A serious injury in Durango or anywhere in La Plata County upends everything at once: your health, your income, your family. CGH Injury Lawyers serves Durango from our Denver office, builds the claim to its full value, and tries the case in the District Court, La Plata County when an insurer will not be fair. No fee unless we win.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
Durango is a city of roughly 19,112 people in La Plata County, nestled in the San Juan Mountains at the confluence of US 550 and US 160, two of the most documented high-crash corridors in southwest Colorado. Purgatory Resort, Fort Lewis College, and the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad draw seasonal tourists and heavy traffic through a region where mountain roads leave little margin for error. When one of those risks turns into a serious injury, you do not have to face the insurance company alone. CGH Injury Lawyers manages the claim, the negotiation, and the trial, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Each page below covers the Colorado law, the La Plata County local facts, and the strategy for that specific kind of Durango injury claim. Start with the one that matches your case, or call us and we will point you to the right path.
Mountain Road Crashes
US 550 north of Durango, through Coal Bank Pass and Molas Pass toward Silverton, is one of the most crash-documented corridors in Colorado. US 160 east toward Wolf Creek Pass and west toward Farmington carries its own year-round volume. When a crash on any of these roads injures you, we pursue the at-fault driver and every available insurance policy.
See Durango car accident casesBig-Rig Crashes
Commercial trucks navigate the tight curves of US 550 and the steep grades of Farmington Hill south of Durango, documented by CDOT as a crash contributor before the US 550/US 160 Connection South interchange project. When a truck driver or carrier is responsible for your injuries, we go after federal trucking regulations, driver logs, maintenance records, and the full commercial insurance stack behind the vehicle.
See Durango truck accident casesFalls and Property
Durango averages heavy snowfall across the winter season, and icy conditions on the Animas River Trail, along Main Avenue, and around Fort Lewis College create real fall hazards. We prove the property owner's failure to keep the surface reasonably safe and build the claim around the full scope of your injuries.
See Durango slip and fall casesUnsafe Property
Falls are only one kind of premises case. Inadequate security, broken stairs, poor lighting, and dangerous conditions at Durango hotels, businesses, and rental properties all fall under Colorado's premises liability law.
See Durango premises casesCatastrophic Injury
A spinal cord injury changes a life and runs into lifetime medical costs. Colorado does not cap economic damages or damages for physical impairment. We build the claim around a detailed life-care plan that captures every future cost.
See Durango spinal cord casesTwo Wheels
The Million Dollar Highway draws riders from across the region. The same curves and drop-offs that make it scenic make it dangerous when another driver crosses the center line. We build motorcycle claims with the full-value approach.
See Durango motorcycle casesWhen a Life Is Lost
If a crash on US 550 or US 160, an unsafe property, or someone else's negligence took someone you love in La Plata County, we handle the claim with care and resolve. Colorado's wrongful death statute caps non-economic damages at $2.125 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-203), and the cap does not apply at all when the death resulted from a felonious killing. Economic damages are never capped. We pursue every category.
See Durango wrongful death casesNot Sure Which Fits?
Pedestrian and bicycle collisions, rideshare crashes, dog bites, brain injury, and more. If you were hurt in Durango or anywhere in La Plata County by someone else's carelessness, there is likely a path to recovery. Browse all of our Colorado practice areas, then call (303) 209-9395 for a straight answer about your case.
Browse all practice areasA La Plata County injury case lives here: the road where it happened, the hospital that treated you, and the courthouse where your case may be filed. Here is the ground we work on.
Courthouse
A Durango civil personal-injury lawsuit that exceeds the county-court jurisdictional limit is filed in the District Court, La Plata County, part of Colorado's 6th Judicial District, at 1060 East Second Ave, Suite 106, Durango, CO 81301. Local procedure, the jury pool drawn from La Plata County, and the defense firms active in the 6th District all differ from the Front Range. We handle La Plata County District Court cases directly from our Denver office and travel to Durango as the case demands.
Trauma Care
Serious injuries in La Plata County are typically treated at CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital (formerly Mercy Regional Medical Center) in Durango, designated as a Level III Trauma Center. As the regional trauma facility for southwest Colorado, Mercy Hospital is where the medical records that document the full scope of your injuries are created, and those records become the backbone of your damages claim. We know how to read and use them.
High-Crash Roads
US 550 runs through Durango as Camino del Rio and Main Avenue before climbing north as the Million Dollar Highway through Coal Bank Pass, Molas Pass, and Red Mountain Pass toward Silverton and Ouray. CDOT documented 53 crashes over a 15-mile stretch south of Ouray from 2020 to 2024, with 33 of those involving vehicles leaving the roadway. US 160 carries east-west traffic through Durango toward Wolf Creek Pass and Pagosa Springs to the east, and toward Farmington, New Mexico to the west. Colorado State Highway 172 intersects the US 160/550 corridor at south Durango. Main Avenue through downtown Durango has its own documented pedestrian crash history, prompting CDOT and the city to undertake pedestrian safety improvements including raised crosswalks at the Camino del Rio and College Avenue intersection.
Durango injury claims run on Colorado statutes, not local rules. A few of them quietly decide whether you recover at all and how much. Here are the ones that matter most.
Insurance adjusters know these rules better than most injured people do, and they use them. The 50-percent fault bar is why insurers work hard to pin blame on the victim after a mountain road crash in La Plata County. Having a lawyer who knows exactly how the comparative negligence rule and the damages caps apply to a Durango case is how you keep the full value of your claim on the table.
Durango's geography, mountain roads, and seasonal tourism create a specific set of dangers. Knowing where harm tends to happen helps us build the claim and find the responsible party.
The stretch of US 550 north of Durango through Coal Bank Pass, Molas Pass, and Red Mountain Pass toward Silverton and Ouray has no guardrails on large sections, lanes as narrow as 23 feet, and tight mountain curves with steep drop-offs. CDOT documented 53 crashes over a 15-mile section south of Ouray between 2020 and 2024, with 33 vehicles leaving the roadway. Winter closures, avalanche risk from the southern San Juan Mountains, and heavy tourist traffic from Purgatory Resort add to the hazard profile throughout the year.
US 160 carries east-west traffic through Durango to Wolf Creek Pass and Pagosa Springs, a corridor that CDOT has documented for scheduled winter closures due to heavy snowfall and avalanche risk. The highway also runs west from Durango toward Farmington, New Mexico. Where US 160 and US 550 converge at the south end of Durango near Farmington Hill, CDOT previously documented the grade as a crash contributor before the connection south interchange project.
Main Avenue through downtown Durango, which carries US 550 traffic as a through-route, has a documented history of fatal and serious pedestrian crashes on its north segment. CDOT and the city have undertaken pedestrian safety improvements, including raised crosswalks at the Camino del Rio and College Avenue intersection. Fort Lewis College sits on a mesa overlooking downtown, generating pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the Main Avenue corridor year-round.
Spring snowmelt from the San Juan Mountains pushes the Animas River to flood stage, documented by NOAA gauge station 09361500. The Animas River Trail runs through the city as a multi-use path, and flooding creates hazardous conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot draws significant foot and vehicle traffic to the downtown area throughout the tourist season.
Trial-ready attorneys, bilingual help, and no fee unless we win. We are honest about one thing up front: we do not keep a Durango office. We serve La Plata County from our Denver office and come to you. What you get is the work, not a storefront on Main Avenue.
Trial-Ready
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 case in La Plata County District Court, insurers respond differently to a demand. That is the difference between a trial firm and a settlement mill.
Honest About Location
Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 in Denver. We do not pretend to have a Durango address. We represent La Plata County clients, file in the District Court, La Plata County, and meet you where it works for you. The distance does not change our standard of preparation.
Full Value
We build the claim around every loss the law allows, including the uncapped economic and physical-impairment categories that drive serious-injury value in mountain road crashes.
Bilingual
Spanish-speaking staff and attorneys serve La Plata County's Spanish-speaking community throughout southwest Colorado.
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.
One Standard
Whether your case settles in a month or goes to a La Plata County jury, the same trial-ready team and the same standard of preparation apply. We do not run a settlement mill. We prepare every case as if it will be tried, and the insurer on the other side knows it.
Take care of your health first, protect the evidence, then call before you talk to the insurer. Here is the path we walk with you.
Serious injuries in La Plata County are often treated at CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital in Durango, the region's Level III Trauma Center. Injuries from mountain road crashes can involve spine, head, and internal damage that may not be fully apparent immediately. Get examined, follow through with all recommended care, and keep every record.
Photograph your injuries, the vehicles or property, the road conditions, any skid marks, and anything else relevant. On mountain roads in particular, the absence of guardrails, lane width, and road surface condition are evidence. Get the names and contact information of any witnesses before they leave.
If a public entity such as CDOT or the city of Durango may have contributed to your injury through a road defect or dangerous condition, a formal written notice of claim must be served within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). That deadline runs well before the general filing deadline, and missing it bars the claim against the government entirely.
The at-fault party's insurer may call quickly with questions or an early offer. Do not give a recorded statement or accept any settlement before speaking with us. Call (303) 209-9395.
We locate every available insurance policy, gather all medical records and crash reports, document the full injury and its future impact, and value the claim across every category the law allows, including the uncapped ones.
Most cases settle. When insurers refuse a fair offer, we file in the District Court, La Plata County and try your case. We are ready to do exactly that.
I wish I could leave more than 5 stars!
No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We serve La Plata County and Durango clients from that office, file cases in the District Court, La Plata County, 6th Judicial District, and travel to Durango as the case requires. You can reach us at (303) 209-9395.
It depends on the type of claim. Most car and motorcycle crash injury claims must be filed within three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Most other injury claims, including slip and fall and premises cases, carry a two-year deadline (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a)). Claims against a government entity, such as a claim that CDOT's road design contributed to a crash on US 550 or US 160, require a written notice of claim within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Because these deadlines run from different events, confirm yours with an attorney early.
A Durango civil personal-injury lawsuit that exceeds the county-court jurisdictional limit is filed in the District Court, La Plata County, 6th Judicial District, at 1060 East Second Ave, Suite 106, Durango, CO 81301. Most cases settle before any lawsuit is filed, but where a case would be filed affects the local rules, the jury pool, and the defense firms you face. We handle La Plata County District Court cases directly.
Economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs are never capped. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, with inflation adjustments beginning in 2028 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is not capped at all, which is why catastrophic cases from mountain road crashes often build their value from the uncapped categories.
Often, yes. Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111). If you are less than 50 percent at fault, you can recover, though your award is reduced by your share of the fault. If you are 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. This is why insurers argue hard to shift blame onto injured drivers after crashes on US 550 or US 160, and why having experienced counsel who can push back on that framing matters.
We handle the full range of La Plata County personal injury matters: car and motorcycle crashes on US 550 and US 160, truck accidents, slip and fall on icy roads and trails, premises liability, spinal cord and other catastrophic injuries, pedestrian and bicycle collisions, and wrongful death. Start with the Durango page that fits your case, browse all of our practice areas, or call (303) 209-9395 for a straight answer about which path applies to you.
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CGH Injury Lawyers · Serving Durango and La Plata County from 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205
