Colorado Personal Injury Lawyer
Did you get hurt in Colorado because someone was negligent? If so, a Colorado personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation. This money can pay for medical bills, lost wages, and emotional suffering.
The Colorado personal injury attorneys at Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers have decades of combined experience. We have won tens of millions of dollars for our injured clients.
Call us at (720) 613-9706 to schedule a free consultation today after being injured in a Colorado accident.
How Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After an Accident In Colorado
Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers can help you get the money you need to recover after getting hurt. To do this, we will fight to hold negligent people accountable for their actions.
Our Colorado personal injury lawyers are named Top 100 by National Trial Lawyers, Super Lawyers, 5280 Magazine Top Lawyers in Denver, and one of the Best Law Firms by Best Lawyers.
When you hire our Colorado personal injury attorneys to handle your case, we will:
- Explain the law
- Calculate your damages
- File insurance claims
- Collect evidence
- Negotiate with insurance companies
- Consult with expert witnesses
- Review your medical records
- File a personal injury lawsuit
- Stand up for you in court
We aren’t afraid to go to trial to get what you deserve. Our lawyers are recognized as leaders in Colorado personal injury law for a reason. Call us to learn how we can help you today.
How Common Are Personal Injury Accidents In Colorado?
There are just under 6 million people in Colorado. It isn’t surprising that personal injury accidents are common in the state.
For example, in 2022, 98,608 car accidents caused 26,521 injuries in Colorado. 10,000 people are hospitalized after falling in Colorado every year. Furthermore, in 2022, there were 54,800 workplace injuries in the state, 34,600 of which were severe.
It is impossible to collect statistics on every type of personal injury case because many accidents and injuries are one-of-a-kind. However, through our work, we know that all types of personal injury cases are common in the state.
We Handle All Types of Personal Injury Cases
The Colorado personal injury attorneys at Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers can handle all personal injury cases.
Some of the most common types of cases are:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Wrongful death
- Bicycle accidents
- Priest and clergy sexual abuse
- Toxic exposures
- Brain injuries
- Dog bites
- Nursing home abuse
- Workplace accidents
- Birth injuries
- Negligent security
- Slip and fall
- Dangerous or defective products
Call us to discuss your Colorado accident case today.
What Is My Colorado Personal Injury Case Worth?
One of the first steps in any personal injury case is to calculate the case value. Most people don’t know how much their case is worth when they first meet with a lawyer.
Some factors that may influence your case value are:
- If you have permanent or severe injuries
- If you underwent extensive medical treatment (or will undergo significant medical treatment in the future)
- If the accident happened in a particularly traumatic way
- The accident or injury caused emotional trauma or a mental illness
- You have property damage
- If you are partly responsible for the accident
- If you are unable to work or earn income
- If you missed or will miss work for doctor’s appointments
- You no longer enjoy or participate in the same activities as before the accident
Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers can assign a dollar figure to your case. Ultimately, you may recover more or less money. However, a ballpark figure is a good starting point for negotiations. It also helps us reject lowball offers so that you don’t settle for less than you deserve.
What Kind of Damages Are Available To Accident Victims?
Colorado accident victims can recover economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are actual financial losses and estimated future losses.
The most common types of economic damages include:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Lost future earnings
- Property damage
- Rehabilitation
- Physical therapy
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Funeral expenses (in a wrongful death case)
Non-economic damages are intangible losses. It is commonly called pain and suffering because they are usually emotional damages.
Some examples of non-economic damages are:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship
- Mental illness
- Permanent disfigurement or scarring
Even though non-economic damages are not always visible on the surface, they are meaningful for accident victims. However, there is a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in most Colorado personal injury cases.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Colorado Personal Injury Lawyer?
Colorado personal injury lawyers charge a contingency fee for their work. This means that their payment is contingent upon the outcome of the case. If they win, they take a percentage of the damages. If they lose, they aren’t paid a dime.
This fee structure is high stakes for the lawyer but low stakes for the plaintiff. The attorney must work hard to win, or they will not be compensated for their time and effort. On the other hand, the plaintiff doesn’t have to worry about being able to afford an attorney because payment is proportionate to their damages.
Can I Recover Compensation if I’m Being Blamed for My Accident In Colorado?
You can recover damages even if you are partially blamed for the accident. However, it depends on how much blame you bear.
Colorado applies modified comparative negligence law. This law says that as long as you are 49% or less responsible for the accident you can recover proportionate damages. The damages are proportionate to the defendant’s percentage share of responsibility.
If, on the other hand, you are 50% or more responsible, then you cannot recover anything at all.
You should avoid unfair blame because it may impact how much money you can recover. Many defendants and their insurance companies will try to shift blame so they don’t have to pay you as much as they would otherwise. A Colorado personal injury attorney can shield you from misdirected blame in your case.
We’ll Fight To Recover Compensation for All of Your Injuries
You deserve compensation for all of your injuries, ranging from minor to catastrophic. We can help you get money to pay for medical bills and support your physical and emotional recovery.
Our lawyers have experience working with people suffering from:
- Brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Nerve damage
- Severe burns
- Broken bones
- Amputations
- Whiplash
- Back or neck injuries
- Loss of eyesight or hearing
- Crush injuries
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
In many cases, we will work with your doctors and medical experts to understand your injuries and treatment plan. This coordination helps us maximize your recovery.
How Do I Prove Negligence After an Accident In Colorado?
Negligence is a part of tort law. Many personal injury cases depend on proving that a defendant was negligent.
There are four parts to every negligence claim. You will need to prove each part by a preponderance of the evidence. This is called the burden of proof. You can meet the burden of proof with evidence.
The four elements of negligence are:
- Duty: the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care
- Breach: the defendant breached that duty of care
- Causation: the breach caused the accident
- Damages: the plaintiff suffered damages
The most difficult part of negligence is understanding the duty of care. Everyone must be as careful as an ordinary person in any given situation. We aren’t expected to be perfect, but we are expected to be prudent. If we take an unreasonable risk and someone gets hurt we have breached our duty.
For example, if you have a heart attack while driving and cause an accident, you probably aren’t negligent. The heart attack was unavoidable. However, if you text and drive and cause a crash, you are probably negligent. An ordinary person wouldn’t text while driving because they know that it can be dangerous and put others at risk.
Our Colorado personal injury attorneys can explain how negligence law applies to your case and help you collect evidence to prove it.
How Long Do I Have To File a Personal Injury Lawsuit In Colorado?
You have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in Colorado. This also applies to wrongful death cases.
The deadline is called a statute of limitations. If you try to file a lawsuit after two years, it will be dismissed in most cases. That means you will lose your right to ask the court for damages. It’s best to hire a lawyer early in your case so that they keep track of this deadline and you don’t risk missing it.
Contact Our Colorado Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Don’t waste time wondering about your legal rights after getting hurt in an accident in Colorado. Our Colorado personal injury lawyers are ready to discuss your case.
Call Zaner Harden Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today.