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Denver, Colorado

Denver Brain Injury Lawyers Who Fight for the Full Picture of Your Recovery

A TBI does not always show up on a scan. We represent Denver families after traumatic brain injuries caused by crashes on I-25, I-70, and Colfax Ave, falls, and other serious incidents, building the medical proof that makes an insurer answer for every cost your injury creates. Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St. in Denver. You pay nothing unless we win.

No fee unless we win
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It's More Than Money.

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Our Denver Office CGH Injury Lawyers 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 Denver, CO 80205 (303) 209-9395 Se habla espanol
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  • Doctors grade a TBI on the Glasgow Coma Scale: mild (GCS 13 to 15, often called a concussion), moderate (GCS 9 to 12), and severe (GCS 3 to 8). A mild label does not mean a minor injury, and Denver insurers use that word to justify low offers.
  • Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Economic losses like medical bills, lost wages, and a life-care plan have no cap and often represent the bulk of a severe TBI recovery. Compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is also uncapped.
  • Colorado gives you three years from the crash date to file a lawsuit for TBI injuries caused by a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)), but brain injury symptoms can emerge weeks later. Contact an attorney early so your claim is protected before evidence fades.

If a crash on I-70, a fall in a Denver building, or another incident left you or someone you love with a traumatic brain injury, Colorado law gives you a path to hold the responsible party accountable. CGH Injury Lawyers keeps a real office in Denver's RiNo neighborhood at 2701 Lawrence St., a short drive from Denver Health Medical Center where many of our clients are first treated. We handle the medical proof, the insurance fight, and trial in Denver District Court when an insurer refuses to value your injury fairly. You pay nothing unless we win.

Why these cases are harder

Why Denver brain injury claims are not like other injury cases

A broken bone shows up on an X-ray. A brain injury often does not. That gap is exactly where insurance companies attack, arguing that if a scan looks normal the injury is not real. The truth is that many brain injuries are functional, not structural, and proving them in a Denver case takes a different kind of evidence.

The negative-scan problem

Standard CT and MRI scans detect bleeding and fractures. They often miss the microscopic axonal tears that cause lasting symptoms after a mild TBI. Adjusters working for the at-fault driver's carrier or the property owner's insurer use a clean scan to argue your injury does not exist, even when your daily life in Denver says otherwise. We counter that with advanced imaging, neuropsychological testing, and the testimony of the people who knew you before the accident.

  • Insurers often label a TBI minor to justify a small offer, even when the cognitive symptoms are anything but minor and prevent you from returning to your career.
  • Headaches, memory problems, mood changes, and difficulty concentrating are real harms a Denver jury can understand once the case is built correctly with expert testimony.
  • Brain injuries on busy Denver corridors like I-25, I-70, and Colfax Ave rarely happen in isolation. The legal pathway depends on how your injury occurred and what other harm it caused.
TBI classifications

How Denver doctors grade a traumatic brain injury

Medical teams at Denver Health Medical Center and Saint Joseph Hospital classify a TBI using the Glasgow Coma Scale, a 15-point assessment of eye, verbal, and motor response usually recorded within hours of the injury. That score becomes a key piece of evidence in your Denver claim, but it describes the first day, not the rest of your life.

  1. Mild TBI (GCS 13 to 15)

    Often called a concussion. It involves brief loss of consciousness, under 30 minutes, or confusion right after impact. Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, memory problems, and sensitivity to light and noise. Mild on paper, these injuries can cause post-concussion syndrome that persists for months or years and can prevent Denver professionals from returning to their previous work.

  2. Moderate TBI (GCS 9 to 12)

    Loss of consciousness lasting 30 minutes to 24 hours, often with abnormalities visible on a CT or MRI scan. Victims commonly face cognitive deficits, personality changes, and physical impairments that require months of rehabilitation, hospital stays, and intensive therapy through Denver Health or Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center.

  3. Severe TBI (GCS 3 to 8)

    Extended unconsciousness or coma, often with a skull fracture or brain bleeding. Survivors can face permanent disability affecting movement, speech, memory, and executive function. These cases require life-care plans that project decades of medical needs, adaptive equipment, attendant care, and lost earning capacity, all of which must be documented before any settlement is reached.

Your medical classification is the starting point, not the endpoint. A mild TBI that stops a Denver tech worker from concentrating can warrant more compensation than a moderate TBI in someone who makes a full recovery. What matters is how the injury changes your ability to work and live, and we build the evidence around that reality.

The mild label

Why a Denver concussion can still be a serious legal case

Mild traumatic brain injury is one of the most misleading phrases in medicine. It describes the Glasgow Coma Scale score, not the fallout. Denver insurance adjusters use the word to argue for a small settlement, sometimes offering a few thousand dollars for an injury that affects you for years.

Post-concussion syndrome

Post-concussion syndrome affects an estimated 15 to 30 percent of people with a mild TBI. Symptoms can persist for months or years, including chronic headaches, vertigo, mental fog, emotional volatility, and sleep problems. For Denver professionals whose careers depend on mental sharpness, whether in healthcare, finance, technology, or the trades, that can end the ability to perform essential parts of the job and the harm is financial as well as personal.

Loss of earning capacity

Even if you return to work after a Denver concussion, you may be owed compensation for diminished earning capacity. If the injury blocks a promotion, forces reduced hours, or pushes you into less demanding work, vocational experts can calculate the lifetime financial impact. That amount often far exceeds what an insurer's first offer suggests the case is worth.

Lifetime care

Securing lifetime care after a moderate or severe TBI in Denver

Moderate and severe brain injuries change the course of a life. These Denver cases require a legal strategy that accounts for decades of medical needs, lost independence, and the impact on the entire family. The foundation of that strategy is the life-care plan.

What a life-care plan covers

A life-care plan is a detailed document, prepared by a certified life-care planner or rehabilitation specialist, that projects every medical expense the victim will face from settlement through their life expectancy. It typically includes:

  • Ongoing physician care through Denver Health, Rose Medical Center, or other Denver-area facilities, including neurology, physiatry, and psychiatry.
  • Rehabilitation therapies: physical, occupational, speech, and cognitive.
  • Prescription medications and medical supplies over the long term.
  • Durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, communication devices, and home modifications.
  • Attendant care or nursing services, including around-the-clock supervision in severe cases.
  • Case management and care coordination spanning years or decades.

Craig Hospital in Englewood, one of the nation's top-ranked rehabilitation centers for brain and spinal cord injuries, is close to Denver and serves many of our clients. Life-care plans often reference Craig Hospital protocols to show that projected costs are medically necessary, which matters when an insurer contests the numbers in a Denver District Court proceeding.

Economic damages (no cap)

  • Medical bills, past and future
  • Lost wages and lost income
  • Loss of future earning capacity
  • Life-care plan and long-term care costs
  • Rehabilitation and therapy
  • Home modifications and adaptive equipment

Non-economic and family damages

  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Permanent impairment and disfigurement (uncapped under Colorado law)
  • Loss of consortium for a spouse
  • The family's loss of companionship and support
Local knowledge

Denver trauma care. Denver courts. Denver corridors.

A Denver brain injury case lives in Denver: the hospital that treated you, the corridors where the crash happened, and the courthouse where your case may be filed. Here is the ground we work on every day from our office in RiNo.

Trauma Care

Denver Health Medical Center

After a serious crash on I-25, I-70, or along Colfax Ave, the most critically injured patients are typically transported to Denver Health, the region's Level I trauma center at 777 Bannock St. Trauma activation records and emergency department notes from Denver Health become the first chapter of your brain injury claim, documenting the initial GCS score and any imaging performed. Saint Joseph Hospital on Franklin St. and Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center on Lowell Blvd also treat serious TBI patients across the Denver metro.

Courthouse

Denver District Court, 2nd Judicial District

Personal injury cases arising in the City and County of Denver are filed in Denver District Court, the 2nd Judicial District, with civil matters heard at the City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St. Denver civil procedure differs from suburban courts, and the judges and defense counsel either know your firm or they do not. We handle Denver District Court TBI cases directly, and our office at 2701 Lawrence St. is minutes from the courthouse.

Corridors

I-25, I-70, and Denver's High-Traffic Streets

Many of the Denver brain injury cases we handle begin on I-25, I-70, I-225, I-76, US-6 (6th Ave), Colfax Ave, Federal Blvd, or Speer Blvd, corridors where speed and heavy traffic amplify crash severity. The corridor where your crash happened affects which investigation resources apply, which defendant's insurer you face, and how accident reconstruction is conducted. We work these roads and know the terrain.

Colorado law

Colorado laws that shape your Denver brain injury case

A few Colorado rules decide how much time you have, how fault affects your award, and which damages have limits. Every rule below is copied from verified primary sources. Here is what matters most for a Denver TBI claim.

Filing deadline for motor vehicle TBI cases (C.R.S. 13-80-101)

Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for injuries arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Because brain injury symptoms can emerge or worsen weeks or months after the accident, do not wait until symptoms peak to call an attorney. Evidence from the Denver crash scene and the medical response is preserved early and lost quickly.

Comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111)

Colorado follows modified comparative negligence. You can recover even if you were partly at fault, as long as your share is not 50 percent or more, and your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers push fault onto the injured person to cut payouts in Denver cases, which is why accident reconstruction and early evidence preservation matter so much.

Damage caps and what they actually mean for a TBI

  • Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5), with inflation adjustments beginning in 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and life-care plan costs, and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement. Together, these uncapped categories usually represent the largest share of a serious Denver TBI recovery.
  • If the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured, underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage lets you tap your own policy when the responsible driver lacks enough insurance to cover a serious brain injury. These claims have their own rules under Colorado law and benefit from early legal guidance.
  • If the at-fault party acted with willful and wanton disregard, such as a drunk driver on I-70 or a road-rage incident near Five Points, you may also pursue punitive damages under C.R.S. 13-21-102.
  • When the brain injury was caused by a government vehicle or a public employee operating a city bus or RTD bus on Denver routes, a separate written notice is required within 182 days after you discover the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109). Missing that deadline bars the claim entirely. CGIA caps recovery at $505,000 per person and $1,421,000 per occurrence for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2026 (C.R.S. 24-10-114).
Building your case

Evidence that proves an invisible brain injury in Denver court

Denver insurers defend TBI claims hard, arguing symptoms are exaggerated, pre-existing, or unrelated to the accident. A winning case is built in layers, combining objective testing with the human story of how your life changed after the crash.

  1. Neuropsychological testing

    A multi-hour assessment that measures memory, attention, processing speed, executive function, and emotional regulation against age-matched norms. It produces objective data that answers the Denver insurer's claim that you seem fine on the outside.

  2. Advanced imaging

    Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) maps white-matter tracts and reveals the microscopic tears that standard scans miss. Functional MRI shows the brain working harder to perform tasks that used to be automatic. Both can prove injury in a Denver District Court case when a routine MRI or CT from Denver Health looks normal.

  3. Vocational expert testimony

    A vocational rehabilitation expert reviews your work history and post-injury capabilities to show which jobs you can still do and at what wage, translating medical limits into real economic loss that a Denver jury can see and value.

  4. Before-and-after and day-in-the-life proof

    Coworkers, family members, and Denver neighbors who knew you before the injury testify to the change. Day-in-the-life documentation of daily struggles brings the medical records to life and helps a Denver jury feel the full impact of what was taken from you.

Why CGH

Why Denver brain injury victims choose CGH Injury Lawyers

A real Denver office, trial-ready attorneys, bilingual help, and no fee unless we win. We do not publish TBI settlement figures, because every brain injury is different and a number on a page tells you nothing about your case. What we offer is the work, not a headline.

Real Denver Office

Not a P.O. box.

Our office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 in RiNo is where your attorney works. You can walk in, review your medical records and the insurance file, and meet the team handling your Denver TBI case.

Trial-Ready

8 attorneys, prepared for Denver District Court.

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 brain injury case in Denver District Court, insurers respond differently to a demand letter. Settlement-mill firms do not have that negotiating power.

Full Damages

Economic losses are uncapped.

Medical bills, lost wages, and life-care plan costs have no cap in Colorado. We build the proof to reach every dollar your injury creates.

Expert Network

Neuropsychologists. Life-care planners.

Proving an invisible brain injury requires specialists. We work with neuropsychologists and certified life-care planners to build the evidence an insurer cannot dismiss.

Credentials

ABOTA. Best Lawyers in America.

Kevin Cheney holds ABOTA membership. Timothy G. Tarr has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023. Every Denver brain injury case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal or a case manager.

Bilingual

Hablamos espanol.

Spanish-speaking staff and attorneys serve Denver's Spanish-speaking community. Language is never a barrier to getting full representation.

No Win, No Fee

Contingency only.

You pay nothing out of pocket for legal fees. We advance costs and collect only from a settlement or verdict in your Denver brain injury case.

How it works

How we handle a Denver brain injury case

We prepare every case as if it will be tried in Denver District Court. Most resolve before a courtroom, but trial readiness is what makes an insurer pay full value rather than a fraction of it.

  1. Free case evaluation

    We review the facts of your Denver accident, explain your rights under Colorado law, and answer your questions at no cost and no obligation. You can come to our office on Lawrence St. or we can speak by phone.

  2. Build the medical proof

    We coordinate neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and treating-physician records from Denver Health, Rose Medical Center, or wherever you were treated to document the injury that scans can miss.

  3. Project the full cost

    We work with life-care planners and vocational economists to value lifetime care and lost earning capacity, not just today's Denver medical bills. Settling before you reach maximum medical improvement risks leaving the future costs on the table.

  4. Demand and negotiate

    We send a documented demand to the insurer and negotiate from a position of trial readiness. When attorneys are genuinely prepared to walk into Denver District Court, adjusters do not treat the file the same way.

  5. Trial when needed

    If an insurer refuses to be fair, our trial lawyers are prepared to present your Denver brain injury case to a Colorado jury at the City and County Building on Bannock St.

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Questions

Denver brain injury, frequently asked questions

Does Colorado cap damages in a Denver brain injury case?

Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5), with inflation adjustments starting in 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages including medical bills, lost wages, and life-care plan costs, and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement. In a severe Denver TBI case those uncapped economic losses often represent the largest share of the total recovery.

How long do I have to file a Denver brain injury lawsuit?

For TBI injuries arising out of a motor vehicle crash, Colorado gives you three years from the date of the accident (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Other TBI claims, such as those from a slip and fall on Denver property, generally carry a two-year deadline (C.R.S. 13-80-102). If the injury was caused by a Denver city vehicle or RTD bus, a written notice of claim must be filed within 182 days of discovering the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109). Missing any of these deadlines can bar the claim entirely, so consulting an attorney early is critical.

What if I was partly at fault for the Denver crash that caused my TBI?

Colorado follows modified comparative negligence (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can recover as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent, and your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If your share reaches 50 percent or more, recovery is barred. Denver insurers aggressively push fault onto brain injury victims to cut payouts. Early accident reconstruction, witness statements, and dashcam or traffic-camera footage from Denver corridors are the tools that counter those arguments.

Can I have a brain injury if my MRI at Denver Health came back normal?

Yes. Standard MRI and CT scans detect bleeding and fractures but often miss the microscopic axonal injuries that cause lasting symptoms in mild TBI cases. Colorado courts recognize that the absence of visible structural damage does not mean the absence of injury. Your case may require advanced imaging such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging, neuropsychological testing, and expert testimony to prove functional impairment despite a normal scan from Denver Health, Saint Joseph, or any other Denver facility.

Where would my Denver brain injury lawsuit be filed?

Personal injury cases arising in the City and County of Denver are filed in Denver District Court, the 2nd Judicial District, with civil matters heard at the City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St. Most TBI claims settle before a lawsuit is filed, but where a case would be tried affects the local rules, the jury pool, and which defense firms and adjusters you face. Our office at 2701 Lawrence St. is minutes from the courthouse and we handle Denver District Court cases directly.

What is the Glasgow Coma Scale and why does it matter to my Denver claim?

The Glasgow Coma Scale is a 15-point assessment of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, usually recorded at the scene or at Denver Health within hours of the injury. It classifies a TBI as mild (13 to 15), moderate (9 to 12), or severe (3 to 8). Denver adjusters use the score to estimate claim value, often arguing a mild score means a small case. Colorado law recognizes that even a mild TBI can cause severe, lasting impairment when cognitive symptoms prevent you from doing your previous work or living your previous life.

Do I need a lawyer for a concussion after a Denver crash?

Even a mild concussion is worth a legal consultation if symptoms last beyond a few weeks or affect your ability to work. Denver insurers routinely undervalue concussion claims, particularly when scans look normal. An attorney can determine whether your case needs neuropsychological testing, vocational assessment, or advanced imaging to prove the full extent of your damages. These are steps you likely would not know to request on your own, and missing them means leaving money that belongs to you with the insurer.

What if my Denver brain injury was caused by a government vehicle or RTD bus?

Claims against the City and County of Denver, RTD, or any other public entity require a written notice 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 permanently. Recovery from a public entity is capped at $505,000 per person and $1,421,000 per occurrence for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2026 (C.R.S. 24-10-114). Call our Denver office as soon as possible if a government vehicle caused your TBI so the notice deadline can be protected.

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