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Colorado Springs, Colorado. CGH Injury Lawyers represents medical malpractice victims in El Paso County.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs Medical Malpractice Lawyers Who Hold Providers Accountable

If a doctor, hospital, or surgeon in Colorado Springs caused you serious harm through negligence, Colorado law may entitle you to full economic compensation and, in many cases, non-economic damages as well. We file in El Paso County District Court, advance all expert costs, and charge nothing unless we win.

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  • Colorado requires a Certificate of Review from a same-specialty physician within 60 days of filing your complaint, or the case is dismissed (C.R.S. 13-20-602). Getting that expert in place early is one of the most important moves in any Colorado Springs malpractice case.
  • You generally have two years from when you discovered the injury to file, with an absolute three-year deadline from the date of the negligence (C.R.S. 13-80-102.5). Claims against a government-run hospital require written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109).
  • Colorado caps non-economic damages under the Health Care Availability Act (C.R.S. 13-64-302), but medical bills, lost income, and the cost of future care are not capped. House Bill 24-1472 raised the caps effective January 1, 2025 and set a fixed schedule of increases through 2029, followed by inflation adjustments every two years beginning January 1, 2030.

If a provider at UCHealth Memorial, Penrose, or any Colorado Springs clinic or practice failed you through negligence, CGH Injury Lawyers will evaluate your case at no cost. We handle El Paso County medical malpractice cases from our Denver office, file in El Paso County District Court in the 4th Judicial District, and advance all expert and investigation costs. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.

The legal standard

What counts as medical malpractice in Colorado Springs?

A bad outcome is not the same as malpractice. Medical malpractice happens when a provider's negligence causes a preventable injury: they did something a reasonably competent professional would not have done, or failed to do something a competent professional would have done. Colorado law requires four distinct elements to prove it.

  1. Duty of care

    A doctor-patient relationship existed between you and the provider, creating a legal obligation to provide competent care.

  2. Breach of the standard

    The provider deviated from what a similarly qualified practitioner would have done under the same circumstances. Colorado applies a locality-sensitive standard, so the benchmark is a similarly trained professional, not a distant specialist.

  3. Causation

    The breach directly caused your injury. It is not enough that negligence occurred while you were under care; the negligence must be the reason you were harmed.

  4. Damages

    You suffered measurable harm: physical injury, financial loss, pain and suffering, or a combination of these.

The breach element is almost always the most contested. It requires testimony from a qualified medical expert who can explain to a jury exactly how the care fell short of the accepted standard. Malpractice claims are decided by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning you must show it is more likely than not that the provider's negligence caused your harm. That is where experienced expert selection and trial preparation make the difference.

Procedural gatekeeper

The Certificate of Review requirement

Before a Colorado medical malpractice case can move forward, a Certificate of Review must be filed. Required by C.R.S. 13-20-602, this rule exists to filter out claims that lack substantial justification, and missing it can end your case before it starts in El Paso County District Court.

  • A licensed physician in the same specialty as the defendant must review the case and confirm in writing that the claim does not lack substantial justification.
  • That expert must attest that the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused your injury.
  • The certificate must be filed with the court within 60 days of filing the complaint. Missing that deadline can result in dismissal absent a showing of good cause for the delay.

Getting the right expert in place is one of the most consequential early decisions in a Colorado Springs malpractice case. We identify and retain qualified same-specialty physicians from the outset, so the Certificate is ready when the complaint is filed.

Local knowledge

Colorado Springs courts, hospitals, and the providers we hold accountable

A medical malpractice case filed by a Colorado Springs patient lives in Colorado Springs: the hospital that caused the harm, the medical records gathered from local facilities, and the courthouse where the case is tried. Here is the ground we work on.

Courthouse

El Paso County District Court, 4th Judicial District

Medical malpractice claims arising in Colorado Springs are filed in El Paso County District Court, housed in the El Paso County Judicial Building at 270 S. Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, in the 4th Judicial District of Colorado. Local procedure, scheduling orders, and the El Paso County jury pool all differ from Denver-area courts. We file and handle El Paso County District Court cases directly, with no co-counsel arrangement required.

Regional Trauma and Hospital Care

UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, Penrose, and St. Francis

UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central at 1400 E. Boulder Street is an American College of Surgeons verified Level I Adult Trauma Center and the only Level I trauma center in southern Colorado. Penrose Hospital at 2222 N. Nevada Avenue is a state-designated Level II Trauma Center. St. Francis Hospital at 6001 E. Woodmen Road is a Level III Trauma Center. Medical malpractice can occur at any level of care, from a misread imaging study at a clinic to a surgical error at a major hospital. We subpoena records from all relevant Colorado Springs facilities to build your damages case.

Service Area

CGH Injury Lawyers serves Colorado Springs from Denver

CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. There is no Colorado Springs office. We represent El Paso County medical malpractice victims, file cases in El Paso County District Court, and meet clients wherever is most convenient. Call (303) 209-9395. This is a service-area page, not a local office listing.

Compensation and caps

What compensation can you recover from a Colorado Springs medical malpractice claim?

Colorado splits malpractice damages into two categories. Economic losses you can document with bills and records are fully recoverable. Non-economic losses for the human cost of the injury are limited by the Health Care Availability Act (C.R.S. 13-64-302).

Economic damages (not capped)

  • Past and future medical expenses
  • Lost income and reduced earning capacity
  • Cost of ongoing care and life-care plans
  • Rehabilitation and assistive devices
  • Home modifications required by a disability

Non-economic damages (capped)

  • Physical pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress and mental anguish
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Disfigurement or disability
  • Loss of consortium for a spouse

How the HCAA caps work

Colorado raised its medical malpractice damage caps effective January 1, 2025 under House Bill 24-1472. For injuries on or after that date, the non-economic cap started at $415,000 for a general malpractice claim and $555,000 for a medical malpractice wrongful death claim, and the statute schedules further increases in the years that follow. The specific cap that applies to a given case depends on the date the negligent act or omission occurred.

  • The caps apply only to non-economic damages. Medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs remain uncapped in every year.
  • Under HB 24-1472, the non-economic damages cap rises on a fixed schedule: $415,000 (2025), $530,000 (2026), $645,000 (2027), $760,000 (2028), and $875,000 (2029), with inflation adjustments every two years starting January 1, 2030 (C.R.S. 13-64-302(1)(c)). For wrongful death from medical malpractice, the cap is $555,000 (2025), $810,000 (2026), $1,065,000 (2027), $1,320,000 (2028), and $1,575,000 (2029) (C.R.S. 13-21-203(1)(b)).
  • Because non-economic damages are capped but economic damages are not, the structure of a serious case matters enormously. A well-built case focuses on the uncapped losses, including lifetime care costs and lost earning capacity, which in catastrophic cases often far exceed the non-economic limit.
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Deadlines that can end a case

Notice rules and the statute of limitations in Colorado Springs

Colorado medical malpractice cases run on strict clocks. You generally have two years from when you discovered the injury to file, with an absolute three-year cutoff from the date of the negligence (C.R.S. 13-80-102.5). When a government-run facility is involved, the clock runs faster.

  • Two-year discovery rule: the clock generally starts when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury caused by medical negligence.
  • Three-year statute of repose: in most cases the claim is barred three years after the negligent act, regardless of when it was discovered. Narrow exceptions exist, such as a foreign object left in the body or concealment of the wrong.
  • Injured minors: for a child under 18, the limitation period generally does not start until age 18, though the claim must still be filed before the child's 20th birthday in most cases.
  • Claims against a government-run hospital or public entity require a written notice of claim within 182 days after you discover the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109). That notice is a jurisdictional prerequisite, and missing it bars the claim entirely.

Because expert review and the Certificate of Review add time on the front end, waiting until a deadline is close is one of the most common ways a strong case is lost. The safe move is to have an attorney evaluate the timeline early, before options narrow.

How it works

How we handle a Colorado Springs medical malpractice case

Medical malpractice cases are among the most document-heavy and resource-intensive claims in personal injury law. We prepare every El Paso County case as though it will be tried before a jury, even though most resolve beforehand.

  1. Free case evaluation

    We review what happened, explain your rights under Colorado law, and tell you honestly whether the case looks viable. There is no cost and no obligation.

  2. Records and expert review

    We gather the full medical record from UCHealth Memorial, Penrose, or wherever care was received, and retain a same-specialty physician to evaluate the standard of care and support the Certificate of Review.

  3. Notice and filing

    We send any required pre-suit notice, including the 182-day governmental notice when a public entity is involved, file your complaint in El Paso County District Court, and file the Certificate of Review within the 60-day window.

  4. Discovery and demand

    We build the record through depositions and expert discovery, then calculate your full economic and non-economic damages in a documented demand that reflects what a jury could award.

  5. Negotiation

    Most cases settle during this phase. We negotiate from a position of trial readiness, not from pressure to accept the first offer.

  6. Trial in El Paso County

    When a hospital or insurer refuses a fair resolution, our trial attorneys present your case to an El Paso County jury in Colorado Springs. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is an ABOTA member with more than 25 verdicts to his record.

We work on a contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win, and we advance the investigation costs and expert witness fees these cases require so you can focus on recovery.

Arguments providers make

Defenses Colorado Springs providers use, and how we answer them

Hospitals and their insurers have standard defenses that appear in nearly every malpractice case. Understanding what each one actually requires is how we keep valid El Paso County claims alive.

  1. "This was an acceptable complication, not negligence"

    Providers argue that bad outcomes are a known risk of any procedure. The distinction between a known risk and a negligently caused complication is one the Certificate of Review expert defines with precision. We build the record to show the provider's specific conduct fell below the standard, not that the outcome was simply unfortunate.

  2. "The patient's own condition caused the harm"

    Insurers often argue that the patient's underlying illness, not the provider's conduct, caused the injury. Colorado's comparative negligence framework (C.R.S. 13-21-111) allows your recovery to be reduced by your own fault percentage if any fault is attributed to you. A patient whose fault is found to be 50 percent or more is barred from recovery. We work with medical experts to isolate what the negligence caused versus what was attributable to the pre-existing condition.

  3. "The claim is time-barred"

    Defendants frequently assert that the two-year discovery clock or three-year statute of repose has run. We analyze when you discovered the injury, what you reasonably could have known at that time, and whether any exception applies. The discovery analysis is often more favorable to patients than an initial reading of the statute suggests.

  4. "The Certificate of Review expert is not qualified"

    Defense counsel attacks the qualifications and methodology of the plaintiff's reviewing physician. We select experts with verifiable same-specialty credentials and current clinical practice who can withstand deposition scrutiny before we file.

Why CGH

Why Colorado Springs malpractice victims choose CGH Injury Lawyers

Trial-ready attorneys, bilingual help, and no fee unless we win. Medical malpractice cases are expensive to build correctly. We fund them so you can pursue the full value of your claim without writing a check.

The Procedural Gate

Certificate of Review

Missing the 60-day filing deadline ends the case. We retain same-specialty experts at intake so the certificate is ready when the complaint is filed (C.R.S. 13-20-602).

We Fund the Case

Expert costs advanced.

Malpractice cases can require multiple expert witnesses and extensive record review. We advance those costs on your behalf and recover them only if we win. You pay nothing out of pocket while the case is active.

Economic Damages

Uncapped. Fully built.

Medical bills, lost income, and future care costs carry no cap. We build the full economic record so nothing recoverable is left out of the demand.

El Paso County

4th Judicial District.

We file and litigate in El Paso County District Court directly. No co-counsel. No referral delay.

Trial-Ready

ABOTA advocate on the team. Over 25 verdicts.

Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has tried more than 25 cases to verdict. Hospitals and their insurers respond differently when they know the firm across the table has walked into a courtroom and won.

Bilingual

Hablamos espanol.

Spanish-speaking staff and attorneys serve Colorado Springs patients who need care in their primary language.

No Win, No Fee

Contingency only.

You pay nothing for legal fees unless we recover. We advance costs and collect only from a settlement or verdict.

Questions

Colorado Springs medical malpractice lawyer, frequently asked questions

What has to be proven in a Colorado Springs medical malpractice case?

You must prove four elements: a duty of care existed, the provider breached the accepted standard of care, the breach directly caused your injury, and you suffered measurable damages. The breach element almost always requires testimony from a qualified medical expert. Colorado decides malpractice cases by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it must be more likely than not that the provider's negligence caused your harm.

What is the Certificate of Review and why does it matter for my El Paso County case?

A Certificate of Review is a written statement from a licensed physician in the same specialty as the defendant, confirming that your claim does not lack substantial justification (C.R.S. 13-20-602). It must be filed with El Paso County District Court within 60 days of your complaint. Missing that deadline can result in dismissal. We identify and retain the right expert at the start of the case so this deadline is never in jeopardy.

How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in Colorado Springs?

Generally two years from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, with an absolute three-year deadline from the date of the negligence (C.R.S. 13-80-102.5). If the provider is a government-run hospital or public entity, you must also file a written notice of claim within 182 days of discovering the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109). That notice is a jurisdictional requirement; missing it bars the claim entirely. Talk to an attorney before any deadline is close.

Does Colorado cap what I can recover in a malpractice case?

Colorado caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, under the Health Care Availability Act (C.R.S. 13-64-302). House Bill 24-1472 raised those caps effective January 1, 2025 and set further scheduled increases. Economic damages, including all medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs, are not capped. The cap that applies to your case depends on when the negligent act or omission occurred.

Can I still recover a significant amount even with the non-economic cap?

Often yes, especially in serious cases. Because economic damages carry no cap, a well-structured case focuses on uncapped losses: lifetime care costs, ongoing medical treatment, lost earning capacity, and related expenses. In catastrophic injury cases, those economic losses can be substantial on their own.

Where would my Colorado Springs malpractice lawsuit be filed?

Medical malpractice cases arising in Colorado Springs are filed in El Paso County District Court at 270 S. Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, in the 4th Judicial District of Colorado. The local rules, scheduling orders, and jury pool in El Paso County differ from Denver-area courts. CGH Injury Lawyers handles El Paso County District Court cases directly.

Do I pay anything upfront to hire a Colorado Springs malpractice lawyer?

No. We work on a contingency fee, so you pay nothing unless we win your case. We advance investigation costs and expert witness fees on your behalf throughout the case. If we secure compensation through a verdict or settlement, our fee is a percentage of the recovery agreed upon in advance.

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It's More Than Money.

A provider failed you. We hold them accountable in Colorado Springs.

Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Available in English and Spanish.

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100% confidential. No fee unless we win.

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