Overview

Hampton O’Neill specializes in civil litigation, and has practiced law in Wyoming for over thirty years. His focus is primarily business, commercial and insurance litigation, the defense of personal injury actions, and defending governmental liability and civil rights claims. He has extensive experience in defending claims based on products liability, medical malpractice, industrial, oilfield, construction, and trucking accidents, in addition to wrongful death, premises liability, recreation industry accidents, insurance coverage and bad faith.

Prior to law school, Hampton worked in a variety of agricultural businesses in the upper Midwest, and his family continues to be involved in the livestock and agriculture industry.

Before joining Welborn, Hampton practiced with Brown, Drew & Massey, LLP for fourteen years.

Experience & Results

• Peer review rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell
• 1990–1991, Law Clerk to the Honorable Clarence A. Brimmer, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
• Represented multiple operators, drillers and oil field service providers in defending against variety of serious personal injury and wrongful death claims
• Represented liability insurer in seminal insurance bad faith case before Wyoming Supreme Court
• Represented Canadian trucking company in multi-year, multi-lawsuit litigation arising from series of catastrophic accidents on I-80 in Wyoming
• Represented European ski binding manufacturer in successfully contesting existence of personal jurisdiction in Wyoming
• Represented Wyoming local government entities in defending against variety of civil rights claims·

Practice Areas

• Litigation
• Oil & Gas Litigation
• Complex Commercial Litigation
• Governmental Liability
• Civil Rights
• Personal Injury
• Insurance Coverage
• Appeals
• Mediation & Arbitration
• Trial

Honors & Insights

• Listed by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading U.S. Energy Lawyers” in 2023
• Peer review rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell
• Named the Best Lawyers® 2018, 2021 & 2023 Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants “Lawyer of the Year” in Casper
• Selected for Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2016-2024
• Member, Wyoming Bar Association
• Member, Wyoming Civil Pattern Jury Instruction Committee
• Admitted to practice before all district courts in Wyoming and the Wyoming Supreme Court
• Admitted to practice in the Federal District Court in Wyoming and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Author, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Cumulative Supplement, Wyoming Trial Handbook

Education

• J.D., University of Wyoming Law School, 1990
• B.A., St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM, 1986

Bar Admissions / Qualifications

• Wyoming, 1991
• Colorado, 1990
• U.S. District Court, District of Wyoming, 1991
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 1992

Professional & Community Involvement

• Member, Board of Trustees, Casper Family YMCA
• Past President, Board of Directors, Casper Family YMCA
• Past President, Natrona County Library Board
• Past President, Natrona County Bar Association, 1998–1999
• Wyoming State Bar
• Defense Research Institute