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US 287 corridor through Erie, Colorado. CGH Injury Lawyers represents Erie spinal cord injury victims in Boulder County and Weld County courts from our Denver office.
Erie, Colorado

Erie Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers Who Build Cases Sized to Lifetime Care Costs

A spinal cord injury on the I-25 corridor, US 287, or any Erie road changes a family's finances for decades. The first insurance offer almost never reflects what 40 to 60 years of care actually costs. CGH Injury Lawyers represents paralyzed Erie residents and their families from our Denver office, builds every damages category the law allows, and files in both Boulder County and Weld County district courts when a lawsuit is necessary. No fee unless we win.

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A spinal cord injury sustained on I-25, US 287, SH-7, or any Erie road does not just produce a medical bill. It produces a decades-long financial obligation that the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center's 2025 data sheet estimates can range from about $3 million for paraplegia to more than $6.2 million for a high cervical injury in a person injured at age 25, in 2024 dollars. The first insurance offer Erie families receive almost never comes close to that figure.

  • The neurological level of injury, from cervical (C1 through C8) to lumbar and sacral, determines the degree of paralysis and the lifetime care cost. The ASIA Impairment Scale then grades the injury as complete (ASIA A, no motor or sensory function below the level) or incomplete (ASIA B through D, some preserved pathways). That single distinction drives the prognosis, the life care plan, and ultimately the dollar value of an Erie spinal cord injury claim.
  • Colorado follows a modified comparative fault rule under C.R.S. 13-21-111. You can still recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers handling Front Range corridor claims routinely argue inflated fault percentages, and we challenge every one of them.
  • Erie straddles Boulder and Weld counties. For most spinal cord injury claims, Colorado's general tort statute of limitations is two years from the date of injury (C.R.S. 13-80-102). If the crash that caused the injury involved a vehicle, the motor vehicle statute provides three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). When a government entity such as the Town of Erie, CDOT, Boulder County, or Weld County had any role, a written notice of claim must reach that entity within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)).

CGH Injury Lawyers represents paralyzed Erie residents and their families from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201. We work with life care planners, neurologists, spinal cord specialists, and economists to build a damages model that reflects 40 to 60 years of real cost. We file in both district courts that serve Erie: Weld County District Court in Greeley for the eastern side of town and the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont for the western side. The consultation is free and you pay nothing unless we win.

The medical framework

How injury level decides the value of an Erie spinal cord injury claim

The spinal cord is divided into four regions. Where the injury occurs determines what functions are lost, how much attendant care is needed, and how many years of adaptive equipment, housing modification, and medical supply costs your claim must account for. Every dollar difference between regions matters when the claim must cover 40 to 60 years of future care.

  1. Cervical injuries (C1 through C8): tetraplegia

    Injuries to the neck region affect all four limbs. C1 through C4 injuries are the most severe, often requiring ventilator support and around-the-clock attendant care. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center's 2025 data sheet estimates lifetime care costs for high cervical injuries at more than $6.2 million for a person injured at age 25, in 2024 dollars. C5 through C8 injuries allow progressively more arm and hand function while still producing significant long-term care needs. These are the highest-value spinal cord injury claims because economic damages alone, which are never capped in Colorado, can exceed any non-economic damages figure by a wide margin.

  2. Thoracic injuries (T1 through T12): paraplegia

    Thoracic injuries paralyze the legs while leaving arms and hands intact. Upper thoracic injuries at T1 through T6 affect trunk stability and create additional respiratory risk. Lower thoracic injuries preserve more core control. Most people live independently with home modifications and adaptive equipment, but the lifetime cost of power and manual wheelchairs replaced every five years, pressure-relief equipment, home modification, and recurring medical needs still produces a claim that commonly runs well into the seven figures.

  3. Lumbar and sacral injuries (L1 through S5): lower-level loss

    Many people with lumbar and sacral injuries retain some leg movement and may eventually walk with bracing. They almost always face long-term bowel and bladder dysfunction requiring ongoing management, and periodic surgery for associated complications is common. Lifetime care costs are lower than cervical or thoracic injuries but still significant for supplies, medication, catheter management, and specialty follow-up.

  4. Complete vs. incomplete injuries and the ASIA scale

    The ASIA Impairment Scale grades injuries A through E. ASIA A is a complete injury with no motor or sensory function preserved below the neurological level. ASIA B through D are incomplete injuries with varying degrees of preserved sensation or movement. Incomplete injuries are harder to value because the extent of recovery often is not clear for 12 to 18 months after the injury. Insurance companies exploit that uncertainty by offering settlements based on optimistic recovery projections that frequently do not materialize. We wait until the injury has stabilized enough to build an accurate life care plan before valuing any Erie spinal cord injury claim.

Why Erie produces catastrophic injuries

The Erie corridors and crash types that produce spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord injuries in Erie follow predictable patterns tied to the town's road network. Understanding which corridor and crash type caused the injury shapes every phase of building the claim, from identifying the liable parties to establishing which government entities may owe a CGIA notice.

High-speed crash corridors

  • Interstate 25 passes through Erie with a full interchange at Erie Parkway. High-speed rear-end collisions and merge crashes at this interchange, particularly involving commercial trucks, are among the most likely to produce cervical spinal cord injuries from the violent flexion-extension forces involved.
  • US Highway 287 is a major north-south commercial trucking corridor through Erie. Angle crashes and rear-end impacts involving large trucks on US 287 generate the axial loading forces most associated with thoracic and lumbar cord injuries.
  • SH-7 (Baseline Road), Erie's primary east-west arterial, connects the town to Boulder, Lafayette, Louisville, and Brighton. T-bone collisions at SH-7 intersections at speed produce lateral forces particularly dangerous to the cervical and upper thoracic cord.
  • SH-52 ties into US 287 and carries agricultural and commercial traffic east into Weld County, adding large-vehicle exposure to the eastern part of Erie near the county line.

Other Erie SCI causes

  • Falls from heights at construction sites. Erie's rapid growth means active residential and commercial construction throughout town, and fall-from-height incidents are a leading non-vehicle cause of spinal cord injury.
  • Premises liability injuries from slip and fall events on defective surfaces at commercial properties, including those along Erie Parkway and the Flatiron Crossing commercial corridor adjacent to the I-25 interchange area.
  • Defective products, including inadequate seat restraint systems in vehicles involved in high-speed I-25 or US 287 crashes, where the product failure magnifies the cord injury beyond what the crash alone would have caused.
  • CDOT has documented safety deficiencies at the US 287 and SH-52 intersection significant enough to fund a full improvement project. A known roadway defect at that intersection that contributed to a crash may give rise to a government-entity claim under the CGIA.

Local context

Erie courts. Erie trauma care. Erie roads.

Every element below is your local context, not a CGH office location. CGH Injury Lawyers operates from one office in Denver and serves Erie clients from there. These are the courts, hospitals, and roads that define how an Erie spinal cord injury claim unfolds.

Courthouses, Split County

Two District Courts Serve Erie Depending on Where the Injury Occurred

Erie straddles Boulder County to the west and Weld County to the east, with the dividing line running roughly along County Line Road. A personal injury lawsuit is filed in the district court for the county where the injury occurred. For Weld County injuries, that is Weld County District Court in the 19th Judicial District, located at 901 9th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631. For Boulder County injuries, the nearest courthouse is the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont, located at 1035 Kimbark St, Longmont, CO 80501, in the 20th Judicial District. CGH Injury Lawyers files and appears in both district courts and identifies the controlling court as the first step in every Erie engagement.

Trauma Care and Spinal Rehabilitation

UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital, Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital, and Craig Hospital

The closest trauma center to Erie is UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont, a CDPHE-designated Level III Trauma Center. For severe spinal cord injuries, Boulder Community Health's Foothills Hospital at 4747 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center, often handles stabilization. For acute spinal rehabilitation, Craig Hospital in Englewood, nationally ranked for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, is where many Erie families end up for the months of post-acute care that follow stabilization. Craig Hospital records become critical evidence of the scope of the injury, the treatment already required, and the care needs that a life care plan must project going forward. Trauma and rehabilitation records from any of these facilities document what a spinal cord injury costs in the real world rather than what an insurer estimates.

Key Roads

I-25, US 287, SH-7, and SH-52

Interstate 25 passes through Erie with a full interchange at Erie Parkway and is the primary source of high-speed crash energy in the area. US Highway 287 is a major north-south commercial trucking route through town; CDOT has funded a full improvement project at the US 287 and SH-52 intersection because of documented safety deficiencies there, including new turn lanes, bicycle lanes, pedestrian ramps, and signal replacement. SH-7 (Baseline Road) is Erie's principal east-west arterial; CDOT completed shoulder widening near Erie Airport Drive in January 2026. SH-52 carries agricultural and commercial traffic east toward Weld County. Where on these roads the injury-causing crash occurred determines the county, the courthouse, and which maintenance authority may share responsibility for any road defect that contributed to the incident.

Serving Erie

No Erie Office. Full Erie Representation.

CGH Injury Lawyers does not have an Erie office. We have one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We serve Erie spinal cord injury clients from our Denver office, file suits in Weld County District Court or the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont depending on where the injury occurred, and meet clients wherever it is most convenient. Distance is not an obstacle to full representation of a paralyzed client and their family.

After the injury

What to do in the weeks after a spinal cord injury in Erie

The decisions made in the first weeks after a spinal cord injury can affect the value of a claim by hundreds of thousands of dollars. These steps protect the family's legal rights while the injured person focuses on stabilization and early rehabilitation.

  1. Preserve all crash and injury evidence immediately

    Dashcam footage, intersection camera recordings, electronic data from commercial truck black boxes, and physical road evidence can be lost within days. If the injury happened on I-25, US 287, SH-7, or at the US 287 and SH-52 intersection, we issue litigation holds and evidence preservation demands to CDOT, the at-fault driver's employer if a truck was involved, and any other responsible party as soon as we are retained. The police report, including the county the responding agency serves, establishes jurisdiction from the first document in the file.

  2. Send the CGIA notice within 182 days if a government entity is involved

    If the spinal cord injury resulted from a crash involving a CDOT-maintained highway, a county road in Boulder County or Weld County, a Town of Erie vehicle, or a defect on a government-maintained surface, Colorado's Governmental Immunity Act requires a written notice of claim to reach the right entity within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Missing this deadline is a permanent bar to recovery from that government entity. That clock runs from the date of discovery of the injury, not the date of the crash. We identify every potentially liable government entity and serve notice immediately.

  3. Protect the right to choose your own doctors and rehab facility

    The at-fault insurer has no right to control where an injured Erie resident receives care. Insurers sometimes pressure families to accept in-network evaluations that produce favorable-to-the-insurer conclusions about the extent of the injury. Spinal cord injury cases benefit enormously from early treatment at centers with the deepest SCI experience, including Craig Hospital in Englewood. We advise families on protecting that right from the first contact.

  4. Do not accept a settlement until the injury has stabilized and a life care plan is complete

    Incomplete spinal cord injuries often have unclear prognoses for 12 to 18 months after the injury. A settlement accepted before the neurological picture stabilizes locks the family into an amount that cannot be reopened when a hoped-for recovery does not materialize. We advise Erie clients against accepting any settlement offer until a certified life care planner has projected all future costs and an economist has calculated the present-day value of that stream of expenses.

  5. Contact CGH Injury Lawyers early

    The general tort statute of limitations for most spinal cord injury claims is two years from the date of injury (C.R.S. 13-80-102). For vehicle-caused cord injuries, the motor vehicle limitations period is three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Product liability claims carry a two-year limitations period (C.R.S. 13-80-106). The 182-day CGIA government-entity notice requirement (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)) runs concurrently and expires long before any of those filing deadlines. Starting early means evidence is preserved, notices are sent correctly, and no deadline is missed while a family is consumed by the medical crisis.

Compensation

What you can recover after an Erie spinal cord injury

Colorado law lets injured people recover economic losses documented with bills and records as well as non-economic losses for the human cost of the injury. In spinal cord injury cases, the economic damages category is almost always the most important because it covers a lifetime of care and those damages are never capped under Colorado law.

Economic damages (uncapped)

  • Power wheelchair replaced approximately every five years, with Colorado's climate-related equipment wear shortening that cycle
  • Attendant care for 12 hours of daily assistance, part of ongoing yearly expenses the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center puts at $55,900 to $244,879 depending on injury level, in 2024 dollars
  • Home modification costs in the Erie and Boulder County market for ramps, doorway widening, roll-in showers, and accessible kitchens
  • Vehicle modification for hand controls, transfer seats, and ramp or lift systems, plus all-wheel-drive adaptations needed for Colorado winters
  • Medical supplies, catheter management, pressure-sore treatment, respiratory care for high cervical injuries, and periodic surgery for complications
  • Lost wages, lost benefits, and reduced earning capacity over the remainder of the injured person's working life
  • Craig Hospital rehabilitation costs and follow-up outpatient therapy in Longmont or Boulder

Non-economic and other damages

  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Loss of consortium for a spouse or family member
  • Physical impairment and disfigurement damages, which are separately recoverable and carry no cap under Colorado law

For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1,500,000 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5. Compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is not capped at all and is its own separate category. Economic damages for future care, lost wages, and lost earning capacity are also never capped. In serious Erie spinal cord injury cases, economic and physical-impairment damages almost always carry far more value than the non-economic cap allows, which is why building an accurate life care plan matters so much. If a government entity such as CDOT, Boulder County, Weld County, or the Town of Erie shares responsibility, CGIA caps apply 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). Government-entity claims require a written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)) or the claim is permanently barred.

Fault and coverage

Fault allocation and the life care plan: how Colorado's comparative fault rule applies to spinal cord injury claims

Colorado uses a modified comparative fault rule under C.R.S. 13-21-111. You can recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. If you are found 50 percent or more responsible, you recover nothing. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. A person found 49 percent at fault, for instance, keeps 51 percent of the award. In spinal cord injury cases that can mean the difference between full lifetime care funding and a shortfall that runs into the millions over decades.

How insurers use fault arguments against Erie SCI claimants

  • Arguing the injured person was following too closely or changing lanes unsafely on I-25 or US 287, pushing fault above 50 percent to bar any recovery under C.R.S. 13-21-111.
  • Disputing that the injury was caused by the crash rather than a pre-existing spinal condition, then arguing a lesser injury award that does not account for the aggravated disability level.
  • Offering quick settlements before an incomplete injury has stabilized, using optimistic ASIA grade recovery projections that rarely hold over the full course of a person's life.
  • Challenging individual life care plan line items, arguing generic wheelchairs are adequate when custom seating is medically necessary to prevent pressure sores, or arguing family members can provide attendant care for free.

We respond to fault inflation with crash reconstruction evidence, road-condition records from CDOT for US 287 and SH-7, and vehicle data from the commercial trucks that frequently operate on these corridors. We defend the life care plan line by line with the expert witnesses who built it.

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Your team

The attorneys handling your Erie spinal cord injury case

CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado firm founded in 2016, formerly Cheney Galluzzi and Howard. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. Timothy G. Tarr has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023. Every Erie spinal cord injury case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney alongside the life care planners, neurologists, and economists these claims require. No Erie spinal cord injury case is staffed by paralegals or referred out.

ABOTA member on the team Tim Tarr: Best Lawyers in America since 2023 Over 25 cases to verdict Works with life care planners and economists Filing in Boulder County and Weld County courts Bilingual EN / ES Free consultation No fee unless we win

Frequently asked questions

Erie spinal cord injury questions, answered

How long do I have to file a spinal cord injury lawsuit after a crash on I-25 or US 287 in Erie?

If the spinal cord injury resulted from a motor vehicle crash, Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). For non-vehicle causes such as a construction-site fall or premises liability injury, the general tort limitations period is two years from the date of injury (C.R.S. 13-80-102). Product liability claims carry a two-year period as well (C.R.S. 13-80-106). If any government entity, including CDOT for a state highway defect, Boulder County or Weld County for a county road, or the Town of Erie for a municipal street, had any role in the injury, a written notice of claim must be delivered to that entity within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). That government-notice clock runs separately and expires long before the civil filing deadline. Do not wait.

Where would my Erie spinal cord injury lawsuit be filed?

It depends on which side of County Line Road the injury occurred. For injuries on the eastern, Weld County side of Erie, including the I-25 interchange area and the US 287 and SH-52 corridor, the lawsuit is filed in Weld County District Court (19th Judicial District) at 901 9th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631. For injuries on the western, Boulder County side, including the SH-7 corridor and western residential neighborhoods, the lawsuit is filed in the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont (20th Judicial District) at 1035 Kimbark St, Longmont, CO 80501. CGH Injury Lawyers files and appears in both district courts and determines jurisdiction as the first step in every Erie engagement.

Does Colorado cap what I can recover for a spinal cord injury?

Economic damages such as future medical costs, attendant care, equipment, home modification, lost wages, and lost earning capacity are never capped in Colorado. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1,500,000 for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Physical impairment and disfigurement damages are separately recoverable and are not capped at all. In most serious Erie spinal cord injury cases, the uncapped economic damages and physical-impairment categories carry far more value than the non-economic cap allows. If a government entity shares liability, CGIA caps apply at $505,000 per person for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2026 (C.R.S. 24-10-114), with notice required within 182 days of discovery of the injury.

Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the crash that caused my spinal cord injury?

Yes, as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. Colorado follows a modified comparative fault rule under C.R.S. 13-21-111. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. In practice, insurers handling Erie corridor crashes on I-25, US 287, and SH-7 frequently try to push the injured person's fault percentage above 50 percent, particularly in high-speed merge and angle crashes where fault can appear shared. We challenge those assignments with crash reconstruction, vehicle data, and road-condition records from CDOT's documented project files.

Should I accept the insurer's early settlement offer for my Erie spinal cord injury?

Be very cautious. Early offers arrive before the full extent of the injury is known, often before the neurological picture has stabilized and long before a life care planner has projected future costs. A settlement that looks significant in the weeks after a crash can fall millions short of the actual lifetime care cost for a cervical spinal cord injury. Once accepted, a settlement is final. There is no reopening it when the money runs out while 25 more years of care remain. We advise Erie clients against settling before a complete life care plan is built and reviewed by an independent economist.

Does CGH Injury Lawyers have an office in Erie?

No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We do not have an Erie office. We represent Erie spinal cord injury clients from Denver, file suits in the district court for the controlling county (Weld County District Court in Greeley or the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont), and meet clients wherever they are most comfortable. Erie clients do not need to travel to Denver to receive full representation in a catastrophic injury case.

Related injury cases we handle for Erie clients

Erie practice areas

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It's More Than Money.

You and your family face decades of care. We build the case to pay for it.

Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Filing in Boulder County and Weld County courts.

Tell us what happened in Erie

100% confidential. No fee unless we win.

(303) 209-9395

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