Emily Swanson

Emily Swanson is a partner with Lasater & Martin whose practice focuses exclusively on defending businesses, insurers, and self-insured entities in high-exposure civil litigation throughout Colorado and across the country. She has extensive experience handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims involving premises liability, product liability, automobile and trucking accidents, employer liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, and subrogation.

With more than 15 years of litigation experience, Emily has tried more than 35 cases in over 20 Colorado counties, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and has litigated matters nationally and internationally. She is frequently entrusted with defending cases involving liability disputes, catastrophic injuries, traumatic brain injuries, complex spinal injuries, disputed medical causation, wrongful death and substantial claimed damages. She is known for developing creative litigation strategies in difficult cases where liability, causation, or damages are heavily contested.

Thus far in 2026, Emily successfully tried a premises liability case on behalf of a small family-owned business that resulted in a complete defense verdict after only 23 minutes of jury deliberations, and has also secured four walk-away agreements and two dismissals on dispositive motions, eliminating significant exposure for her clients before trial.

Clients value Emily’s practical approach to litigation. While she prepares every case as though it will be tried to a jury, she also understands that the best result is not always obtained in the courtroom. Whether through strategic motion practice, early case evaluation, mediation, or trial, her focus remains the same: obtaining the best possible outcome while minimizing unnecessary expense and risk for her clients.

Emily’s courtroom success has earned recognition throughout Colorado’s legal community. She has been selected to Best Lawyers in America, recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star, named one of Law Week Colorado’s Top Litigators, and previously recognized as one of Colorado’s Top Women Attorneys. She has also been repeatedly selected as a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney and was a finalist for the Denver Bar Association’s Gary McPherson Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award.

In addition to her litigation practice, Emily is a frequent speaker at legal education programs throughout the country. She regularly presents on trial advocacy, jury selection, expert witnesses, subrogation, insurance litigation, and emerging issues affecting civil defense practitioners. She regularly presents for the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, has presented to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, and often speaks at conferences for numerous other professional organizations. Emily is an active member of CLM and other professional organizations.

Before joining Lasater & Martin, Emily represented clients on both the plaintiff and defense sides of civil litigation. That unique perspective allows her to anticipate opposing counsel’s strategies while effectively positioning her clients for successful resolutions.

Emily earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and graduated summa cum laude from her undergrad institution, where she was an NCAA Division I volleyball student-athlete. Outside of the courtroom, she has remained active in the volleyball community for more than two decades through coaching, mentoring, and leadership, and previously served on the Board of Directors for over ten years for the Rocky Mountain Region of USA Volleyball.