Coppola, Frank W.

Frank Coppola was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. One of five children, Frank learned a strong work ethic from his father, a second generation Italian immigrant who worked in a factory to support his family. During his childhood, Frank's parents stressed the importance of education and hard work. Frank received his B.A. degree from Coe College in 1971 and his law degree from Drake University in 1975. Following graduation from law school, Frank went into practice with his older brother, Chuck, who is also a lawyer. Frank practiced general civil litigation in Des Moines for 11 years.

In 1987, having lived his entire life in Iowa, Frank was drawn to the Rocky Mountains and decided to move his family to Denver. He joined the firm shortly thereafter. The tragic crash of Continental Flight 1713 occurred at Stapleton International Airport in November 1987. The firm was retained by a number of survivors and families who had lost loved ones in the accident. Frank, who had obtained his private pilot's license several years earlier, was assigned to the case and took on the primary responsibility for investigating and preparing this complex aviation crash case. Through this process, Frank learned how to prepare an aviation crash case for trial from the ground up. Since that time, he has handled numerous aviation crash cases involving both private and commercial aircraft and has obtained many multi-million dollar settlements on behalf of our clients.

Frank also specializes in handling complex medical malpractice cases. In 1994, Frank tried a case in Iowa and obtained a medical malpractice verdict of $8,600,000.00, which at the time, was the largest jury award in Iowa for a medical malpractice case. This complex case involved the failure of emergency room physicians to properly diagnose and treat a cervical fracture. As a result of the medical negligence of the doctors and nurses, our client was needlessly rendered a quadriplegic and will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Frank has also handled numerous birth injury cases in which babies have needlessly suffered profound brain injury and other severe disabilities as a result of medical negligence which occurred during delivery.

More recently, Frank and his partner, Bill Marlin, tried a medical malpractice case on behalf of a young girl who had been born premature. While she was in the neonatal intensive care unit, her healthcare providers failed to timely diagnose and treat a visible skin infection. Left untreated, the skin infection moved into the baby's blood and seeded in the bones of her ankle, where it caused a serious bone infection. As a result, the little girl had to have her foot and lower leg amputated and will be required to utilize prosthetics for the remainder of her life. Following a two week jury trial, Frank and Bill obtained a verdict of $2,772,350.00 on behalf of the little girl, which far exceeded the $250,000.00 offered by the medical malpractice insurance company prior to trial.

Frank has been nominated by his peers and selected as a "Colorado Super Lawyer," a distinction limited to 5% of attorneys in Colorado. Since 2007, Frank has been selected as one of The American Association for Justice's Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Colorado.

Frank and his wife, Genie, have three adult daughters. When he is not sharing and devoting time with his family and clients, Frank enjoys working out, collecting vintage automobiles and spending time at his cabin in northern Minnesota.