John Mill Bio

John W. Mill, Esq.

John Mill grew up in the Midwest and moved to Colorado for the mountains.  During law school, John was on the Law Review and was elected Editor-in-Chief.  He served as a law clerk to Judge James K. Logan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.  In 1992, John became a Denver lawyer and began his career with Sherman & Howard L.L.C. doing commercial litigation.

One of John’s early clients was a Denver drywall subcontractor.  In 1995, he won a case for it on a motion to exclude all of the plaintiff’s evidence.  The client liked him and sent him more work.  Soon he was working for other clients in the construction industry.  He became the go-to construction lawyer for a large Colorado developer, a client relationship that continues to this day.  Over time, his construction practice grew to where he was focused on construction law and has been for over 20 years.

John started his own firm in 2020 with the founding of Mill Construction Law.  His clients include general contractors, developers and others in the construction industry.  Clients rely on John’s expertise and experience to guide them through critical contract negotiations and difficult construction disputes and help them manage risk and avoid litigation when possible.

John has helped clients negotiate over $900 million of construction contracts since 2017.  He not only knows how to draft contracts, he identifies the critical issues, likes to negotiate in-person whenever possible, can suggest a win-win alternative to break an impasse and help his clients reduce risk and protect their interests while crafting a contract that is fair to all parties.

The litigation and arbitration of construction disputes has been a key part of John’s practice for over 25 years.  His experience includes over 15 large, complex, multi-party condominium construction defect cases; many construction defect claims involving other types of projects and roofs, decks, HVAC systems, soils issues, windows and doors and other building components; large mechanics’ lien foreclosure actions; trust fund claims; payment and performance bond claims; subcontractor delay and impact claims; and many others.  John gained valuable trial experience as a young lawyer serving as a special prosecutor in the Denver City Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted domestic violence cases and did ten jury and bench trials.  He has won construction cases in the trial courts of Colorado and in arbitration and successfully resolved countless construction cases in mediation.

John Mill is an experienced appellate advocate.  He has argued two cases in the Colorado Supreme Court, Mesa Cty. Bd. of Cty. Comm’rs v. State, 203 P.3d 519 (Colo. 2009) and Huntoon v. TCI Cablevision of Colorado, Inc., 969 P.2d 681 (Colo. 1998), and argued other appeals in the Colorado Court of Appeals, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and other appellate courts.

Risk management and avoiding disputes is an area of special expertise for John.  He has helped contractors and developers establish risk management plans including risk-shifting contract provisions, insurance programs, condominium declaration provisions, single-purpose entities and warranty reserve programs.   

John is a recognized leader among construction lawyers in Colorado.  He builds long-term relationships with clients, is respected by judges, arbitrators, mediators and opposing counsel and works tirelessly to help his clients achieve their goals.