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I-25 North corridor through Northglenn, Colorado in Adams County. CGH Injury Lawyers represents DUI accident victims in Northglenn and Adams County from our Denver office.
Northglenn, Colorado

Northglenn DUI Accident Lawyers Who Pursue the Driver, the Bar, and Every Dollar You Are Owed

A drunk or drugged driver on I-25, 104th Avenue, or any Northglenn road can change your life in seconds. The criminal case that follows punishes the driver. Your civil claim is the separate process that puts money in your hands for medical bills, lost income, and everything you have been through. CGH Injury Lawyers serves Northglenn DUI accident victims from our Denver office, files in Adams County court when insurers refuse to be fair, and collects nothing unless we win for you.

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Serving Northglenn from our Denver Office CGH Injury Lawyers 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 Denver, CO 80205 (303) 209-9395 Se habla espanol
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  • Northglenn DUI accident cases are filed at the Adams County District Court, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in Colorado's 17th Judicial District. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Northglenn office. We file and try Adams County DUI injury cases directly from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201.
  • Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for injuries caused by a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A dram shop claim against a bar or restaurant that overserved the driver runs on a much shorter clock: the lawsuit must be filed within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). Do not wait for the criminal case to close before pursuing either claim.
  • Colorado follows modified comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111): you can recover as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Against an impaired driver on the I-25 North corridor or the 104th Avenue commercial strip, that argument rarely holds, but insurers use it anyway.

Northglenn sits directly on the I-25 North corridor, one of the busiest and most crash-intensive freeway segments in the Denver metro area. The 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue corridors carry dense daily traffic past commercial properties and shopping centers. When an impaired driver makes that concentrated risk a reality for you, the bills stack up fast and the insurer is already building its defense. CGH Injury Lawyers pursues the driver, the bar or restaurant that put them on the road, and your own UM and UIM coverage when no one else can pay. We serve Northglenn from our Denver office, and you owe nothing unless we recover for you.

The law that governs your case

Why a DUI driver in Northglenn is already presumed at fault: negligence per se

A crash on I-25 or 104th Avenue normally requires you to prove the other driver was careless. A DUI crash is different. Driving while impaired is a violation of a safety law written to protect the public, and that changes what you have to prove in your civil case.

Colorado follows the doctrine of negligence per se. When a person violates a safety statute designed to prevent the kind of harm that occurred, to a person the statute was meant to protect, that violation can itself establish negligence. Drunk and drugged driving laws exist precisely to keep impaired drivers from injuring others on roads like the I-25 North corridor and the 104th Avenue commercial strip through Northglenn. An impaired driver who causes a crash fits that doctrine exactly.

In practical terms, you usually do not have to argue about whether the driver did something wrong. The fact of impairment, once established through toxicology results and the DUI arrest record, does most of that work. The real fight in a Northglenn DUI injury case is almost always about the full value of your harm and which insurance policies are required to pay it, not about who caused the crash. That is where we focus.

Every source of recovery

Who can be held responsible beyond the drunk driver in a Northglenn DUI crash

The impaired driver is the obvious defendant. But in Northglenn, where bars and restaurants line the commercial corridors along 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue, the establishment that overserved the driver may share responsibility. And your own insurance may be the real source of recovery when the driver is uninsured or underinsured.

Dram shop liability: the bar or restaurant

  • Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) lets you sue a licensed vendor that willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron who then caused the harm.
  • The same statute covers serving anyone under 21. A private social host can also face liability under C.R.S. 44-3-801(4) for giving a minor alcohol or a place to drink.
  • A dram shop recovery is in addition to the driver's own liability, giving you a second source of compensation. The catch is the one-year filing deadline: the claim must be filed within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)), regardless of when the criminal case ends.
  • Bar video and point-of-sale receipts showing the driver's tab are typically overwritten within weeks. If a Northglenn or nearby venue may have overserved the driver, we need to act immediately to preserve that evidence.

Your own coverage: UM and UIM

  • If the drunk driver had no insurance, your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your damages directly.
  • If the driver was insured but their policy limits fall short of your losses, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap.
  • UM and UIM claims run on their own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. That deadline is separate from the deadline against the at-fault driver.
  • We check every policy that could respond, including coverage on other vehicles in your household that you may not realize applies to your claim.

Many Northglenn DUI victims wait for the criminal case to conclude before thinking about who else to pursue. By then, the one-year dram shop window has often quietly closed. We map every potential defendant and every deadline on day one so nothing is forfeited by waiting.

Two separate legal tracks

The criminal case against the drunk driver versus your civil claim in Adams County

After a DUI crash in Northglenn, two legal processes run on parallel tracks at the same time. They have different goals, different parties, and different outcomes. Knowing the difference is often the first thing our Northglenn clients need explained.

The criminal case

  • Brought by the State of Colorado through the Adams County District Attorney, not by you personally.
  • The goal is to punish the driver: jail time, fines, license revocation, and probation.
  • You are a witness and a victim in the criminal case, not a party who controls the outcome.
  • A conviction or guilty plea becomes powerful evidence in your civil claim, but it is not required for you to win your civil case.
  • The court may order criminal restitution, but restitution is limited and almost never covers your full losses.

Your civil claim

  • Brought by you against the driver, any overserving bar, and any other responsible party.
  • The goal is money: medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and the full range of harm the law recognizes.
  • You control the decisions about whether to settle or go to trial at the Adams County District Court in Brighton.
  • In the vast majority of cases, it is paid by insurance, which has the funds that criminal restitution almost never does.
  • Your civil claim can proceed and win even if the criminal case results in a reduced charge or acquittal.

The criminal case must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Your civil claim only has to prove fault by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. That is a meaningfully lower standard, and it is why some drivers who avoid a criminal conviction are still fully liable to you in the civil case. We do not wait for the Adams County District Attorney's office to finish before protecting your civil rights.

Where Northglenn DUI crashes happen

Northglenn roads where impaired driving produces the most serious injury claims

Impaired driving is dangerous anywhere, but certain Northglenn corridors create conditions where a drunk driver's reduced reaction time turns a manageable situation into a catastrophic one. Understanding where your crash happened shapes how we build the case.

  1. I-25 North Corridor: Freeway-Speed Crashes

    I-25 runs along Northglenn's eastern edge, carrying heavy commuter and freight traffic between Denver and the northern suburbs. The on-ramps and off-ramps at 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue are where merge conflicts, rear-end crashes at reduced speeds, and sideswipe collisions concentrate. An impaired driver on the freeway has compromised lane-tracking ability and nearly no useful reaction time before impact. High-severity freeway-speed crashes on this stretch frequently produce multiple trauma types, including head and spinal injuries, that require care at North Suburban Medical Center or transfer to a Denver trauma facility. When a road design or signage defect at an I-25 interchange contributed to the crash, the Colorado Department of Transportation may also bear responsibility, which triggers a 182-day written notice requirement under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)) running from the date of discovery of the injury.

  2. 104th Avenue Commercial Corridor

    104th Avenue is one of Northglenn's primary east-west arterials, lined with retail shopping centers, restaurants, and bars where commercial activity generates dense turning-movement traffic. Left-turn collisions, angle crashes at signalized intersections, and pedestrian strikes near high-foot-traffic zones are among the most common crash patterns on this corridor. An impaired driver executing a left turn across multiple lanes or failing to yield at a signalized intersection creates the kind of crash we document from physical evidence, surveillance footage from adjacent commercial properties, and the toxicology record from the DUI arrest. When a Northglenn bar or restaurant along 104th Avenue overserved the driver before the crash, the one-year dram shop deadline under C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II) is already running from the moment alcohol was last served.

  3. 120th Avenue: Speed-Transition Conflicts

    120th Avenue parallels 104th as the city's second principal east-west arterial and carries similar volumes of commercial and commuter traffic. Where 120th Avenue approaches the I-25 interchange, drivers face speed-differential transitions between arterial and freeway conditions. Sober drivers navigate those transitions with attention and care. Impaired drivers routinely do not. Rear-end crashes at reduced approach speeds and failure-to-yield collisions at interchange entry points are the fact patterns we see most often produce serious Adams County claims on this corridor.

  4. US-36 and Connecting Arterials

    US-36 runs near Northglenn's southwestern boundary, linking the city to Denver and Westminster. Drivers accessing US-36 from Northglenn surface streets must manage speed-differential transitions between local arterials and the highway. The commuter flow on US-36 during peak hours compresses following distances and elevates rear-end risk, particularly where local traffic merges in or exits. When an impaired driver enters US-36 from Northglenn, the resulting crash can involve the speed and severity typical of highway collisions, producing injuries that anchor the core of an Adams County DUI claim.

After a DUI crash in Northglenn

What to do after a drunk driving accident in Northglenn

The hours after a DUI crash in Northglenn determine how strong your case can be. Evidence that proves the driver's impairment and documents your injuries must be captured before it disappears. These steps protect your health and your claim at the same time.

  1. Call 911 and make sure impairment is documented

    A Northglenn Police Department or Adams County Sheriff report that documents the driver's impairment, including field sobriety tests, a BAC result, and an arrest, becomes the foundation of both the criminal case and your civil claim. On I-25 or a commercial corridor like 104th Avenue, move your vehicle off the travel lanes if it is safe before the next vehicle reaches the scene.

  2. Get evaluated at North Suburban Medical Center

    North Suburban Medical Center is the closest acute-care facility to Northglenn and handles a high volume of crash and trauma cases from the I-25 North corridor. The shock and adrenaline that follow a violent crash can mask serious injuries for hours. Traumatic brain injury, internal bleeding, and spinal damage often produce no obvious symptoms at the scene. Getting evaluated immediately creates a medical record that connects your injuries to the crash at the exact time they occurred, which is the foundation of your damages claim. When injuries are severe enough to require additional surgical or trauma capacity, SCL Health Good Samaritan Medical Center serves as an additional resource for Adams County patients.

  3. Document impairment evidence at the scene

    If it is safe, note any open containers, the smell of alcohol, the driver's speech and balance, and the name of any bar or restaurant the driver came from. Photograph the vehicles, road conditions, traffic signals, skid marks, and your injuries. Identify witnesses and collect their contact information before they leave. Get the report number from the responding officer so you can obtain the full report promptly.

  4. Act on the dram shop deadline immediately

    If you know or suspect the driver was drinking at a Northglenn bar or restaurant before the crash, the one-year dram shop clock under C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II) is already running. Surveillance video at venues along 104th Avenue or 120th Avenue is typically overwritten within 30 to 90 days. Point-of-sale receipts may be retained longer but require a formal legal preservation request to be saved. We send those requests within days of taking a case.

  5. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer

    The at-fault driver's insurer is not on your side. Neither is your own insurer with a UM or UIM claim. Do not agree to a recorded statement or sign any release before an attorney has reviewed your case. On high-volume corridors like I-25 and 104th Avenue, adjusters move quickly to lock in a version of events that reduces the payout.

  6. Call CGH Injury Lawyers for a free case review

    The three-year filing deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n) gives you time to recover before filing suit, but the dram shop clock and the evidence preservation window do not wait. A free consultation costs you nothing and starts the process of protecting every claim you have. Call (303) 209-9395 from anywhere in Northglenn or Adams County.

Compensation

What you can recover after a DUI crash in Northglenn

Colorado law recognizes two broad categories of damages after any serious crash, and DUI conduct opens the door to a third category that ordinary crash cases rarely reach. Understanding how each category works in your Adams County claim shapes what your case is actually worth.

Economic damages (no cap)

  • Emergency treatment, surgery, and hospitalization at North Suburban Medical Center or a Denver Level I trauma facility if injuries required transfer
  • Future medical and rehabilitation costs, including physical therapy, neurological care, and assistive devices
  • Lost wages for time missed from work during recovery
  • Reduced future earning capacity when a crash injury permanently limits your ability to work
  • Property damage to your vehicle and other personal property
  • In a fatal DUI crash, funeral expenses and the surviving family's financial losses

Non-economic and other damages

  • Pain and suffering from the crash and the recovery process
  • Emotional distress and PTSD, which are common after violent DUI crashes on high-speed corridors like I-25
  • Loss of enjoyment of life when your injuries prevent activities you valued before the crash
  • Permanent scarring, disfigurement, and physical impairment. Colorado places no cap on compensation for these categories, which often makes them the heart of a high-value DUI injury recovery in Adams County.

Punitive damages for DUI conduct, and how the caps apply

  • Drunk driving is the kind of willful and wanton conduct that can support punitive, or exemplary, damages on top of your compensatory recovery. Punitive damages in Colorado generally cannot exceed the amount of actual damages awarded (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and they require proof of willful and wanton conduct. We evaluate whether the facts of your Northglenn case support a punitive claim and pursue it where the evidence allows.
  • For compensatory non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, Colorado caps recovery at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages are never capped. Compensation for physical impairment or disfigurement is also not capped, which is why catastrophic DUI injury cases in Adams County often build their core value in those uncapped categories.
Fault and the insurer playbook

What happens if the insurer says you were partly at fault for the Northglenn DUI crash?

Even when their driver was drunk, insurers look for ways to reduce what they owe you. The most common tool is comparative fault. Knowing how that rule actually works under Colorado law is how we keep your claim at full value.

Colorado follows modified comparative fault under C.R.S. 13-21-111. You can recover damages even if you were partly at fault for the crash, 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. If you are found 25 percent at fault and the jury awards $500,000, you collect $375,000, which is the award reduced by your 25 percent share. Against an impaired driver on I-25 or the 104th Avenue commercial corridor, the argument that you bear significant fault rarely survives crash reconstruction and DUI evidence, but insurers raise it routinely because it costs them nothing to try.

  1. "You were speeding on I-25"

    We use the toxicology report, the crash reconstruction, and the DUI arrest record to establish that the impaired driver's conduct was the primary cause of the collision. A DUI driver's reduced reaction time and compromised lane-tracking are physical facts that outlast a speed allegation against the victim when the evidence is properly assembled and presented.

  2. "You were making a left turn on 104th Avenue"

    The 104th Avenue commercial corridor has signalized intersections with camera coverage at many high-traffic nodes. We obtain that footage promptly before it is overwritten, and we use the physical evidence and intersection data to reconstruct what actually happened in the moments before impact. An impaired driver running a signal or exceeding safe approach speed cannot reframe that as the turning driver's fault when the evidence is properly secured.

  3. "Your injuries were pre-existing"

    We build a complete medical record from the North Suburban Medical Center emergency visit forward, documenting the specific new injuries and the aggravation of any prior conditions, to make clear what the DUI crash actually caused and what its full value is in your Adams County claim.

Local knowledge

Northglenn courts. Northglenn trauma care. Northglenn DUI crash corridors.

A Northglenn DUI injury case lives in Northglenn: the road where the crash happened, the hospital that treated you, and the courthouse where the lawsuit would be filed. Here is the ground we work on for every Adams County DUI client.

Courthouse

Adams County District Court, Brighton (17th Judicial District)

Northglenn DUI injury lawsuits above the county-court jurisdictional limit are filed at the Adams County District Court, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in Colorado's 17th Judicial District. The 17th Judicial District covers both Adams County and Broomfield County. Adams County is one of the more densely populated jurisdictions along the I-25 North corridor, and the court handles a substantial volume of motor-vehicle injury litigation reflecting that density. Local procedure, the Adams County jury pool, and the defense firms that insurers retain in this district differ from neighboring Jefferson or Arapahoe counties. CGH Injury Lawyers files and tries 17th Judicial District DUI injury cases directly from our Denver office, with no added cost to Northglenn clients.

Trauma Care

North Suburban Medical Center and SCL Health Good Samaritan Medical Center

North Suburban Medical Center is the closest acute-care facility to Northglenn and serves the immediate Northglenn and Thornton area, handling a high volume of crash and trauma cases from the I-25 North corridor. When injuries require additional surgical or trauma capacity, SCL Health Good Samaritan Medical Center provides a second acute-care resource for Adams County patients. After a DUI crash in Northglenn, treatment at either facility produces the medical records that form the foundation of your damages claim. We work with hospital records and billing documentation from both facilities in Adams County DUI injury cases from the first day, building the complete picture of your injury, treatment costs, and projected future care needs that serious cases require.

High-Risk DUI Corridors

I-25, 104th Avenue, 120th Avenue, and US-36

Northglenn borders the I-25 North corridor, a high-volume freeway that carries commuter and freight traffic between Denver and the northern suburbs and is one of the most crash-intensive segments in the metro area. The interchanges at 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue are where merge conflicts, rear-end crashes at reduced speeds, and sideswipe collisions concentrate. The 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue corridors are Northglenn's principal east-west arterials, lined with commercial properties, shopping centers, and bars where dram shop exposure begins for impaired drivers who then enter the roadway. US-36 runs near the city's southwestern boundary, adding a second high-speed connector to Denver and Westminster. Together these four corridors account for the majority of Northglenn motor-vehicle injury exposure and generate the Adams County DUI claims we handle most often.

Your team

The Northglenn DUI accident team behind your 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 Northglenn DUI accident case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney who files and tries cases in the 17th Judicial District, not by a paralegal.

ABOTA member on the team Tim Tarr: Best Lawyers in America since 2023 Over 25 cases to verdict 17th Judicial District experience Bilingual EN / ES Free consultation No fee unless we win

One thing we will tell you upfront: CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Northglenn office. We serve Northglenn DUI accident clients from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We come to you for meetings when needed, we file at the Adams County District Court in Brighton, and we try cases in the 17th Judicial District. What you get is the work and the result, not a storefront on 104th Avenue.

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Frequently asked questions

Northglenn DUI accident: frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file a DUI injury claim after a crash in Northglenn?

The deadline depends on who you are pursuing. The claim against the at-fault driver must be filed within three years of the crash date under Colorado's motor vehicle statute (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A dram shop claim against any Northglenn bar or restaurant that overserved the driver runs on a much shorter clock: you must file within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). A UM or UIM claim under your own policy runs on its own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5. Because these clocks start from different events and can run at the same time, the safest step is to have an attorney confirm every deadline that applies to your case as early as possible.

Can I sue the bar or restaurant that served the drunk driver in Northglenn?

Often, yes. Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) lets you sue a licensed vendor that willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron, or served anyone under 21, who then caused a crash. Northglenn's commercial corridors along 104th Avenue and 120th Avenue include bars, restaurants, and retail establishments where overservice claims arise. A dram shop recovery is in addition to what you can recover from the driver, giving you a second source of compensation. The catch is the strict one-year filing deadline (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)), which is why these claims must be investigated right away while bar surveillance video and receipts still exist.

Should I wait for the criminal case to finish before starting my civil DUI claim?

No. The criminal case and your civil claim are separate legal tracks that run at the same time. Waiting for the criminal case to close is one of the most expensive mistakes a DUI victim can make because the one-year dram shop deadline can expire while you wait. Surveillance footage from Northglenn venues along 104th and 120th avenues disappears within weeks. We start protecting your civil rights immediately while the Adams County District Attorney handles the criminal prosecution on its own schedule. Any conviction or guilty plea from the criminal case can later strengthen your civil claim.

What if the drunk driver who hit me in Northglenn had no insurance?

This situation is common, and it is where your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage becomes the real source of recovery. If you carry UM coverage, your insurer steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your damages. If the driver had some insurance but not enough to cover your losses, underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap. Both claims run on their own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. We also check every available policy, including coverage on other vehicles in your household, to make sure no available source of recovery is left behind.

Can I recover punitive damages against the drunk driver who hit me on I-25 or 104th Avenue?

Sometimes. Drunk driving is the kind of willful and wanton conduct that can support punitive damages on top of your compensatory recovery. Under Colorado law, punitive damages generally cannot exceed the amount of actual compensatory damages awarded (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and they require proof of willful and wanton conduct. We evaluate whether the facts of your specific Northglenn case support a punitive claim and pursue it where the evidence is strong enough to meet that standard.

Does Colorado cap what I can recover after a DUI crash in Northglenn?

Economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs are never capped under Colorado law. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Compensation for permanent physical impairment or disfigurement is not capped at all, which is why serious DUI injury cases in Adams County often build their core value in those uncapped categories. Punitive damages, if the evidence supports them, are separately governed by C.R.S. 13-21-102 and generally may not exceed your compensatory damages.

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Related Northglenn pages and Colorado DUI practice areas

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It's More Than Money.

A drunk driver hurt you in Northglenn. We handle everything else.

Free consultation. No fee unless we win. The dram shop clock is already running. Serving Northglenn and all of Adams County from our Denver office. Available in English and Spanish.

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Read next: Colorado DUI accident law: what you need to know statewide

CGH Injury Lawyers · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205 · Serving Northglenn and Adams County