If you were hurt on icy steps, a wet store floor, or a broken Boulder sidewalk, Colorado law can make the property owner responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain. We serve Boulder from our Denver office and prepare every case for trial. You pay nothing unless we win.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
If a dangerous property condition hurt you in Boulder, Colorado law may make the owner responsible for your losses. CGH Injury Lawyers serves Boulder and all of Boulder County from our Denver office. We handle the investigation, any government notice, the negotiation, and trial in Boulder County District Court when an owner or insurer refuses to be fair. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Boulder sits against the Rocky Mountain foothills, where winter ice and snow linger on shaded streets and sidewalks on the west side of the city. A fall on ice, a wet floor, or a broken step can cause catastrophic, life-changing harm. Premises liability is the legal principle that property owners and occupiers must keep their property reasonably safe for visitors. When they fail and someone gets hurt, they can be held responsible for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.
Serious injuries we see in Boulder slip and fall cases include:
Colorado law does not require a property owner to guarantee your safety. It requires them to act reasonably based on your legal status on the property. That status is where every Boulder slip and fall claim begins.
Colorado handles slip and fall cases under one specific law, the Premises Liability Act, which uses a three-tier system that decides how much care a property owner owes you. Your visitor status is the single most important factor in your claim. The table below shows what each status means and what the owner must do.
| Visitor status | Who it covers | What the property owner owes you |
|---|---|---|
| Invitee (highest duty) | Customers, restaurant patrons, hotel guests, and anyone there for the mutual benefit of both parties | Must inspect for hazards, fix dangerous conditions, and warn of dangers that cannot be immediately fixed |
| Licensee (moderate duty) | Social guests, friends visiting a home, or door-to-door salespeople on the property with permission | Must warn of known hazards that are not obvious; no duty to inspect for hidden dangers |
| Trespasser (lowest duty) | Anyone on the property without permission or legal right | Owed only protection from willful or wanton harm; special rules protect child trespassers under the attractive nuisance doctrine |
Example: if you slip on black ice in a 28th Street shopping center parking lot in Boulder, you are a customer and therefore an invitee. The store owes you a duty to inspect the lot, salt or sand it, and post warnings when conditions are dangerous.
Not every fall creates legal liability. Colorado courts require proof that a dangerous condition existed and that the property owner knew or should have known about it. These are the hazards we investigate most often in Boulder, a city of roughly 105,898 people with heavy foot traffic around CU Boulder and the Pearl Street Mall.
A temporary hazard can still create liability if the owner had enough time to discover and fix it. The key question is notice, which a later section explains.
Boulder's position against the foothills means snow and ice are a fact of winter life, and Colorado law accounts for it. Colorado follows the natural accumulation rule, which generally protects property owners from liability for ice and snow that naturally accumulates during a storm. The reasoning is that we live in a winter climate and people must use caution during and right after snowfall. An owner is not automatically liable every time it snows.
Recent Colorado appellate decisions have narrowed the natural accumulation defense. When an owner starts clearing snow and does it carelessly, they can lose the protection of this rule.
A Boulder slip and fall case lives in Boulder: the hospital that treated you, the roads and districts where the fall happened, and the courthouse where your case may be filed. Here is the ground we work on.
Trauma Care
After a serious Boulder fall, many of the most critically injured patients are treated at Boulder Community Health, Foothills Hospital at 4747 Arapahoe Avenue. The hospital describes itself as an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center and the first designated Level II Trauma Center in Boulder County. Those medical records document the full scope of your injuries and become the backbone of your damages claim.
High-Risk Ground
The Pearl Street Mall, a four-block pedestrian-only stretch from 11th to 15th Streets, draws dense foot traffic past dining and retail, with the historic Boulder County Courthouse along the mall. The 28th Street commercial corridor, carrying US-36 and CO-119 through the city, is Boulder's main shopping arterial. Shaded west-side streets near the Flatirons hold winter ice longest. We document the exact spot where you fell.
Courthouse
Personal injury cases that arise in Boulder County are filed in Boulder County District Court, the 20th Judicial District, at the Boulder County Justice Center, 1777 6th Street, Boulder, CO 80302. Boulder civil procedure differs from other counties, and the judges and opposing counsel either know your firm or they don't. We handle Boulder County District Court cases directly.
If you fell on government property in Boulder, such as a City of Boulder sidewalk, a CU Boulder building, a Boulder County facility, or a public park, you face a much shorter deadline under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. Most people assume they have two years and consult an attorney too late.
You must file a written notice of your claim within 182 days, about six months, of discovering your injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109). This is a formal notice to the government entity, not the same as filing a lawsuit. Missing it will likely end your claim permanently.
Covered entities include the City of Boulder, Boulder County, the state, the University of Colorado, school districts, and other public bodies. The notice has to reach the correct one, and that is not always obvious.
A valid notice must state your claim with the detail the statute requires, including the time, place, and circumstances of the injury and the nature of the harm.
The Act grants immunity for many government functions, but important exceptions exist, including dangerous conditions of public buildings and certain public roadways. We evaluate whether your fall fits one.
If your Boulder fall happened on or near government property, do not wait. Call (303) 209-9395 so we can protect the 182-day deadline before it passes.
Trial-ready attorneys who handle Boulder County District Court cases directly, bilingual help, and no fee unless we win. We do not publish slip and fall settlement figures, because every premises case is different and a number on a page tells you nothing about your case. What we offer is the work, not a headline.
The Statute
Colorado's Premises Liability Act decides every Boulder fall case by your visitor status. We know exactly how to prove the duty the owner owed you and how they breached it.
Serving Boulder
We serve Boulder from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., a short drive down US-36, and we appear in Boulder County District Court ourselves. Your case is not handed off.
The 182-Day Clock
Falls on City or CU Boulder property carry a 182-day notice deadline. We move fast to preserve it.
Who Pays
Most premises claims are paid by the property owner's liability insurance, not their personal savings.
Trial-Ready
Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. When attorneys are genuinely ready to try a case, insurers respond differently to a demand.
Bilingual
Spanish-speaking staff and attorneys serve Boulder's Spanish-speaking community.
No Win, No Fee
You pay nothing out of pocket for legal fees. We advance costs and collect only from a settlement or verdict.
One honest thing we will tell you up front: we do not take slip and fall cases we cannot honestly stand behind. If your fall was caused by an open and obvious hazard you could easily have avoided, or by snow that had only just fallen, we will say so in the free review rather than sign you up and let the case stall. When the law is on your side, we fight hard. When it is not, you deserve to hear that early, for free.
Evidence in these cases disappears fast. Footage gets overwritten, spills get cleaned, and ice melts. Take care of your health first, document the scene, then call before you talk to the insurer. Here is the path we walk with you.
Boulder Community Health, Foothills Hospital and other area providers treat fall injuries. Even a fall that seems minor can cause a concussion or a fracture that worsens. Get examined, and keep every record.
Tell the store manager, landlord, or property manager and ask for a written incident report. If you fell on City of Boulder, county, or CU Boulder property, the 182-day government notice clock may already be running.
Photograph the hazard, the lighting, and the surrounding area before it is fixed. Get the names and contact information of any witnesses, and keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing.
The owner's insurer may call quickly. Do not give a recorded statement or accept any offer before speaking with us. Call (303) 209-9395.
We send preservation letters for surveillance footage and maintenance logs, document your visitor status, build the record of actual or constructive notice, and calculate your full losses.
Most cases settle. We negotiate from a position of trial readiness, and when an insurer refuses a fair offer, we file in Boulder County District Court and try your case.
I wish I could leave more than 5 stars!
To win, you must prove the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition. That comes down to two kinds of notice, and owners fight both with predictable defenses.
Property owners often argue that a hazard was so obvious they had no duty to warn you. Colorado courts have traditionally been receptive to this argument. The standard is that if a danger is open and obvious to a reasonable person using ordinary care, the owner may not be liable.
That defense is not absolute. Recent Colorado Court of Appeals decisions have begun to limit it when owners create unreasonably dangerous conditions. Even a visible hazard can support liability if it is so dangerous that injury is foreseeable. This is why surveillance footage, maintenance records, witness statements, and scene photographs matter so much. The narrative is what wins or loses these cases.
Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 50 percent bar (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can still recover damages if you were partly at fault, as long as you were less than 50 percent responsible, and your award is reduced by your share of fault. At 50 percent or more, you recover nothing. Insurers know this and will aggressively argue you were careless, so documenting the scene matters.
Colorado does not cap economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages in premises liability cases. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5, with inflation adjustments starting in 2028, and compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is not capped at all. We work with medical and economic experts when a case needs it to fully document the value of your claim.
People often hesitate to pursue a premises claim because the property belongs to a small Boulder business, a familiar store, or a landlord they still rent from. Understanding how the money actually moves usually puts that fear to rest.
You generally have two years from the date of the fall to file a personal injury lawsuit in Colorado (C.R.S. 13-80-102). Do not wait, because evidence fades and witness memories diminish over time. If you fell on government property, such as a City of Boulder sidewalk or a CU Boulder building, a much shorter 182-day notice deadline applies under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109).
Possibly, but you must comply with the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act and its 182-day written notice requirement (C.R.S. 24-10-109). Cities and counties can be liable for dangerous sidewalk conditions if they had actual or constructive notice and failed to repair them, but only if an immunity exception applies. Because the deadline is so short, call us right away.
Not automatically. Colorado's natural accumulation rule generally protects owners during and immediately after a storm, which matters on Boulder's shaded foothills slopes where ice lingers. However, once enough time has passed for reasonable snow removal, or if the owner created or worsened an ice hazard, liability can attach. The facts and timing decide it.
Personal injury cases that arise in Boulder County are filed in Boulder County District Court, the 20th Judicial District, at the Boulder County Justice Center, 1777 6th Street, Boulder. Most premises claims settle before a lawsuit is ever filed, but where a case would be filed affects the local rules, the jury pool, and which adjusters and defense firms you face. We handle Boulder County District Court cases directly from our Denver office.
Under the Premises Liability Act (C.R.S. 13-21-115), an invitee is on the property for mutual benefit, like a customer at a 28th Street store, and the owner must actively inspect for hazards. A licensee is there for their own purpose, like a social guest, and the owner only needs to warn of known dangers. Your status is the most important factor in a Boulder fall case.
Property owners often use this defense, but it is not absolute. Even obvious hazards can create liability if they are unreasonably dangerous or if the circumstances prevented you from avoiding them. Recent Colorado decisions have begun to limit the open-and-obvious defense. We use surveillance footage, maintenance records, and witness statements to answer it.
Colorado's modified comparative negligence rule lets you recover damages as long as you were less than 50 percent responsible (C.R.S. 13-21-111). Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. At 50 percent or more, you cannot recover. Insurers often argue the injured person was careless, which is why documenting the scene is so important.
You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and future care needs related to your injury. Colorado does not cap economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages in premises liability cases, and damages for physical impairment or disfigurement are not capped at all. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5.
It's More Than Money.
Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Serving Boulder in English and Spanish.
Prefer to read first? See how Colorado slip and fall law works.
CGH Injury Lawyers, serving Boulder · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205
