A civil claim lets Westminster survivors seek compensation and hold employers, schools, healthcare facilities, and other organizations accountable, on a separate track from any criminal case. Colorado eliminated the statute of limitations for civil sexual misconduct claims. We serve Westminster from our Denver office, and your first conversation with us is confidential and free.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
You are in control
There is no obligation and no public record when you reach out. We listen, explain your options in plain language, and move at a pace that respects you. Nothing happens without your decision.
CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Westminster office. We serve Westminster from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, and we represent survivors across Colorado with a confidential, trauma-informed approach. We handle the institutions, the investigation, and the litigation while you keep control of every decision. Your first consultation is free and protected by attorney-client privilege.
Westminster survivors often assume that waiting means losing the right to sue. Under current Colorado law, that assumption is wrong for sexual misconduct claims. Understanding what the law actually says is the starting point for understanding your options.
These laws were written precisely because survivors often need years, and sometimes decades, before they are ready or able to come forward. If you have assumed your case is too old, a confidential evaluation will tell you honestly where it stands. We have that conversation at no cost and with no obligation to proceed.
A criminal case and a civil case are parallel tracks with different goals, different standards of proof, and different outcomes. Understanding the difference helps Westminster survivors make decisions that serve their own needs, not the state's.
Criminal case
A prosecutor, not the survivor, controls the criminal case. The burden of proof is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a high bar that often leads to no charges or acquittal even when clear harm occurred. The aim is punishment of the offender. The survivor is a witness, not the party with control.
Civil case
The survivor files the civil claim and controls the decision to proceed or settle. The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it is more likely than not that the abuse occurred and caused harm. The aim is financial compensation and institutional accountability. A civil win does not require a criminal conviction.
A Westminster survivor can bring a civil claim even when no criminal charges were filed, even when charges were dropped, and even when a criminal jury returned a not-guilty verdict. The two systems are independent. Many Westminster survivors who never received justice through the criminal system have pursued a civil claim on their own terms and obtained a result the criminal process could not deliver.
One of the most significant features of a civil sexual assault claim is the ability to hold organizations accountable, not just an individual. Westminster institutions, including schools, employers, youth programs, healthcare facilities, and transportation providers, often bear independent legal responsibility when their failures created the conditions for harm.
Theory of liability
Westminster schools, employers, and youth organizations must conduct reasonable background checks before placing someone in a position of trust with students, patients, or clients. Hiring without checking prior complaints or misconduct history can establish liability when harm follows.
Theory of liability
When an organization receives complaints about inappropriate conduct and fails to investigate or act, it shares responsibility for what follows. Westminster employers, school districts, and transit companies all carry ongoing supervisory duties toward the people in their care.
Theory of liability
When an organization learns of misconduct or red flags but keeps a person in a position to cause further harm, it becomes liable for later abuse. This pattern is common where institutions quietly transferred a known problem rather than removing the person entirely.
Theory of liability
In certain circumstances an employer can be held responsible for an employee's conduct when the employment relationship created the opportunity for the abuse. Westminster rideshare platforms, healthcare employers, and transit authorities face this theory in claims arising from driver or staff conduct.
Westminster is a city of more than 116,000 people with a dense mix of schools, health systems, transit corridors, retail hubs, and residential communities. The work of a civil sexual assault case is identifying not only who caused the harm, but which institutions created the conditions that allowed it and then failed in their duty to protect you. We investigate that chain of responsibility while supporting you through a process that involves confronting organizations you may have trusted.
It is not about reliving what happened. It is about reclaiming control and forcing the institutions that failed you to answer for it.
A civil case involving a Westminster survivor lives in specific local institutions: the courthouse where the lawsuit may be filed, the medical facilities that document harm, and the community settings where institutional failures most often occur. Here is the ground we work on.
Where Your Case Is Filed
Westminster sits primarily in Adams County. A Westminster civil lawsuit that exceeds the county-court jurisdictional limit is filed in Adams County District Court, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in the 17th Judicial District. The court's local rules, procedures for sensitive cases, and the jury pool that would hear your claim are specific to Adams County. For the smaller portion of Westminster in Jefferson County, the applicable court is Jefferson County District Court. We handle both courts and have served Westminster clients from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Westminster office.
Medical Documentation
St. Anthony North Hospital, the CDPHE-designated Level III Trauma Center serving Westminster and the North Denver metro area, is the primary emergency facility for Westminster residents. Sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) programs and behavioral health resources also operate through Westminster-area clinics and hospitals. The medical records, therapy documentation, and SANE exam findings from these facilities become a central part of the damages record in a civil claim. We gather and analyze every record to document the full physical and psychological impact of the harm you suffered.
Westminster Community Context
Westminster is home to Adams 12 Five Star Schools, Westminster Public Schools, and a range of youth-serving programs, healthcare employers, and transportation providers including RTD lines running through the US-36 corridor, Wadsworth Boulevard (SH 121), and Federal Boulevard (US 287). The Church Ranch Business Park and the Orchard Town Center area near 144th Avenue are major employment and retail hubs. RTD Westminster Station generates consistent rideshare and transit activity. Civil sexual assault claims in Westminster often arise from the employment, transit, and youth-program settings woven into these corridors, and identifying the institutional chain of responsibility requires knowledge of who operates in this community.
Colorado law recognizes several categories of damages in civil sexual abuse and assault cases. A civil claim seeks to make a survivor whole by addressing the economic reality of the harm and the pain and suffering it caused.
In cases involving egregious conduct, such as an institutional cover-up or deliberate indifference to a known pattern of abuse, Colorado courts may also award punitive damages. Under C.R.S. 13-21-102(1)(a), punitive damages are capped at the amount of actual damages awarded, though a court may raise that amount to three times actual damages when a defendant engages in continued willful and wanton conduct during the case. Punitive damages are not meant to compensate the survivor but to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct by others.
Colorado's comparative fault statute (C.R.S. 13-21-111) is a modified system. A Westminster plaintiff can recover as long as the plaintiff is less than 50 percent at fault for the claimed harm. If a survivor is found to share some fault, the recovery is reduced by that percentage. A survivor found 49 percent at fault, for example, would recover 51 percent of the total damages award. Recovery is barred entirely only if the plaintiff is found 50 percent or more at fault. Defense attorneys sometimes raise comparative fault arguments in civil sexual assault cases. We are prepared to counter those arguments and keep the full value of your claim on the table.
A common fear survivors share is public exposure. Colorado's legal system provides real privacy protections, and your safety and control are central to how these cases should be handled from the very first phone call.
Anonymity in court
In many sexual assault civil cases, Adams County District Court allows survivors to file under a pseudonym so your real name does not appear in public court records. This protection recognizes that forcing public identification can deter legitimate claims and cause additional harm beyond what already occurred.
Protective orders
Courts can seal sensitive documents, restrict who may attend depositions, and limit the disclosure of personal information uncovered during discovery. The litigation process does not have to become another violation of your privacy, and we pursue every available protective measure.
Confidential from the start
Your initial case evaluation is completely confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege. You can ask every question you have, explore your options in full, and decide whether to move forward with no public record and no obligation to retain us.
Trauma-informed pace
Litigation can be retraumatizing if handled carelessly. We build in scheduling flexibility for difficult testimony, allow support persons during meetings, and move at a pace that respects your emotional capacity. You do not have to manage this process alone or on anyone else's timeline.
Every case is different, and you set the pace. These are the stages most civil claims move through, from a confidential first conversation to trial when an institution refuses to be held accountable.
You call or message us. We listen, answer your questions, and explain what a civil claim looks like for your specific situation at no cost. What you share is protected by attorney-client privilege. There is no obligation to proceed, and nothing you tell us becomes part of any public record at this stage.
We evaluate your specific situation under Colorado law, including the elimination of the civil statute of limitations for sexual misconduct claims effective January 1, 2022 (C.R.S. 13-80-103.7), We tell you honestly what your options are and what the realistic path forward looks like.
Using civil discovery, we obtain records that may not be in your possession: personnel files, prior complaint histories, organizational policies, training records, and security footage. The goal is establishing not just what the individual did, but what the institution knew, when it knew it, and what it failed to do. This is often where the case is built or broken.
We gather every relevant record from St. Anthony North Hospital, treating therapists, SANE examiners, and other providers. Economic experts may be retained to value long-term lost earning capacity and the cost of future care. Psychological experts may document the ongoing impact of PTSD, depression, and related conditions. Nothing in your damages picture is left unexamined.
We present a documented demand to the responsible parties and negotiate from a position of full case preparation. Most civil sexual assault cases resolve through confidential settlement before trial. Settlement keeps your name and details out of public court records in most circumstances, though the decision to settle or proceed to trial is always yours.
If an institution refuses to be fair, we are prepared to try your case in Adams County District Court. Courts can allow protective measures for sensitive testimony, and we prepare you thoroughly. You are never in that courtroom unprotected or unready.
There is no right timeline for being ready to come forward. Some survivors act soon after the assault; others need years before they are prepared. Both paths are valid under Colorado law. What matters is that when you are ready, you understand your options and the protections available to you in Westminster and across Colorado.
CGH Injury Lawyers is a Colorado personal injury firm, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. We are trial lawyers willing to take a case as far as it needs to go, and we handle sensitive survivor cases with discretion, confidentiality, and deep respect for the survivor's control over every decision.
We serve Westminster from our Denver office and file Westminster survivor cases in Adams County District Court. We do not have a Westminster address. What we offer is the work: thorough institutional investigation, full damages documentation, and trial preparation that makes institutions take the claim seriously from the first demand letter.
Not necessarily. Colorado eliminated the civil statute of limitations for sexual misconduct claims effective January 1, 2022 (C.R.S. 13-80-103.7). Westminster survivors can now file a civil claim at any time. The no-deadline rule also covers older abuse if the original filing deadline had not yet expired by January 1, 2022, which is a fact-specific analysis. Because these rules are complex and the facts of your situation matter, a confidential case evaluation is the way to find out honestly where you stand. We do not charge for that conversation.
Often, yes. Westminster schools, employers, healthcare organizations, transit operators, and youth-serving programs may bear independent legal liability when they failed to conduct adequate background checks, ignored prior complaints about the same person, or retained someone in a position of trust after learning of misconduct. Holding institutions accountable can secure meaningful compensation and help prevent future harm by forcing organizations to change how they screen, supervise, and respond to reports. We investigate the full chain of institutional responsibility as a standard part of every case.
No. A civil case is independent of any criminal proceeding. You do not need a criminal conviction, a police report, or even a prior criminal complaint to bring or win a civil claim. Civil cases use the lower preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, meaning your case needs to show it is more likely than not that the abuse occurred and caused harm. Your testimony is evidence. Civil discovery also allows us to obtain personnel files, prior complaints, and institutional records that can strengthen the case, even when physical evidence is limited.
In many sexual assault civil cases, Adams County District Court allows survivors to file under a pseudonym such as Jane Doe or John Doe, so your real name does not appear in public court documents. Courts can also issue protective orders that seal sensitive records and restrict who may attend depositions. Your first conversation with us is fully confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege. No public record is created by calling us or meeting with us.
A civil claim can recover economic damages, which are not capped, including therapy and psychiatric care, medical bills, SANE exam costs, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity. Non-economic damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress including PTSD and depression, and loss of enjoyment of life are also recoverable. In cases involving egregious institutional conduct, Colorado courts may award punitive damages capped at the amount of actual damages, or up to three times actual damages if willful and wanton conduct continues during the lawsuit (C.R.S. 13-21-102(1)(a)). Each case is unique and we evaluate both the immediate and long-term consequences for your life, health, and ability to work.
No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We serve Westminster survivors from that office, file Westminster cases in Adams County District Court at 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, and meet clients wherever is convenient. You can reach us at (303) 209-9395 for a confidential, no-obligation case review. There is no cost to speak with us, and nothing you share becomes a public record at that stage.
Westminster
Sexual Assault Civil Law
Denver Sexual Assault
It's More Than Money.
Free, confidential consultation. No fee unless we win. Available across Colorado, in English and Spanish. Serving Westminster from 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205.
Prefer to read first? See how we protect your privacy and your control.
CGH Injury Lawyers · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205 · (303) 209-9395
