Luke McFarland
Partner
Golden Office
910 13th St., Suite 200
Golden, Colorado 80401
tel 303 279 8300
fax 303 277 1620
Luke McFarland
luke@mcfarland.law
Luke is one of Colorado’s top litigators for significant and complex cases, and one of the few who has a proven track record of success on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. In early 2025, Luke served as lead trial counsel for a Colorado medical device manufacturer and, following five years of litigation and a six-week jury trial, achieved a complete defense verdict in a case where the plaintiffs were seeking over $5 billion in damages. Later that year, Luke was lead trial counsel for the largest group of plaintiffs in the Marshall Fire litigation, and helped secure a $640 million settlement against Xcel Energy – the largest wildfire settlement in Colorado history.
Luke McFarland grew up in Lakewood, Colorado and attended Alameda High School. He attended Colorado College as a Boettcher Scholar, and received his degree in International Political Economy, with distinction, in 1998 – graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude.
He received his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude in 2001.
Many lawyers don’t have the luxury to be “picky” about what cases they take. Either they are pigeonholed into one particular practice area, or they feel obligated to take any work that may come their way. Luke discovered early in his career that he did his best work when he was passionate about his client’s position and could fight for the side of justice. Luke is proud to have built a practice where he can take on important cases that he truly believes in, across a wide spectrum of different subject matters. Luke may be found advocating for an individual who was injured by someone else’s carelessness in one case, representing an entrepreneur fighting to maintain control over the company they founded in another case, or helping his corporate clients navigate contractual disputes or other issues in bringing important products to market in another.
The common thread in Luke’s cases is that they are causes worth fighting for, and cases he is proud to tell his children about at the dinner table. His greatest professional reward comes from obtaining good, just results for people who truly rely on him.
Luke has been named to Colorado’s “Super Lawyers” lists every year since 2010. From 2010-2017, he was named as one of Colorado Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” (top 2.5% of attorneys under 40). Since 2017, he has been named a Colorado Super Lawyer every year (top 5% of attorneys over 40). The Super Lawyers list is based primarily on peer recognition from other Colorado attorneys and judges and professional achievement.
Luke’s complete defense verdict as lead counsel in a six-week bellwether trial against Terumo BCT, Inc. was selected as Courtroom View Network’s Most Impressive Defense Verdict nationwide for 2025. View. CVN noted “ this definitive defense verdict in an emerging mass tort of national significance comes in as the clear choice for the number one most impressive defense verdict CVN covered in 2025.”
Luke was also recognized as a runner up for the nationwide Litigator of the Week by law.com for his work on this case.
Luke was appointed by Governor Hickenlooper to serve a 5-year term on the Board of Directors of Pinnacol Assurance. He now sits on the Board of Directors for the Pinnacol Foundation, an affiliated non-profit that provides scholarships to the children of injured workers.
Isaacks v. Terumo BCT, Inc. Luke is proud to represent Terumo BCT, a Colorado company and global leader in lifesaving blood collection and separation technology. Terumo was targeted by out of state law firms who recruited Colorado plaintiffs via an extensive advertising campaign. Four plaintiffs sued Terumo for alleged environmental torts and sought over $5 billion in damages. Luke served as lead trial counsel, working with a team from King & Spalding. Following a 6-week jury trial (the longest civil trial in Jefferson County in over 15 years), the jury rendered a complete defense verdict. Terumo subsequently obtained a cost award as prevailing party in excess of $5 million.
This defense verdict received significant local and national media coverage.
- Courtroom View Network
- Colorado Sun
- CBS News
- Law360 (subscription required)
This verdict was selected as Courtroom View Network’s Most Impressive Defense Verdict nationwide for 2025, with CVN noting “this definitive defense verdict in an emerging mass tort of national significance comes in as the clear choice for the number one most impressive defense verdict CVN covered in 2025.” View
Luke was also chosen as a runner up for law.com’s national “Litigator of the Week” award for his work on the case. View
This important case was selected for broadcast by the Courtroom View Network. Luke’s opening statement and closing arguments, as well as the full trial, can be viewed here (subscription required): Isaacks v. Terumo – Courtroom View Network
In Re: Marshall Fire Litigation The Marshall Fire was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, killing two people, destroying nearly 1000 homes, and forcing the evacuation of nearly 40,000 people. Luke and his co-counsel from Fox Law represented the largest group of individual plaintiffs in a consolidated suit against Xcel Energy. The day before the start of an 8-week trial, in which Luke was slated to serve as lead trial counsel, Xcel agreed to pay $640 million in settlement of the case. This is the largest wildfire settlement in Colorado history.
Luke has adeptly handled litigation and arbitration matters for Fortune 500 companies like eBay and Meta, but is equally proud of his dedicated representation of individuals, startups, and local companies here in Colorado.