Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder/Director, since 1990

Lawyer Overview

Mr. Warburton was born in 1952 in Concordia, Kansas. He graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame with a major in government in 1975. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an infantry officer in the United States Army, graduating with honors from the Infantry Officer basic course and U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He attended Georgetown University on an Army graduate fellowship, earning a masters degree in Russian Area Studies in 1977. Prior to starting his legal career, Mr. Warburton served four years in Europe as a mechanized infantry platoon leader, company commander and aide-de-camp to the Assistant Division Commander for the Third Infantry Division. After leaving the service, he worked for five years as an Assistant Director of Admissions and International Studies at Central University of Iowa before attending law school. Mr. Warburton earned his J.D. degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1990, again graduating with honors, including Order of the Coif and Phi Kappa Phi.

Mr. Warburton joined the Sheehan, Sheehan & Stelzner firm as an associate upon graduation from law school and became a director and shareholder of the firm in 1995. He practices primarily in the area of commercial litigation and with an emphasis on insurance coverage, complex litigation, products liability. He is admitted in all of the state district and appellate courts of New Mexico and Wyoming, the United States District Courts of New Mexico and Wyoming, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also a member of the New Mexico and Wyoming Trial Lawyers Associations, Defense Research Institute, and the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Warburton is available to handle matters at the firm's Albuquerque, New Mexico and Jackson Hole, Wyoming offices.

Mr. Warburton's clients over the past two decades have included individuals, small businesses, medium and large corporations, insurance carriers, non-profits, religious entities, school districts, and various entities and agencies of county and state government. He has developed expertise on a wide range of insurance issues, including environmental, products liability, construction, workers compensation, employment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, life, health, disability, ERISA, corporate owned life insurance (COLI), Uninsured/Underinsured motorist, property and casualty claims.

Areas of Practice

• Insurance Bad Faith
• Insurance Coverage
• Complex Commercial Litigation
• Products Liability- Asbestos
• Construction Defects
• Architect Errors & Omissions

Representative Clients

• Archdiocese of Santa Fe
• Diocese of Gallup
• Deming Public Schools
• Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.
• Lexington Insurance Co.
• Trustmark Life Insurance Co.
• Unitrin
• Jaynes Corporation
• Sandia Corporation
• North American Speciality Insurance Company

Representative Cases

• Schwartz v. Coastal Physician Group, Inc., 172 F. 3d 63 (10th Cir. 1999)
• In Re Judicial Examination, 116 N.M. 106, 860 P.2d 748 (New Mexico Supreme Court 1993)
• Fought v. UNUM Life Ins. Co. of Am., 379 F.3d 997 (10th Cir. 2004)

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial Law, Construction Law, Housing & Construction Defects, Environmental Law, Insurance Law, Bad Faith, Errors & Omissions Insurance, Complex Litigation, Personal Injury -- Defense, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Products Liability Law

Bar Admissions

• New Mexico, 1990
• Wyoming, 1998
• U.S. District Court District of New Mexico, 1991
• U.S. District Court District of Wyoming, 1999
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1998
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2004

Professional Associations and Memberships

• New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association
• Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, 1998 - Present
• Defense Research Institute, 1990 - Present
• American Bar Association, Tort & Insurance Practice Sections, 1990 - Present
• Teton County Bar Association

Honors and Awards

• Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award

Classes and Seminars

• Insurance Coverage for Employment Lawsuits, New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association, April 14, 2000 - Present

Past Employment Positions

• Central University of Iowa, Assistant Director- Admissions/International Studies, 1982 - 1987
• United States Army, Infantry Officer, 1975 - 1981

Education

• University of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1990
  J.D.
  Honors: cum laude
  Honors: Order of the Coif, Phi Kappa Phi, Wall Street Journal Award
  
  Law Review: New Mexico Law Review, 1988 - 1990
• Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA, 1977
  M.A.
  Honors: cum laude
• University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, 1975
  B.A.
  Honors: cum laude

Fraternities/Sororities

• Phi Kappa Phi

Address

40 First Plaza N.W.
Suite 740
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Phones

(505) 247-0411
(307) 739-2271

Faxes

(505) 842-8890
(307) 739-2241

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.ssslawfirm.com