Personal Injury Attorneys in Denver Helping You Get the Compensation You Need

Being in an accident that leads to injuries or property damage can be upsetting, but it’s even more upsetting if the accident was caused by the negligence of another party. If a person, business, government entity, or employer acts irresponsibly or fails to act the way a reasonable person would be expected to in a similar situation, for example, you may have grounds to make a claim against them and receive monetary damages to cover your expenses and compensate you for all the mental and emotional trauma you have had to go through due to their negligence. A skilled personal injury attorney can investigate the accident and figure out how much you should ask for in compensation, not only for your expenses but for the pain and suffering you have experienced. Greer Law Group is the right personal injury law firm to stand by you in your personal injury case. Our personal injury attorneys have years of experience taking on negligent parties and their insurance companies and have a proven track record of getting our clients settlements or awards that can take some of the struggles out of life after an accident. Our lawyers have procured settlements and awards in all kinds of personal injury cases—car accidents, medical malpractice, slip-and-fall accidents, workplace accidents, defective product accidents, and a host of others too numerous to name—and we can help you to get what you deserve.

Call Greer Law Group at our Denver office today at 303-331-6460 to speak to a personal injury attorney and explore your options.

What Kinds of Damages Can I Seek in My Personal Injury Case?

When you are pursuing damages after suffering a preventable accident, the kinds of damages you may seek are divided into two categories: economic (sometimes called “pecuniary”) damages and non-economic (or “non-pecuniary”) damages.

Economic damages are those expenses that are incurred as a direct result of your accident and can be easily proven with receipts or pay stubs. Economic damages include costs like medical bills, medication costs, lost wages, non-medical expenses such as travel and lodging needed to get proper medical care, and any other expense caused by your injury. These costs are easy to prove by providing receipts or pay stubs.

Non-economic damages are more difficult to define, as they include intangible “costs” such as the pain and suffering you have experienced since your accident; the inability to participate in activities that you previously enjoyed, the loss or change of family or other relationships, social isolation, and mental suffering, for example. It can be difficult to quantify these intangible costs, but a skilled personal injury attorney with experience in personal injury lawsuits will be able to help you determine a fair level of compensation for all you have been put through due to another’s negligence is.

What is “Comparative Fault” and How Does it Apply to My Colorado Personal Injury Case?

In “no-fault” states, parties are rarely allowed to seek damages in a personal injury case but are instead expected to seek compensation from their own insurance companies, even if they bore no responsibility for the accident. Colorado, however, is an “at-fault” state, which means that the victim of an accident that is the fault of another party can seek damages from that party or their insurance company, and liability for the accident can be assigned.

There are three different ways to determine liability for a personal injury. Some states follow a doctrine of “contributory negligence” when determining liability in personal injury cases. This means that if the plaintiff (victim) is found to be in any way responsible for their own accident, even if only 1% of the responsibility is assigned to them, they are barred from seeking any kind of compensation from the party who was found to be more negligent.

Other states follow a “comparative negligence model,” in which each party is assigned a percentage of the liability, and the plaintiff’s award is reduced by the percentage of liability they bear. For example, a plaintiff who was found to be 10% responsible for their own injury would have their damage award reduced by 10%. If the state follows a pure comparative fault model, a plaintiff could still recover 1% of the damages, even if they were determined to be 99% at fault.

So what model does Colorado follow? In determining fault or liability, Colorado employs what is known as a “modified comparative negligence” model. This is like the pure comparative fault model, but only up to a point. In Colorado, if the plaintiff bears 49% or less of the liability for their injury, they may still recover damages that are reduced by the percentage of their own negligence. In Colorado’s modified comparative negligence model, however, if the plaintiff is found to be 50% or more responsible for their injury, they cannot receive any damages at all.

Is There a Limit on the Amount I Can Seek in Compensation for my Accident in Colorado? 

Colorado does not place any cap on economic damages in personal injury cases. This means that you can be reimbursed for all quantifiable expenses that are a direct result of your injury, no matter how much they add up. This includes all medical expenses and non-medical expenses, as well as past and future lost wages due to an inability to work or return to the same job after your accident.

There is a cap in Colorado, however, on non-economic damages. These are those damages that are sought to compensate you for the intangible costs of your accident, such as pain and suffering, or emotional and mental trauma, for example. Today, non-economic damages caps are $613,760 for incidents that occur on or after January 1, 2020, and $468,010 for incidents that occurred before January 1, 2020. The damage limits will change periodically to offset inflation. The Colorado Secretary of State publishes a Certificate with all of the current damage caps. Medical malpractice carries its own caps on damages in Colorado, with a cap of $1 million on total damages, of which not more than $300,000 can be for pain and suffering.

Knowing how much your pain and suffering are worth can be difficult. Experienced attorneys in a personal injury law firm like Greer Law Group know what level of damages would be wise to ask for and can help make sure that you don’t hurt your chances by asking for too much or leave yourself short of money in the future by asking for too little. 

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help in My Case? 

A personal injury case is definitely one in which you will want an experienced attorney on your side. You will most likely be fighting against an insurance company to recover compensation for your expenses and for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of another party’s negligence. Insurance companies want to make profits, and they will often do everything they can to avoid paying claims. Most insurance companies have teams of attorneys whose whole job is to fight against paying claims. If you try to fight these aggressive attorneys without the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer of your own, you are going in at a stark disadvantage.

A skilled personal injury attorney can help at every stage of your personal injury claim process, doing all the necessary legwork and handling all of the legal red tape. They will investigate the accident by gathering evidence, interviewing eyewitnesses, and taking statements from the involved parties. Sometimes, they will even hire expert witnesses to recreate the accident and analyze it to provide expert testimony in court. Then they will use their skill and knowledge to apply Colorado personal injury law in the ways that will be most beneficial to you. A personal injury attorney can help to negotiate a generous out-of-court settlement or can serve as your trial lawyer should the case go to court.

Suffering injuries due to the negligence of another can upend your whole life, putting you through physical pain, destroying your peace of mind, keeping you from your job and your social life, and causing you catastrophic financial damage. If someone caused you all of this trauma through carelessness, inattention, or even intentional recklessness, it’s only right that they should have to compensate you to help you return to some kind of a normal life as soon as possible. You should not have to suffer from their moment of careless or reckless behavior for the rest of your life while they go on as if nothing happened. It’s just not fair.

A personal injury case can involve an overwhelming amount of investigation, paperwork, and strategic planning. Negotiating with insurance companies or fighting your way through the complex American legal system is likely to take time and energy you don’t have as you focus on regaining the health and happiness you knew before someone else’s carelessness took them away from you. The last thing you need as you try to heal is the burden of fighting for the compensation you need and deserve. The personal injury attorneys at Greer Law Group have the right combination of compassion and toughness to stand by your side and fight for what’s right. You need us on your side, and we will be there, every step of the way. Our attorneys are here to help. 303-331-6460