Professionalism Month CLE, presented by the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association and Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017

Presenting Speaker for the National Business Institute on Insurance Bad Faith “Set Up” in Colorado, November, 2016

Presenting Speaker for the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law Constitution Day Project 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Program Chair and Speaker: A Crash Course in Motor Vehicle Accident Law for the Colorado Bar Association, May 2016

Presenting Speaker at ABOTA Masters in Trial demonstration, April 2016

Presenting Speaker at Colorado Defense Lawyer’s Association Summer 2015 Conference in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Defending Bad Faith Claims

Presenting Speaker for the National Business Institute on Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Defense Strategies, January 2015

Presenter with Dr. Reinhardt and Dr. Day of Biodynamic Research Corporation on the Defense of Low-Speed/Minor Impact Accidents and the Admissibility of Biomechanical Expert Opinions for the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance Greater Denver Chapter Event on October 9, 2014

Presenting Speaker on Premises Liability at the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association Annual Conference, 2013

Presenting Speaker at the July 2013 National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds (NCIGF) Legal Conference on Appellate Advocacy: Arguing a Guaranty Fund Case in a State Supreme Court

Avoiding and Defending Bad Faith – Best Claims and Litigation Strategies. For the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, July, 2013

Chair and Faculty for Colorado Bar Association CLE, Premises Liability Litigation, March 21, 2013

Faculty for A Crash Course in Motor Vehicle Accident Law 2013, February 21, 2013, on the issue of Physician Patient Privilege and Medical Record Production in Personal Injury Cases

Presenting Speaker at the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association Billed v Paid CLE, 2012

Presenting Speaker on Premises Liability Issues at the Colorado Bar Association CLE 2010 Annual Tort Law Update

Presenting Speaker at the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association Biomechanics CLE in November, 2011

Faculty for the ABA Section of Litigation / Legal Services Training Program, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 2007

Publications and Speaking Engagements
  • Wilson v. Marchiondo, 124 P.3d 837 (Colo. App. 2005)
  • Daugherty v. Allstate Ins. Co., 55 P.3d 224 (Colo. App. 2002)
  • Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 53 P.3d 740 (Colo. App. 2002)
  • Nordin v. Madden, 148 P.3d 218 (Colo. App. 2006)
  • Geiger v. American Standard Ins. Co. Of Wisconsin, 192 P.3d 480 (Colo. App. 2008)
  • Shelter Mutual Ins. Co. v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 214 P.3d 489 (Colo. App. 2008)
  • Volunteers of America Colorado Branch v. Gardenswartz, 242 P.3d 1080 (Colo. 2010) (assisted with amicus brief)
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Crossgrove, 276 P.3d 562 (Colo. 2012)
  • Colo. Ins. Guar. Ass’n. v. Sunstate Equip. Co., LLP, 2016 COA 64 (April 21, 2016)
  • Grippin v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 2016 COA 127 (Sept. 8, 2016)
  • Peden v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 841 F.3d 887 (10th Cir. 2016)

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Messner Reeves LLP
1550 Wewatta St. Suite 710
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 623-1800.