Overview
Colby Balkenbush’s litigation practice is focused on complex civil litigation in both state and federal court involving commercial construction disputes, civil fraud, ERISA healthcare disputes between plan administrators and providers and catastrophic injury cases.
Education & Admissions
Education
University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2013
- Articles Editor, Nevada Law Journal
University of Nevada, Reno, B.A., magna cum laude, 2010
Admissions
Nevada
U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
Representative Experience
- Prevailed in a breach of contract trial against a Los Angeles general contractor, obtaining a judgment of over $650,000 on behalf of a building material supply company client.
- Successfully litigated a breach of performance bond action against a surety resulting in the recovery of $5 million in liquidated damages, one of the largest known recoveries for a public entity in Nevada, on behalf of the fifth largest school district in the country.
- Secured mandatory permanent injunction against general contractor for improper forum shopping on behalf of the developer of a near-billion dollar renewable energy project.
- Successful defense of civil engineer from multi-million dollar suit by developer for defective design of residential subdivision resulting in the developer dismissing the suit with prejudice without any payment whatsoever by the client.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a large private developer by voiding a multi-million dollar construction contract based on certain licensing issues.
- Successfully sued project architect for breaching its contractual and fiduciary duties to the developer by accepting a bribe/kickback in return for recommending the developer hire an unlicensed contractor. The suit resulted in the client recovering $495,000 from the project architect.
- Successfully invalidated an arbitration clause in the parties’ contract related to a multi-million dollar construction dispute on behalf of one of the largest public entities in Nevada.
Practices & Industries
Awards & Recognition
The Best Lawyers in America®, Construction Law, 2024 - 2025
The Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation - Construction, 2024 - 2025
Super Lawyers®, Mountain States Rising Stars List, Business Litigation, 2017-2019; 2023
Super Lawyers®, Mountain States Rising Stars List, Construction Litigation, 2021-2022
CALI Awards: Constitutional Law II, Real Estate Finance, Lawyering Process III: Litigation, and Conflicts of Law
News & Publications
Professional & Community Activities
American Bar Association, Member