Honors and Awards:

• Thursday Night Bar Volunteer, Recipient, Pro Bono Award, Denver Bar Association, 1985
• Alfred C. Harrell Award, American Inns of Court, 2000

Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Civil Trial Lawyer, National Board of Trial Advocacy, 1988

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Michigan Bar Association
• Denver Bar Association
• Colorado Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Eagle Member
• American Inns of Court, Member/Master
• Thompson G. Marsh Inn of Court, Member/Master
• National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Diplomat, 1980
• American Association for Justice, Sustaining Member , 1982
• National Board of Trial Advocacy, Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer , 1988
• Faculty of Federal Advocates for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado,  Member of the Board, 2009

Pro bono/Community Service:

• First Judicial District Nominating Committee, Appointee
• Jefferson County Juvenille Review Board, member
• Attorney Coach, Evergreen H.S. Mock Trail Team (2007 State Champs)

Scholarly Lectures and Writings:

• Skiing safety has improved over time, with the improvement of alpine release bindings, heightened awareness of safety rules, and improved safety procedures at ski areas which were prompted by risk management concern over injury claims. , Author, Liability Of A Skier For Collision With Another Skier , American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts, 3d Series, West Publishing, 1999
• This article treats two types of ski accident cases: (1) the downhill skiing accident which leads to a claim against the ski area operator, (2) the ski lift related accidents which lead to claims against the ski area operator and the lift manufacturer. , Author, Ski Area's Liability For Skiing Accidents, American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts, 3d Series, West Publishing, 1999
• A set of nine commandments is presented for the trial attorney to avoid a claim of malpractice. The common element to each of the commandments is the crucial need to communicate - communicate with your clients and with those individuals who may perceive themselves as your clients. Communicate with your office staff, with co-counsel and with the courthouse. And, most importantly, maintain an honest dialogue with yourself., Co-Author, The Nine Commandments of Malpractice Prevention , 22 Trial Lawyer 183-198, Colorado Trail Lawyers Association, 1999
• Tourism is the largest component of Colorado's economy. The "timorous" no longer stay at home. If they did, our economy would suffer a grievous blow. Recreational and tourist activities are so pervasive throughout Colorado that each Colorado tort lawyer inevitably will have a case involving a recreational accident., Author, Update On Recreational Accident Cases, CLE In Colorado, Inc. , Colorado Bar Association CLE, 2000
• Skier/snowboarder safety has become a significant issue for the ski industry. Its significance is derived from two forces: the competition for the national skiing market, and national attention drawn to ski safety by the media frenzy stimulated by celebrity skier deaths in 1999, and recent homicide proceedings in Colorado. , Co-Author, Ski Law For Beginners, Intermediates And Experts, Trial, American Association Of Trial Lawyers, 2001
• This article provides a current overview of Colorado ski law as it pertains to legal economics, legislation, and ski accident case law. It also compares ski law in other states and offers the Colorado lawyer some practice tips. , Lead Author, Ski Law in Colorado, The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 31, No. 2 , Colorado Bar Association, 2002
• Ski law covers a broad spectrum of claims and duties of care. This article presents an overview of the duties involved in skier collisions, ski operator collisions and ski lift accidents. , Author, Ski Law in the United States: A Practical Guide to Ski Accident Litigation, Recreation and Adventure Program Law and Liability, 3rd Annual Conference, 2005
• Ski safety legislation, enacted with great urgency in many states in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has in more recent years been subject to reinterpretation by the courts, and to amendment in state legislatures. Most statutes began as so-called "inherent danger" statutes that exculpated ski area operators from liability for those hazards considered inherent to skiing. This begged the question of how to define the sport's "inherent dangers." Some states, including Colorado, construed and do construe their statutes to require a jury to determine the nature and extent of the duty owed by a ski area operator relative to an alleged "inherent danger." Others, notably Idaho, hold as a matter of law that any injury not caused by an enumerated, statutory operator duty is a risk "inherent" in the sport. A reasonable standard of care, with or without statutorily-defined duties, has been imposed in a number of states by legislative act, or common law. , Author, Survey of Ski Law in the United States, Recreation & Adventure Program Law & Liability, 4th Annual Conference, 2006
• A Practical Guideline to Ski Accident Litigation for non-U.S. Attorneys Overview prepared for 2008 SKILEX International Conference, Tarvisio, Italy, Feb. 28 - March 2, 2008, Presenter, SKILEX, 2008
• Paper presented to Avalanche Liability Law & Ski Law in the United States, 2010 LEICLE Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado., Author, A Practical Guideline to Ski Accident Litigation, LEICLE, 2010

Verdicts and Settlements:

• Hoar v. Great Eastern Resort, 506 S.E. 2d. 777; On June 21, 1997 an Albermarle County, Virginia jury entered a $6.2 million award in favor of Hoar, and against Great Eastern Resort, the corporate owner of the Massanutten resort where Hoar was severely injured while skiing., 1997
• Nguyen v. Stecher, 01 CV 2541 Arapahoe County District Court, Colorado;  Karl Stecher, Jr., M.D., performed a routine, anterior cervical discectomy on Be Thi Luong, a 54 year old female, in September 2000. During the operation, Dr. Stecher injured Be Thi Luong's left common carotid artery. Dr. Stecher attempted to repair the damaged artery but, after the surgery, imaging studies revealed a large cerebral cortical infarct. Be Thi Luong died two days later as a result of the injury to the carotid artery and cerebral cortical infarct. After an eight day jury trial, the jury deliberated for about 2.5 hours and returned a verdict of $1.3 million for the family., 2002
• Grigg v. Wintergreen, CL-03-9452, Circuit Court for Albermarle County, Virginia;  Jessica Grigg, age 17, was skiing down Eagle's Swoop, at Wintergreen ski resort in Nelson County, Virginia when she collided with a large, track snow groomer.The jury awarded Ms. Grigg $8.3 million, the second largest verdict ever obtained in a ski case in the United States., 2004
• Edden Bargai, by and through Neta Bargai, v. Nancy Carlson, M.D., District Court, City and County of Denver; Jim Chalat received a $10.1 million jury verdict on behalf of a child in a complicated medical malpractice case. The result was one of the largest medical negligence verdicts in Colorado history. "The award will provide for the child's ongoing medical needs over his life expectancy,"Chalat says. "We were up against the top defense attorneys in the western United States. They outspent us and outmanned us but they did not defeat us.", 2007
• Savage v. Guy and Ruszkowski - Paul Savage, 46, was changing the oil on his wife's car in their driveway when a drunk driver flew off the road and slammed into him. As a result of the accident, Mr. Savage is now in a wheelchair and will never walk again except "more than a few heavily assisted steps at a time" and is a "functional paraplegic." He has incurred more than $4.3 million in medical bills and is expected to have another $4.9 million the rest of his life. Paul Savage was head waiter at the Alpenglow Stube at Keystone at the time.  Clear Creek District Court Judge Russell Granger awarded Paul and Pam Savage $18.5 million after hearing the evidence during a trial to the bench., 2010

Representative Clients:

• Former Olympic Athletes and Professional Skiers
• National Federation of the Blind, Colorado Center
• Colorado Center on Deafness

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• Listed in Bar Registry of Pre-Eminent Lawyers in the United States 

Video:

• Chalat Hatten & Koupal in the news, Colorado Personal Injury Lawyers, 2010

Newsletters:

• Published since 1994, Ski Safety News© is dedicated to providing current information on national ski safety issues and report on ski accidents., Ski Safety News

Educational Background:

• The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, B.G.S. with distinction, 1972