If you believe another party is legally liable for causing your injuries, you have the right to file a Colorado personal injury claim. However, filing a personal injury claim without the help of an attorney can lead to an unfavorable outcome.
A lawyer can help you file the claim quickly after an incident that caused you harm, as well as interview expert witnesses that can confirm the seriousness of your injuries.
How Do I File a Claim in Colorado?
During a free case evaluation, your personal injury attorney reviews every element of your case to determine whether you have a strong enough case to file a successful claim. Your lawyer pays special attention to three elements of a personal injury claim.
Duty Owed
Proving legal liability requires your attorney to establish that the defendant owed a duty of care to you. As an example, defining the duty of care is when a motorist refuses to obey a traffic law, and failing to obey the traffic law led to a car accident that caused your injuries.
Breach of Duty
Not only does your attorney have to prove duty owed, but your lawyer also has to demonstrate the defendant breached the duty owed to you. It is one thing to claim the defendant failed to obey a traffic law. It is quite another thing to prove the defendant failed to obey the traffic law.
Causation
Now that your attorney has proved the defendant breached his or her duty owed to you, the final step in filing a personal injury claim in Colorado is to link the breach with your injuries. Causation is the toughest element to establish for a Colorado personal injury claim.
After establishing the three important elements for a personal injury lawsuit, your attorney then conducts a thorough investigation that can include the discovery phase of a civil trial.
The discovery phase allows the attorneys representing both parties to have access to the same legal information. If your lawyer cannot settle with the defendant’s insurance company, then the last step of the process comes into play, which is the formal filing of a personal injury claim in Colorado.
What is the Statute of Limitations in Colorado?
You have a limited amount of time to receive Colorado personal injury help. State law gives plaintiffs two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you fail to file the proper documents before the end of two years, you can expect a court clerk to dismiss your claim.
Colorado law states the two-year statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim starts on the day when you received your injuries. A formal incident report, such as one filled out by a department store or a law enforcement agency, can show when the incident took place that caused you harm.
How Do I Prove Negligence in Colorado?
Colorado uses the comparative fault model to assign blame for an incident that caused a plaintiff one or more injuries. Comparative fault means both parties share at least some of the responsibility for causing an accident.
For example, a plaintiff seeks monetary damages from a defendant that struck her bicycle while she road in a bike-only lane. However, the plaintiff was listening to music at the time of the accident, which means she might have avoided getting hit if she had heard the vehicle approaching.
Proving the defendant negligent for at least some of the actions taken on the day of an incident requires the submission of convincing evidence. Medical records give the judge presiding over the case an accurate number for the total costs associated with diagnosing, treating, and rehabilitating your injuries.
Video footage, whether it comes from a Smartphone or a security camera, represents powerful evidence that can support your claim the defendant committed one or more acts of negligence.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Receive in Colorado?
At the heart of personal injury help in Colorado is receiving just compensation for the expenses associated with your injuries. Colorado law permits plaintiffs in personal injury cases to sue for medical expenses, lost wages, and property damages.
Plaintiffs can also seek non-economic damages for pain and suffering, which is not an easy number to calculate. Pain and suffering can include experiencing frequent nightmares and/or having difficulties concentrating at work.
Because of the difficult to quantify nature of pain and suffering, Colorado law limits the amount of money that plaintiffs can receive for non-economic damages. The limit is $250,000, but a judge can double the award if there is “clear and convincing” evidence the plaintiff deserves compensation for pain and suffering.
How Do I Get Personal Injury Help in Colorado?
Start on the road to getting personal injury help today by scheduling a free case evaluation with a personal injury attorney.
