Elizabeth Salinas-Van Orman
Elizabeth Salinas-Van Orman is a trial lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice litigation and professional licensing matters. She defends health care professionals facing civil claims and malpractice lawsuits as well as licensing, credentialing, and disciplinary matters involving various regulatory boards and agencies.
Elizabeth’s journey to the practice of law is unique. Before beginning her legal career, Elizabeth earned her medical degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1994 and completed a residency in Ophthalmology and a fellowship in Glaucoma at the hospital of the Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera en México. After completing her training, she remained on faculty and practiced as an ophthalmologist in private practice in Mexico City. In 2003, she moved to Colorado and spent over a decade as Research Director at Glaucoma Consultants of Colorado, managing over 70 FDA multicenter clinical research trials.
Elizabeth earned her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she served as president of the Health Law Society and staff editor for the Criminal Law Review. During law school, she gained valuable litigation and mediation experience as a student attorney and through externships with the Denver District Court and BarrADR. Prior to joining Recht Kornfeld, Elizabeth practiced as an associate attorney at a national private law firm for ten years. She was named to the Best Lawyers in America list in the practice area of Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants in 2026.
Elizabeth is also a trained ADR professional and focuses her mediation practice on civil cases in the Spanish-speaking community. She volunteers as a bilingual court mediator for Court Mediation Services in Denver District Court and has been a guest lecturer in mediation courses at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law for the past 3 years. Elizabeth is an active member of the Colorado Bar Association and is the Chair of the Colorado Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.
Elizabeth’s experience as a doctor combined with her knowledge as an attorney allows her to bring a unique and valuable perspective to her litigation practice and truly understand the medical issues and legal challenges health care professionals face in their daily practice.