IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Colorado Brain Injury Lawyers
We represent people and families across Colorado after a traumatic brain injury, from a concussion an insurer calls minor to a severe TBI that needs lifetime care. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
No fee unless we winA traumatic brain injury happens when an outside force disrupts how the brain works. The diagnosis on your chart is the starting point of your legal case, not the ceiling on what you can recover.
- Doctors grade a TBI on the Glasgow Coma Scale: mild (GCS 13 to 15, often called a concussion), moderate (GCS 9 to 12), and severe (GCS 3 to 8). A mild label does not mean a minor injury.
- Colorado caps non-economic damages, but economic losses like medical bills, lost income, and a life-care plan have no cap and often make up the bulk of a serious TBI claim.
- Symptoms can surface or worsen weeks after the accident, and Colorado has filing deadlines (C.R.S. 13-80-101). Talking to an attorney early protects your claim before evidence fades.
CGH Injury Lawyers represents brain injury victims and their families across every county in Colorado. Our team handles the medical proof, the insurance fight, and trial when an insurer refuses to value the injury fairly, with no upfront fees and a free first consultation.
Why these cases are different
Why brain injury claims are harder than other injury cases
A broken bone shows up on an X-ray. A brain injury often does not. That gap is exactly where insurance companies attack, arguing that if a scan looks normal, the injury is not real. The truth is that many brain injuries are functional, not structural, and proving them takes a different kind of evidence.
The negative-scan problem
Standard CT and MRI scans detect bleeding and fractures. They often miss the microscopic axonal tears that cause lasting symptoms after a mild TBI. Adjusters use a clean scan to argue your injury does not exist, even when your daily life says otherwise. We counter that with advanced imaging, neuropsychological testing, and the testimony of people who knew you before the injury.
- Insurers often label a brain injury minor to justify a small offer, even when symptoms are anything but minor.
- Cognitive symptoms, headaches, memory problems, and mood changes are real harms a jury can understand once the case is built correctly.
- Brain injuries rarely happen in isolation, so the right legal pathway depends on how your injury occurred.
TBI classifications
How Colorado doctors grade a traumatic brain injury
Medical teams classify a TBI using the Glasgow Coma Scale, a 15-point assessment of eye, verbal, and motor response usually recorded within hours of the injury. That score becomes a key piece of evidence in your claim, but it describes the first day, not the rest of your life.
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Mild TBI (GCS 13 to 15)
Often called a concussion. It involves brief loss of consciousness, under 30 minutes, or confusion right after impact. Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, memory problems, and sensitivity to light and noise. Mild on paper, these injuries can cause post-concussion syndrome that lasts months or years.
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Moderate TBI (GCS 9 to 12)
Loss of consciousness lasting 30 minutes to 24 hours, often with abnormalities visible on a CT or MRI scan. Victims commonly face cognitive deficits, personality changes, and physical impairments that require months of rehabilitation, hospital stays, and therapy.
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Severe TBI (GCS 3 to 8)
Extended unconsciousness or coma, often with a skull fracture or brain bleeding. Survivors can face permanent disability affecting movement, speech, memory, and executive function. These cases require life-care plans that project decades of medical needs, adaptive equipment, and lost earning capacity.
Your medical classification is the starting point, not the endpoint. A mild TBI that stops a software engineer from concentrating can warrant more compensation than a moderate TBI in someone who makes a full recovery. What matters is how the injury changes your ability to work and live.
The mild label
Why a mild concussion can still be a serious case
Mild traumatic brain injury is one of the most misleading phrases in medicine. It describes the GCS score, not the fallout. Insurance companies use the word to argue for a small settlement, sometimes offering a few thousand dollars for an injury that affects you for years.
Post-concussion syndrome
Post-concussion syndrome affects an estimated 15 to 30 percent of people with a mild TBI. Symptoms can persist for months or years, including chronic headaches, vertigo, mental fog, emotional volatility, and sleep problems. For people whose careers depend on mental sharpness, such as accountants, teachers, programmers, and healthcare workers, that can end the ability to do essential parts of the job.
Loss of earning capacity
Even if you go back to work after a concussion, you may be owed compensation for diminished earning capacity. If the injury blocks a promotion, forces reduced hours, or pushes you into less demanding work, vocational experts can calculate the lifetime financial impact, an amount that often dwarfs an insurer's first offer.
Lifetime care
Securing lifetime care after a moderate or severe TBI
Moderate and severe brain injuries change the course of a life. These cases require a legal strategy that accounts for decades of medical needs, lost independence, and the impact on the whole family. The foundation of that strategy is the life-care plan.
What a life-care plan covers
A life-care plan is a detailed document, prepared by a certified life-care planner or rehabilitation specialist, that projects every medical expense the victim will face from settlement through their life expectancy. It typically includes:
- Ongoing physician care, including neurology, physiatry, and psychiatry.
- Rehabilitation therapies: physical, occupational, speech, and cognitive.
- Prescription medications and medical supplies.
- Durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, communication devices, and home modifications.
- Attendant care or nursing services, including around-the-clock supervision in severe cases.
- Case management and care coordination.
Colorado's proximity to Craig Hospital in Englewood, one of the nation's top-ranked rehabilitation centers for brain and spinal cord injuries, gives a local benchmark for appropriate care. Life-care plans often reference Craig Hospital protocols to show that projected costs are medically necessary, not excessive.
Economic damages (no cap)
- Medical bills, past and future
- Lost wages and lost income
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Life-care plan and long-term care costs
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- Home modifications and equipment
Non-economic and family damages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent impairment and disfigurement
- Loss of consortium for a spouse
- The family's loss of companionship and support
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Colorado law
Colorado laws that shape your brain injury case
A few Colorado rules decide how much time you have, how fault affects your award, and which damages have limits. Here is what matters most for a TBI claim.
Filing deadline (C.R.S. 13-80-101)
Colorado generally gives you a limited window to file a personal injury lawsuit, and motor vehicle cases can have a longer deadline than other injury claims. Because brain injury symptoms can emerge or worsen months later, do not wait. Talk to an attorney within months of the accident, even while you are still treating, to protect your options.
Comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111)
Colorado follows modified comparative negligence. You can recover even if you were partly at fault, as long as your share is not 50 percent or more, and your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers push fault onto the injured person to cut payouts, which is why accident reconstruction and early evidence matter.
Damage caps and insurance
- Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering: $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5, with inflation adjustments starting in 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, life-care plans) and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement, which together usually make up the bulk of a severe TBI recovery.
- Minimum auto insurance is often far too low for a brain injury, where bills can run into six figures. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage lets you tap your own policy when the at-fault driver lacks enough insurance.
- If the at-fault party acted with willful and wanton disregard, such as a drunk driver, you may also pursue punitive damages.
Building your case
Evidence that proves an invisible brain injury
Insurers defend these claims hard, arguing symptoms are exaggerated, pre-existing, or unrelated to the accident. A winning TBI case is built in layers, combining objective testing with the human story of how your life changed.
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Neuropsychological testing
A multi-hour assessment that measures memory, attention, processing speed, executive function, and emotional regulation against age-matched norms. It produces objective data that answers the insurer's claim that you seem fine.
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Advanced imaging
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) maps white-matter tracts and reveals the microscopic tears standard scans miss. Functional MRI shows the brain working harder to perform tasks that used to be automatic. Both can prove injury when a routine MRI looks normal.
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Vocational expert testimony
A vocational rehabilitation expert reviews your work history and post-injury capabilities to show which jobs you can still do and at what wage, translating medical limits into real economic loss.
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Before-and-after and day-in-the-life proof
Coworkers, family, and friends who knew you before the injury testify to the change. Day-in-the-life documentation of daily struggles humanizes the medical records and helps a jury feel the full impact.
How it works
How we handle a Colorado brain injury case
We prepare every case as if it will be tried. Most resolve before a courtroom, but trial readiness is what makes an insurer pay full value.
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Free case evaluation
We review the facts, explain your rights, and answer your questions at no cost and no obligation.
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Build the medical proof
We coordinate neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and treating-physician records to document the injury that scans can miss.
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Project the full cost
We work with life-care planners and vocational economists to value lifetime care and lost earning capacity, not just today's bills.
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Demand and negotiate
We send a documented demand to the insurer and negotiate from a position of trial readiness, not from a willingness to take the first offer.
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Trial when needed
If an insurer refuses to be fair, our trial lawyers are prepared to present your case to a Colorado jury.
Settling before you reach maximum medical improvement, the point where your condition stabilizes, often leaves money on the table because future complications have not yet appeared. We tell you honestly where your case stands at every stage.
Your team
The team handling your case
CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado firm founded in 2016, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & 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 brain injury case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about Colorado brain injury claims
How long does a brain injury settlement take in Colorado?
TBI claims typically take 12 to 24 months from the date of the accident, and severe cases that need a life-care plan can run three years or more. The timeline depends on reaching maximum medical improvement, the point where your condition stabilizes and doctors can predict the long-term prognosis. Settling before that point risks undervaluing the claim. An experienced attorney can file suit while continuing settlement talks.
Do I need a lawyer for a concussion?
Even a mild concussion is worth a legal consultation if symptoms last beyond a few weeks or affect your ability to work. Insurers routinely undervalue concussion claims. An attorney can determine whether your case needs neuropsychological testing, vocational assessment, or advanced imaging to prove the full extent of your damages, steps you likely would not know to request on your own.
Can I have a brain injury if my MRI is normal?
Yes. Standard MRI and CT scans often miss the microscopic axonal injuries that cause persistent symptoms in mild TBI cases. Colorado courts recognize that the absence of visible structural damage does not mean the absence of injury. Your case may require advanced imaging such as DTI, neuropsychological testing, and expert testimony to prove functional impairment despite normal initial scans.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident that caused my brain injury?
Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can recover as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent, and your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers aggressively investigate your conduct to inflate that percentage. For example, they may argue a cyclist was not wearing a helmet or a pedestrian was not in a crosswalk. Early legal representation preserves the evidence that counters those arguments.
Does Colorado cap damages in a brain injury case?
Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering: $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5, with inflation adjustments starting in 2028. Two categories are not capped at all: economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, life-care plans) and compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement, which together usually make up the bulk of a severe TBI recovery.
What is the Glasgow Coma Scale and why does it matter to my claim?
The Glasgow Coma Scale is a 15-point assessment of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, usually recorded soon after the injury. It classifies a TBI as mild (13 to 15), moderate (9 to 12), or severe (3 to 8). Adjusters use the score to estimate claim value, often arguing a mild score means a small case. Colorado law recognizes that even a mild TBI can cause severe, permanent impairment when cognitive symptoms keep you from your previous work or quality of life.
What is post-concussion syndrome?
Post-concussion syndrome is a set of symptoms that linger for months or years after a mild TBI, affecting an estimated 15 to 30 percent of people who sustain one. Symptoms include chronic headaches, dizziness, mental fog, emotional volatility, and sleep problems. For people whose work depends on concentration and memory, post-concussion syndrome can prevent them from performing essential job functions, which supports a claim for lost earning capacity.
Related injury cases
Related cases we handle across Colorado
Brain injuries rarely happen in isolation. The right legal pathway depends on how your injury occurred and what other harm it caused.
Severe injury
How the injury happened
Vulnerable victims
When the injury is fatal
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