Practice Areas:
Kurt Wihl practices in the areas of litigation and real estate. He has been a lawyer with Keleher & McLeod, P.A. since he was admitted to the New Mexico bar in 1984. Mr. Wihl has appeared in all district courts in the State of New Mexico, the New Mexico Court of Appeals and the New Mexico Supreme Court as well as New Mexico and Southern California federal courts, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In addition, he has appeared before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, the New Mexico Public Utility Commission, the New Mexico Corporation Commission, the Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission, the New Mexico Livestock Board, the United States Department of the Interior, Board of Land Appeals, and the United States Forest Service.
Tort Claims
Mr. Wihl has prepared and tried numerous common law and statutory tort cases in state and federal court. He has experience in the areas of premises liability, motor vehicle (including over-the-road trucking) accidents, products liability defense, personal injury, medical malpractice defense, defense of constitutional tort claims brought pursuant to the federal civil rights statutes, commercial torts such as claims for lender liability, breach of trust, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, prima facie tort, tortuous interference with existing and prospective contractual relations, ERISA and defamation.
Subrogation Claims
Mr. Wihl has handled numerous subrogation claims for insured and self-insured clients arising out of personal injury and contract disputes.
Condemnation, Right-of-Way and Real Estate Litigation
Mr. Wihl has significant experience in eminent domain actions both for the condemning authority and for landowners. In addition, he has handled lawsuits involving claims for quiet title, mortgage foreclosure, breach of lease, trespass, boundary determinations, nuisance, easements and right-of-ways of all kinds, restrictive covenants, real estate taxation and zoning through trial and on appeal in both state and federal court.
Commercial Litigation, Complex and Otherwise
Most of Mr. Wihl’s practice is complex commercial litigation. For over twenty years, he has handled complex suits in state and federal court involving multiple parties and multiple claims with amounts in controversy ranging from hundreds of thousands to well over a billion dollars. He has successfully defended shareholder class action and derivative lawsuits filed both in New Mexico federal court and in federal court in Southern California. He tried a shareholder derivative case on behalf of five separately held New Mexico corporations and litigated a shareholder derivative suit on behalf of a United States corporation against individual and corporate defendants from the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and North America. He has brought and defended lawsuits in state and federal court on behalf of corporations headquartered in Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Mr. Wihl has tried complex commercial cases involving contract disputes, claims of breach of fiduciary duty, loan participation agreements, general and limited partnership and joint venture disputes. In addition, he has arbitrated disputes involving employment and shareholder agreements and electric right-of-way agreements.
Education:
J.D. cum laude University New Mexico School of Law 1984: received awards for outstanding student in commercial law and civil procedure and admitted to the Order of the Coif. B.A. with double majors in History and Philosophy from Swarthmore College, 1980; National Merit Scholar and Outstanding History Student Fellowships. Admitted to the State Bar of New Mexico in 1984.
Certifications:
United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, International Inns of Court; AV Rating by Matindale-Hubbell.
Other Languages:
 Spanish
|
