Lafayette Personal Injury Lawyers Who Document Catastrophic Injuries From Day One

For a catastrophic injury, the trauma admission is the first chapter of the medical record. Imaging, surgical notes, and early assessments often become the foundation for everything that follows.

That record supports both kinds of damages. Economic losses, such as future surgery and lost earning capacity, are not capped by C.R.S. 13-21-102.5, and subsection (5) preserves compensation for physical impairment and disfigurement.

Gaps are what insurers look for. Missed appointments or a long break in treatment can be used to argue the injury resolved, so consistent follow-up care protects the claim as well as the patient.

Our Lafayette catastrophic injury page covers the most serious cases.

• Motor vehicle collisions, including pedestrian and bicycle crashes involving a vehicle, generally carry a three-year deadline (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)).
• Premises injuries such as falls, collapses, and inadequate security run under the Premises Liability Act, C.R.S. 13-21-115.
• Serious dog bites can support a claim for economic damages against the owner without proof that the dog was known to be dangerous, C.R.S. 13-21-124(2).
• Product defects follow a two-year limit in C.R.S. 13-80-106(1).
• Deaths caused by negligence are brought as wrongful death actions, with a two-year deadline in C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(d).
• Claims against health care providers carry their own damages limits under C.R.S. 13-64-302.

More on each type of claim is on our Colorado personal injury page.

The non-economic cap in C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(3)(a)(II) is $1.5 million. It reaches any claim accruing on or after January 1, 2025, and any action filed between January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026. It rises with inflation from 2028, and the court, not the jury, applies it.

Medical bills and lost income are not limited by that section. Neither is compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement, which subsection (5) protects.

Three kinds of claims run on other limits: wrongful death, capped for non-economic loss at $2,125,000 under C.R.S. 13-21-203(1)(a) for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025; medical negligence, under C.R.S. 13-64-302; and claims against public entities, where C.R.S. 24-10-114 caps the total recovery.

Exemplary damages require fraud, malice, or willful and wanton conduct under C.R.S. 13-21-102(1)(a), and generally may not exceed the actual damages awarded. The claim can be added only after initial disclosures and a prima facie showing, under subsection (1.5)(a).

The blog post on settlement value explains how insurers approach these numbers.

• Three years for tort claims arising from the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)).
• Two years for most other torts (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a)) and for strict liability claims (subsection (1)(b)).
• Two years for wrongful death (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(d)), or four years in the narrow case of a vehicular homicide where the driver left the scene (subsection (2)).
• 182 days to file a written notice of claim against a public entity or public employee (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)).

Under C.R.S. 13-80-108(1), a claim for injury accrues when both the injury and its cause are known or should have been known with reasonable diligence. For wrongful death, it is the date of death.

C.R.S. 13-81-103 covers persons under disability, such as minors, and generally runs the ordinary period where a legal representative is in place. Get the specific date confirmed rather than assumed.

Wrongful death claims are covered on our Lafayette wrongful death lawyer page.

• What is my claim likely to turn on? Usually fault, the medical record, or insurance limits. Ask which one matters most in your case.
• How do you charge? Contingency fee, no attorney fee unless there is a recovery, with costs explained in writing before you sign.
• Who handles the day-to-day work? Attorneys make the legal decisions; paralegals chase records and keep the file moving.
• Will you go to court? Many claims settle, and a firm ready to try a case gives an insurer a reason to take the claim seriously.
• How do I reach you? By phone or through the website, in English or Spanish.
• Should I talk to the other driver's insurer? Not about fault or your injuries until you have advice. We explain why below.

The how we handle your case page walks through each stage in more detail.

That line controls one important remedy. Under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1), a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied may recover two times the covered benefit plus fees and costs. C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(b) says a liability claimant is not a first-party claimant.

An adjuster's early call is part of the insurer's investigation. Statements made then can be quoted later, which is why it helps to have advice first.

For UM and UIM questions, read car accidents with uninsured drivers in Colorado.

You can also begin with our free online case review.