Colorado Injury Lawyers Who Prepare Every Case for Trial

It depends on the severity of your injuries, the amount of your medical bills and lost wages, the degree of permanency, and the available insurance coverage. Colorado caps noneconomic damages (pain and suffering) at $1,500,000 for cases filed on or after January 1, 2025, under HB 24-1472. Economic damages like medical bills and lost income have no cap. Permanent impairments and the potential for punitive damages are also a factor in assessing the value of the case. An attorney can give you a realistic range after reviewing your medical records and the insurance policies in play.

Almost never. The first offer is the insurance company’s floor, not its ceiling. It is calculated to close the file quickly, before you know the full extent of your injuries. If you accept a settlement, you sign a release and give up all future claims forever. Once you sign, there is no reopening the case, even if your injuries turn out to be worse than expected.

You can still recover damages in Colorado as long as you were less than 50% at fault. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-111, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. At 30% fault, you recover 70% of your damages. At 50% or above, you recover nothing. The insurance adjuster’s primary goal is to push your fault percentage as high as possible.

Colorado’s statute of limitations is three years from the date of the accident under C.R.S. 13-80-101. But critical evidence like ELD data, dashcam footage, and maintenance records can be destroyed well before that deadline. A preservation demand should go to the trucking company as soon as possible. Do not wait. Trucking cases can involve other claims like negligent entrustment, hiring, or retention, which may have different statutes of limitations, so contact an attorney as soon as possible.

Yes. Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, a trucking company is liable for the negligent acts of its employees performed within the course and scope of employment. The company can also be directly liable for negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent maintenance, and negligent entrustment of the vehicle. We try to identify every liable party and every insurance policy.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the government agency that oversees the regulation of the commercial motor vehicle industry. There are many rules that FMCSA has developed to govern a commercial driver’s hours of service, the record keeping that drivers must do with Electronic Log Books and ELDs, the times at which drivers must undergo a DOT-required drug test, and the condition of the vehicles in which they operate. If a trucking carrier violates one or more of FMCSA’s regulations and an injury occurs, then the violations themselves may be used as evidence of negligence in a Colorado court.

Yes. In Colorado, not wearing a helmet does not automatically prevent you from recovering damages after a motorcycle accident. Colorado generally does not require adult motorcycle riders to wear helmets, although riders and passengers under 18 must wear one under C.R.S. § 42-4-1502. However, the insurance company may still argue that not wearing a helmet made certain injuries worse, especially if the case involves a head, face, or brain injury. If that argument is supported by evidence, then your compensation may be reduced under Colorado’s comparative negligence rules. The key issue is whether another driver caused the crash and whether the lack of a helmet actually contributed to your injuries. Even if you were not wearing one, you may still have a valid injury claim.

Yes, since August 7, 2024. Under SB24-079, codified as an amendment to C.R.S. § 42-4-1503, motorcycle riders may pass between stopped vehicles at 15 mph or less, on the left side, when the lane is wide enough and conditions permit safe operation. Lane splitting, or passing between moving vehicles, remains illegal. The law automatically sunsets on September 1, 2027, pending a CDOT safety study.

The most common signs include headaches that worsen or do not go away, confusion or difficulty concentrating, memory problems (particularly short-term memory), dizziness or balance issues, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, mood changes (irritability, anxiety, depression), sleep disturbances, and difficulty finding words. Many of these symptoms are dismissed as ‘stress’ in the days after an accident. If you experience any cognitive, emotional, or physical changes after a car accident, ask your doctor specifically about traumatic brain injury and request a referral to a neurologist. Read our detailed guide: TBI Symptoms After an Accident: The Timeline Insurance Companies Ignore.

Yes. A direct blow to the head is not required for a traumatic brain injury. The rapid acceleration and deceleration forces in a car accident can cause the brain to slam against the inside of the skull and produce diffuse axonal injury even without any head contact. Whiplash-type mechanisms, where the head is violently snapped forward and back, generate rotational forces that stretch and tear the brain’s white matter tracts. Many TBI patients have no bruise, no cut, and no visible sign of head trauma. This is one reason TBI is so frequently underdiagnosed and why insurance companies fight these claims so aggressively.

There is no meaningful ‘average’ because TBI cases range from concussions that resolve in weeks to severe injuries requiring lifelong care. The most important variable is not the severity of the injury but whether the case has been properly developed with neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, life care planning, and trial preparation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. See our full analysis: TBI Settlements: What Drives the Numbers.