Henry E. Koltz

Biography

Henry is a Shareholder at Crivello, Nichols & Hall, who joined the firm through a merger in September of 2022. He has over 20 years of experience defending contractors, motorists, and insurance companies across Wisconsin, oftentimes in large, complex multi-party litigation. He is regularly listed as one of Wisconsin’s preeminent construction litigation attorneys and has been named a Thomson Rueters Super Lawyer or Rising Star for construction litigation since 2008.

He received his undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where his rowing teammates chose him as captain of the men’s crew team. He received his law degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he served as a research assistant for Professor Jack Kircher, as a teacher’s assistant for Professor Andrea Schneider, and was a member of the moot court.

During his career, he has handled numerous jury trials and has brought cases to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and in the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC.

Marquette University Law School brought him in as a guest lecturer to present on interviewing clients, mediation and alternative dispute methods. Henry is also a member of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel. 

Henry has numerous published opinions, including:

• Megal Development Corp. v. Shadof, 2005 WI 151, 286 Wis.2d 105, 705 N.W.2d 645
• Holt v. Hegwood, 2005 WI App 257, 287 Wis.2d 853, 708 N.W.2d 21
• Baldwin-Woodville Area School District v. West Central Education Association – Balwin Woodville Unit, 2009 WI 51, 317 N.W.2d 691, 766 N.W.2d 591
• Lake Beulah Management District v. State Department of Natural Resources, 2011 WI 54, 335 Wis.2d 47, 799 N.W.2d 73
• Krueger v. AllEnergy Hixton, LLC, 2018 WI App 60, 384 Wis.2d 127, 918 N.W.2d 458
• Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2021 WI 72, 398 Wis.2d 433, 961 N.W.2d 611
• 5 Walworth, LLC v. Engerman Contracting, Inc., 2021 WI App 51, 399 Wis.2d 240, 963 N.W.2d 799
• 5 Walworth, LLC v. Engerman Contracting, Inc., 2023 WI 51, 408 Wis.2d 39, 992 N.W.2d 31

In his personal life Henry is an avid fly angler and has fished for trout in 15 states. He was the President of the Southeast Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited when it won the National Chapter of the Year Award in 2009. He later served as Chairman of the Wisconsin Council of Trout Unlimited leading efforts to pass the Wisconsin Trout Unlimited license plate bill. He was then selected to serve as one of the youngest-ever National Trustees for Trout Unlimited in Arlington, Virginia, where he chaired its Risk Management Committee.

Henry served two full terms as a member of the national Embrace-A-Stream grant panel, which helped to fund trout and habitat improvement projects from Hawaii to Georgia, and nearly every state in between. He has lobbied extensively for cold water resources at the United States Capital in Washington D.C. and at Wisconsin’s Capital in Madison as a registered principal lobbyist.

He has led over 100 volunteer stream workdays where volunteers construct and install habitat improvements in degraded trout streams. And he helped lead numerous large scale stream restoration projects all across Wisconsin, including notably the nearly 2.5 miles of work at Camp Creek outside Viola, Wisconsin, and the Menomonee River Fish Passage project in Milwaukee which opened 26 miles of main channel and tributaries to anadromous salmon and trout migrations out of Lake Michigan and involved numerous partners.

He was named a “Hero of Conservation” by Field and Stream magazine, and a Stream Champion by Trout magazine. He was presented the Award of Merit by the Wisconsin Council of Trout Unlimited. For roughly a decade he was the head of a column in Trout magazine which has a circulation of over 150,000. He also enjoyed being a guest on fly fishing television shows.

In addition to teaching others how to fly fish, Henry loves basketball and coached women’s basketball in various forms at every level from the 4^th grade through high school. He has additionally coached women’s softball at youth levels. Finally, he had one shining moment when he inexplicably coached a single varsity high school girls’ golf match after no other legitimate coach was available, and where the girls thankfully made him look like he knew what he was doing.

Henry is also actively involved at Catholic Memorial High School. He currently sits on its Board of Directors and is President of the Booster Club as well as serving as the Girls Basketball Representative.

Professional Achievements 

Milwaukee Magazine "Rising Star" from 2008 - 2016

Milwaukee Magazine "Super Lawyer" from 2017 - present

Listed as a "Top Construction Litigation Attorney" 

Practice Areas

Business Transactions and Contracts
Construction Law
Estate Planning and Probate
Insurance Defense, Coverage, and Disputes
Negligence and Personal Injury Defense
Real Property and Land Use

Bar Admissions

Wisconsin Court
U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. District Court – Western District of Wisconsin
U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Western District of Wisconsin
U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Education

Marquette University Law School, JD 2001
The College of William & Mary, B.A. 1998

Professional Organizations

Wisconsin Defense Counsel