A traumatic brain injury on I-25, US 287, or the canyon roads of Larimer County can leave you fighting an insurer that says the injury is not real because a scan looks normal. CGH Injury Lawyers builds the medical proof, handles the insurance battle, and tries your case in the 8th Judicial District when the insurer refuses to pay fair value. Serving Fort Collins from our Denver office. No fee unless we win.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
CGH Injury Lawyers serves Fort Collins and Larimer County from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201. We handle the medical proof, the insurance fight, and trial in the 8th Judicial District when an insurer refuses to pay fair value for a TBI. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
A TBI claim arises any time another person's negligence, a defective product, or a dangerous condition causes a head injury that disrupts how your brain works. The diagnosis on the chart is the starting point of the legal case, not the ceiling on what you can recover.
A handful of Colorado rules decide how much time you have, how fault affects your award, and which damages have limits. Every statement below comes from verified Colorado statutes.
For injuries arising from a motor vehicle collision on I-25, US 287, or SH 14, Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). That window sounds generous, but TBI symptoms can emerge or worsen weeks or months after the accident. Settling or waiting too long before consulting an attorney risks losing evidence that proves the full extent of the injury.
Brain injuries caused by a slip and fall, a premises defect, or other non-vehicle negligence carry a two-year deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a). If a government vehicle or public entity is involved, a written notice of claim must be filed within 182 days of discovering the injury under C.R.S. 24-10-109(1), and missing that notice bars the claim entirely.
Colorado follows modified comparative negligence. You can recover as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent, and your award is reduced in proportion to your percentage of fault. Once you reach 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Insurers push fault onto injured people to reduce payouts, which is why early evidence preservation and accident reconstruction matter.
For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1.5 million, with inflation adjustments starting January 1, 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, life-care plan costs) and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement. In a serious TBI case, uncapped economic and physical impairment damages typically account for the overwhelming majority of the total recovery.
When the at-fault party acted with willful and wanton disregard for others, such as a drunk driver on US 287, punitive damages may be available. Colorado law limits exemplary damages to the amount of actual damages awarded (1:1), and a court may increase that award up to three times actual damages if the defendant continued the willful and wanton conduct during litigation.
A brain injury case is anchored to the place where the crash happened, the hospital that treated you, and the courthouse where the lawsuit is filed. Here is the ground a Fort Collins TBI claim lives on.
The Courthouse
Personal injury cases arising in Fort Collins and Larimer County are filed in the District Court, Larimer County, which is part of Colorado's 8th Judicial District. The court is located at the Larimer County Justice Center, 201 LaPorte Avenue, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO 80521. Your case, and any jury that decides it, comes from this community. We appear in the 8th Judicial District on behalf of Fort Collins brain injury victims.
Trauma Care
UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital is a verified Level III Trauma Center, verified by the American College of Surgeons and designated by the State of Colorado. For many Fort Collins TBI victims, Poudre Valley is the first point of emergency care. The records generated there, including Glasgow Coma Scale scores, CT findings, and neurological evaluations, are the core medical evidence in a TBI claim. Banner Fort Collins Medical Center also operates as a Level 4 Trauma Center designated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and provides initial care for less critical injuries in the area.
High-Crash Roads
Interstate 25 runs through the eastern edge of Fort Collins and is a documented closure corridor during high-wind and severe snowstorm events, contributing to multi-vehicle pile-ups. US Highway 287 (College Avenue through the city) carries over 40,000 vehicles per day south of Prospect Road and was the subject of a CDOT study documenting 570 crashes and 15 fatalities over a five-year period on the corridor north of Fort Collins. The 30-mile stretch between Ted's Place and the Wyoming state line recorded 103 wildlife collision crashes in that same study period. Colorado State Highway 14 through the Poudre Canyon is a mountain route west of the city where speed, limited sight lines, and wildlife create serious crash risk. All three corridors generate the high-speed, high-force collisions most likely to cause TBI.
Local Context
Fort Collins has a population of approximately 170,927 per the most recent ACS estimate. Colorado State University enrolls roughly 34,000 students who walk, bike, and drive along the College Avenue / US 287 corridor, a documented high-accident zone. Old Town generates dense pedestrian traffic in the same corridor. Cyclists and outdoor recreationists who use the Cache la Poudre River and Horsetooth Reservoir corridors face additional exposure. Larimer County is also ranked the most hazardous county in Colorado for wildfires, and post-wildfire burn areas west of the city increase flash flood risk in canyon roads. These local conditions shape where Fort Collins TBIs occur and what evidence matters most.
Trial-ready attorneys, no fee unless we win, and a commitment to honest case evaluation before you sign anything. Here is what that means in practice.
ABOTA
Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. When an insurer knows your attorney actually tries cases, the settlement conversation changes.
8th Judicial District
Fort Collins TBI cases are filed in the District Court, Larimer County at the Justice Center on LaPorte Avenue. We serve Fort Collins from our Denver office and handle litigation in the 8th Judicial District when a case cannot settle at fair value.
Best Lawyers
Timothy G. Tarr has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023. Every Fort Collins brain injury case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal.
Medical Proof
Standard CT and MRI scans miss the microscopic axonal tears behind many TBI symptoms. We coordinate neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and life-care plans to document what the insurer says is not there.
Honest Evaluation
We do not take brain injury cases we cannot honestly stand behind. If the facts of your Fort Collins case place it outside what the law supports, we say so in the free consultation 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 hear that early, at no cost to you.
Bilingual
Spanish-speaking staff and attorneys serve Fort Collins'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 in your favor.
The steps you take in the days after a TBI can determine whether you get full value or a fraction of it. Follow your health first, then protect your rights.
UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital is the area's Level III Trauma Center for serious injuries. Banner Fort Collins Medical Center is a Level 4 Trauma Center for less critical emergencies. Seek care immediately, even if you do not feel badly hurt: TBI symptoms, including headache, confusion, and memory problems, frequently emerge hours or days later. Every hospital record, Glasgow Coma Scale score, and imaging result becomes evidence in your claim.
If you are physically able, photograph the crash site, the vehicles, road conditions on I-25 or US 287, and any skid marks or debris. Get names and contact information for witnesses. Request a copy of the police report from the Fort Collins Police Services or Colorado State Patrol.
Keep every appointment. Write a daily symptom journal: headaches, dizziness, memory gaps, concentration problems, mood changes, and sleep disruption. Insurance adjusters look for gaps in care and undocumented symptoms as reasons to minimize the injury.
The at-fault driver's insurer may call within days. Do not give a recorded statement or accept any offer before speaking with us. Call (303) 209-9395 first.
We coordinate neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging, life-care plan development, and vocational expert review to document the full scope of harm, including the functional losses that standard scans miss. We then send a documented demand and negotiate from a trial-ready position.
If the insurer refuses a fair offer, we file in the District Court, Larimer County, 8th Judicial District, and prepare the case for a Fort Collins jury.
Colorado law recognizes several categories of recoverable harm in a TBI case. Understanding which categories are capped and which are not is the first step to valuing the claim correctly.
A Colorado TBI case is often worth more than an insurer's first offer implies. Economic damages, which have no cap, often dwarf the non-economic amount. A Colorado State University researcher or software developer whose post-concussion syndrome prevents them from doing essential cognitive work may have a loss of earning capacity claim that runs into seven figures, independent of any cap on pain and suffering.
Insurance companies defend brain injury claims hard, particularly for mild TBIs. Knowing the defense playbook before the first demand is how we avoid being ambushed.
Standard CT and MRI scans detect bleeding and structural fractures. They regularly miss the microscopic axonal tears that cause lasting symptoms in mild TBI. We counter with advanced imaging such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging, which maps white-matter tract damage that standard scans skip, and with neuropsychological testing that produces objective data on memory, attention, and processing speed against age-matched norms.
Colorado's modified comparative fault rule under C.R.S. 13-21-111 bars recovery when a plaintiff is 50 percent or more at fault. Insurers aggressively investigate your conduct to inflate your share. We preserve dashcam footage, traffic camera data, and witness statements early, before evidence disappears, to counter fault arguments with objective proof.
Insurers request your full medical history to argue any cognitive or mood issues predated the crash. We work with treating physicians to establish the baseline before the accident and document the concrete change in function after it, using before-and-after testimony from coworkers, family, and friends.
Gaps in medical treatment are used to argue the injury resolved itself or was never serious. We help you understand why consistent care is both medically and legally important, and we document legitimate reasons for any gaps in a way that survives scrutiny.
Understanding how insurance works in a brain injury case changes the conversation. Most TBI victims never face the at-fault driver's personal assets. The fight is with the insurer.
I wish I could leave more than 5 stars!
For injuries arising from a motor vehicle collision, Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Brain injury symptoms can surface or worsen weeks or months after the accident. Waiting to see how you feel before consulting an attorney risks losing witness memory, dashcam footage, and physical evidence. For non-vehicle TBI causes, the general tort deadline is two years (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a)). Your specific deadline depends on how and where the injury occurred.
Partially. Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5, with inflation adjustments beginning January 1, 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, and life-care plan costs) and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(5)). In a serious TBI case, uncapped economic and physical impairment damages typically account for the majority of the total recovery.
Personal injury cases arising in Fort Collins and Larimer County are filed in the District Court, Larimer County, part of Colorado's 8th Judicial District. The court is located at the Larimer County Justice Center, 201 LaPorte Avenue, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO 80521. Most cases settle before trial, but where a case would be tried affects local rules, the jury pool, and the defense firms involved. CGH Injury Lawyers handles 8th Judicial District litigation for Fort Collins clients.
Colorado's modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111) lets you recover as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. When your fault reaches 50 percent or more, you recover nothing. Insurers routinely push fault onto injured people to reduce payouts. Early accident reconstruction and evidence preservation are how we keep that number honest.
Yes. Standard MRI and CT scans often miss the microscopic axonal injuries that cause persistent symptoms in mild TBI cases. A normal scan 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 that standard imaging cannot capture. Colorado courts recognize that a clean initial scan does not end the inquiry.
No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one office: 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205, reachable at (303) 209-9395. We serve Fort Collins, Larimer County, and the 8th Judicial District from Denver. We handle all client communication, case management, and litigation for Fort Collins clients remotely and in-person at our Denver office or at the Larimer County Justice Center when your case requires a court appearance.
The Glasgow Coma Scale is a 15-point assessment of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, typically recorded by emergency medical staff or at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital soon after the injury. It classifies a TBI as mild (GCS 13 to 15), moderate (GCS 9 to 12), or severe (GCS 3 to 8). Insurance adjusters use the initial score to argue small damages. The GCS describes the first hours after injury, not how the rest of your life goes. A mild GCS score can accompany post-concussion syndrome that persists for years and ends a career.
A life-care plan is a detailed document prepared by a certified rehabilitation specialist or life-care planner that projects every medical expense, care cost, and equipment need from the settlement date through your life expectancy. It typically covers ongoing physician visits, physical and cognitive rehabilitation, prescription medications, durable medical equipment, home modifications, and attendant care. For moderate to severe TBI cases, a life-care plan is almost always necessary because the lifetime cost of care dwarfs the initial bills, and settling before it is complete leaves permanent money on the table.
Fort Collins
Colorado brain injury law
How the injury happened
Denver money pages
Tell us what happened. We review Fort Collins TBI cases at no cost and no obligation, and we tell you honestly whether your case has merit before you commit to anything.
It's More Than Money.
Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Serving Larimer County from Denver. Available in English and Spanish.
Read next: How Colorado brain injury law works statewide.
CGH Injury Lawyers · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205
