Edward C. Hopkins Jr.
Phone: 303-578-4400
Fax: 303-578-4401
Email: [email protected]
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Ed joined Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC (RM) to defend and uphold the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that the United States Constitution guarantees all Americans. In addition to fighting for Americans’ sacred First Amendment right to speak truth to power, Ed also fights against malicious lies that cause harm to American businesses and professionals who rely on their good names to pursue the American Dream. When governments, through their public employees, abuse the people’s powers or unjustly maim or murder Americans, Ed strives to hold them fully accountable.
Ed’s practice focuses on civil rights violations, defamation (including libel, slander, and trade libel), employment discrimination, invasions of privacy, and wrongful death. Except for his defamation practice, representing defendants and plaintiffs, Ed works exclusively for plaintiffs.
Before joining RM, Ed was a civil litigation and data privacy law partner at two large law firms, a national management-side employment law firm with more than 400 attorneys and an international full-service law international law firm with more than 700 attorneys. He also owned and operated HopkinsWay PLLC, which focused on litigating defamation law, privacy law, and social media law claims and defenses for plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts.
Ed has led and served on the boards of many community service organizations. In 2014, he began to focus his community service work primarily on mentoring diverse young students and professionals. He actively mentors dozens of entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, military officers, and scholars, many of whom, like him, are African American men who were born into inner-city households of modest means.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
- University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Juris Doctor, 2010
- William T. Birmingham Award (Best Trial Advocate)
- Postbaccalaureate Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, University of Arizona (2003 – 2005)
- Phi Beta Kappa
- United States Air Force Academy, Bachelor of Science, Management, 1995
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
PUBLISHED OPINIONS
- Wilson v. Kennedy, 490 P.3d 855, 2020 COA 122 (Colo. App. 2020).
- Lawson v. Stow, 327 P.3d 340, 2014 COA 26 (Colo. App. 2014).
- Fry v. Lee, 408 P.3d 843, 2013 COA 100 (Colo. App. 2013).
PUBLICATIONS
- Q&A with Ed Hopkins | Sounding the alarm on Colorado’s lack of legal diversity, (by Michael Karlik for Colorado Politics, November 9, 2020)
- Invisible Capital: A Startup Law Firm’s Best Defense against Failure, (Trial Talk, July 2012)
- “A Guilty Pause, A Downward Glance, or A Nervous Twitch: A Ten-Step Strategy for Exposing Nonverbal Lies on Cross-Examination.” (University of Arizona College of Law Thesis, Faculty Adviser – Thomas A. Mauet, 2010)
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
- Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Directors Member (2023 to present)
- National Bar Association
- Sam Cary Bar Association
- Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Inc. (2005 to present)
- United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates (Lifetime Member)
SELECT COMMUNITY SERVICE
- Law School… Yes We Can! (Vice President, 2014 to 2016)
- Delta Eta Boulé (Grammateus, 2020 to 2022)
- Pride Radiates in Music Education (PRIME) School (Board Member, 2003 to 2005)
- Tucson Urban League (Board Member, 2003 to 2004)
- Tucson Black Chamber of Commerce (Board Member, 2003 to 2005)
- University of Arizona African American Advisory Council (President, 2002 to 2004)
SELECT AWARDS
- Martindale-Hubbard AV-Rated Attorney (2015 to present)
- Sam Cary Bar Association President’s Award (2014)
- Young Leader of the Future Award (EBONY Magazine, 2003)