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Kim Colwell has been practicing law for eighteen years, with the last sixteen devoted largely to public entity defense. She is co-chair of our tort/civil rights litigation practice group. Throughout her career, Kim has handled a wide variety of cases, from slip and falls to wrongful death actions. She has worked for cities, counties, housing authorities, special districts, school districts and private security companies handling torts, civil rights, land use and contract disputes. Kim also handles many cases for the Judicial Council of California acting as attorney to judges, appellate court justices and court employees all over Northern California.Many of Kim's cases for various cities have involved police civil rights litigation, from the most minor traffic stops through hostage situations and multiple department shootings. Kim has handled literally hundreds of these police cases, a high number of which were dismissed through successful motions for summary judgment, frequently asserting governmental immunities. Other cases, where summary judgment was not an option and liability likely, were handled through mediation.Kim is also frequently involved in dangerous condition cases and most aspects of tort and contract litigation. She is practiced in asserting the appropriate immunities and defenses and has been able to resolve the majority of these cases through motions or mediation. Kim has been lead counsel on complicated cases implicating numerous public entities, sometimes involving sensitive cross actions between entities. She understands the budget constraints facing today's public entities and tries to assert a strong offense or defense while staying aware of the bottom line.Kim has tried numerous federal and state discrimination/civil rights cases to jury verdict, conducted over fifty court trials, and dozens of arbitrations and mediations. Through her representation of a wide variety of public entity clients, Kim has conducted training, general orders review and systems analysis of police and public works departments. She has also done seminars and training sessions on how to avoid claims in the first place, and once they are filed, how to investigate and follow up from the inception of the claim through final disposition of the matter. Kim is also working with existing clients to review and streamline evidence collection and preservation from the civil litigation prospective.Kim graduated from Linfield College in 1980, thereafter receiving her J.D. from University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1984. She is a member of the State Bar of California and served on the Board of Directors of California Council of Trout Unlimited. She is a frequent speaker and has made presentations on federal and state civil rights litigation in law enforcement, has provided education for Public Agency Risk Manager's Association (PARMA) annual and chapter conferences and has been a featured speaker at the California Association for Property and Evidence (CAPE). Kim has also instructed courses at Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Symposium on Use of Force and Dealing with the Mentally Ill. She is a member of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada. Her article "Evidence Collection, Preservation and Presentation for Civil Litigation," appeared in the Daily Journal in December 2005 as well as the November 2003 issue of Law and Order, a magazine for police managemen | 