Attorney Bios

Neil Hillyard is a trial lawyer. He has devoted his entire legal career to representing personal injury victims from auto accidents to medical malpractice. His career has spanned over 33 years of exclusively providing legal representation to plaintiffs. Neil states "despite what insurance companies say about us, I take great pride in being a personal injury lawyer. I like going after the insurance company, the hospital, or the doctor on behalf of my client. It gives me great satisfaction to level the playing field for my client".

Neil is a partner in the law firm of Hillyard, Wahlberg, Kudla & Sloane, LLP. All members of the firm are trial lawyers. Two of his partners have a medical background, having been a nurse before becoming an attorney. Like Neil, all members of the firm exclusively represent plaintiffs who have been injured or who have had a loved one suffer a wrongful death.

Neil's practice covers all types of accidents leading to injury or death. A large percentage of his practice is being a medical malpractice trial lawyer. This has involved doctor malpractice, hospital malpractice, nurse negligence, mid-wife malpractice, psychiatrist or psychologist malpractice, and many other others. He particularly has been involved in representing parents and children in cases of birth injury. This includes cerebral palsy, shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injury and other types of injury.

In addition to being a medical malpractice trial lawyer, he is an auto accident trial lawyer and a motorcycle trial lawyer. He has represented both victims of car accidents and motorcycle accidents for many years. He enjoys riding his own motorcycle and feels a motorcycle rider often is unfairly considered irresponsible just because he or she rides a motorcycle.

Neil grew up in a small farm town in Iowa. His father was a John Deere farm implement dealer. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1968. He worked as a probation and parole officer for the state of Missouri in St. Louis for a year and then attended and graduated from the University of Denver Law School. During law school he clerked for attorney Joe Branney who was a successful plaintiff's trial lawyer. Neil and Joe became partners following Neil's graduation from law school and they were partners for over 25 years. Following Joe's death, Neil renewed his partnership with Susan Kudla, who had been a member of Joe and Neil's firm earlier. Susan and Neil joined in a partnership with Steve Wahlberg and Dan Sloane in 2004.

Neil was President of the Colorado Trial Lawyers in 1986-87. He was awarded that organization's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. He is a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers, this being an invitation only organization of trial lawyers from around the world. He has taught trial practice to other lawyers and has been called upon numerous times to speak and write about representing victims of injury or death of a loved one.

Neil has been married to his wife, Sherry, since 1975. They have two sons. He loves to ride his motorcycle and go fly fishing, especially with his sons and his wife. Other members of his family include 2 golden retrievers and 3 cats.

Neil has taken almost all of his cases over his career on a contingency fee basis. While he understands he doesn't get paid if he doesn't win, he is confident in his client's case and feels this is the only way the overwhelming majority of injured people can fight the large and wealthy insurance companies.