How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Colorado? Most personal injury lawsuits in Colorado must be filed within 2 years of the injury under C.R.S. § 13-80-102. Car, truck, and motorcycle accident cases get 3 years under C.R.S. § 13-80-101. Miss the deadline and the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, no matter how strong it is.
If you have been involved in a crash on I-25 or injured while on someone’s property in Douglas County, the legal process can seem like a black box. Most people have never sued anyone. While most people think of a personal injury case as starting with the trial itself, the process for a Colorado personal injury lawsuit is a series of formal procedural steps, most of which take place before there is ever a jury.
You will be taken step by step through the insurance claim and the rare trial, if the case goes that far, making plain what happens when, and what each stage means for you.
Before You File: Treatment and the Insurance Claim
A lawsuit is almost never the first step. Most injury cases in Colorado start with an insurance claim and the success of that claim is generally built within the first few weeks after the injury.
Your health and your case file are both important. The single biggest reason insurers discount a claim is a gap in treatment. At Tactical Lawyers we call this the treatment-first approach: we help to coordinate care with the right providers immediately, and then we build the legal claim based on the documented injuries.
While you are treating, your attorney gathers the information that will drive the entire case (police reports, photographs, witness statements, medical records, and wage-loss documentation). When your medical situation stabilizes, your attorney sends a demand package to the insurance company, a letter explaining liability and damages and attaching the aforementioned evidence.
If the insurance company offers fair compensation, the case is over, but most don’t do this. If negotiations are stalled, the deadline is approaching, or the other side is disputing fault, a lawsuit may be filed.
Step 1: Filing the Complaint
Your lawsuit starts when your attorney files a complaint, which is a document that states the name of the defendant, the facts of the case and the relief sought.
Where you file matters:
- County court claims can be up to $25,000.
- District court has jurisdiction over most cases of serious injury or larger claims.
- Generally, venue is laid where the defendant lives or where a crash or injury happened. A collision outside of Castle Rock, for example, would be Douglas County District Court; one downtown would be Denver District Court.
Your attorney pays the filing fee and obtains a case number. At that point, the case is subject to court procedures and timelines.
Step 2: Serve the Defendant
The defendant’s constitutional right to awareness of being sued requires the service of process, which involves delivering the complaint and summons of the civil suit, usually done by a process server.
In Colorado, service of process cannot occur more than 63 days after filing. If the defendant is difficult to locate, service can be delayed. Experienced firms may have investigators and skip tracing available to speed service.
Been in a wreck? The clock is already running.
Evidence disappears fast and insurers move faster. Talk to a Colorado injury attorney today. Same-day response, free consultation.
Step 3: The Answer and Case Management
Once served, the defendant has 21 days to respond to the complaint. This is almost always done in the form of an answer, in which the defendant admits, denies, or lacks knowledge of each allegation. Expect denials. This is normal, and it tells you nothing of your eventual outcome.
Once a case is “at issue” (meaning, a complaint has been filed and an answer has been received), the Colorado civil rules require the parties to meet and submit a proposed case management order (CMO) within 42 days. This proposed CMO sets out a schedule for the entire case, including discovery deadlines, expert disclosure deadlines, and often trial date.
At this point, the insurance defense lawyers are coming in, and from this point on, it’s all attorney to attorney communication, which is what you want. Your job is recovery; your lawyer handles the procedural machinery.
Step 4: Discovery
Discovery is usually the longest phase of a Colorado personal injury case, taking at least 6 to 9 months, and usually longer. Discovery is the formal exchange of information which usually consists of:
- Written discovery. Interrogatories (written questions answered under oath), requests for documents, and requests for admission.
- Depositions. Recorded, under-oath interviews. You will be deposed, along with the defendant, key witnesses in the case, and often your treating doctors.
- Expert disclosures. Accident reconstructionists, physician, economist, and vocational experts testify about liability and damages.
- Independent medical examinations. The defense attorney may ask their doctor to examine you.
Discovery sounds intrusive, and it can be. It is also where strong cases grow stronger. Once you’ve documented treatment, given consistent testimony and have some evidence organized, the settlement value goes up with every file you send back and forth.
Step 5: Mediation and Settlement
Most judges in Colorado expect parties to attempt mediation before trial, and often order it. Mediation is a structured negotiation in the presence of a neutral third party, which usually is a retired judge or a senior lawyer.
It will be scheduled after all sides have exchanged enough discovery that they can cleverly assess the risks they face. By then, the insurer has seen your evidence, deposed you, and priced the risk of a jury trial.
Most personal injury cases are settled, often at or shortly after mediation, or at the courthouse steps within days before a scheduled trial. Settlements are entered into voluntarily. If your attorney presents you with an offer, it is always your decision whether to accept or not.
Step 6: Trial
If a settlement is not reached, the case proceeds to trial; a civil jury generally consists of six members in the district court. The normal trial order is jury selection, opening statements, presentation of the plaintiff’s evidence, presentation of the defense’s evidence, closing arguments, deliberation, and verdict.
Personal injury trials typically last from a length of two days to two weeks. The jury decides two questions: who was at fault and to what degree, and what the injury is worth. Although both sides may appeal, neither side usually does so as a matter of course.
What If You Were Partly at Fault?
Colorado’s law on comparative negligence is based on the following:
“Contributory negligence shall not bar recovery in any action by any person or his legal representative to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or injury to person or property, if such negligence was not as great as the negligence of the person against whom recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person for whose injury, damage, or death recovery is made.” (C.R.S. § 13-21-111(1))
In plain English, you can still recover if you were less than 50 percent at fault, but your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
E.g. You get a $100,000 jury verdict, but the jury finds you 20 percent at fault for tailgating on an icy section of I-25 and reduces your payment to $80,000. If the jury finds that you were at least 50 percent at fault, you get nothing.
And the insurers know it. The adjuster will be looking for any possible way to make you at least partially at fault: your speed, inattentiveness, what position you’re in, what shoes you’re wearing if you fell. One of the most valuable things an injury lawyer can do is rebut these comparative-fault arguments with evidence.
What Damages Can You Recover in a Colorado Injury Lawsuit?
The three categories of damages are important because they explain most of what happens in negotiation.
Economic damages include medical bills incurred and to date, future medical costs, lost wages, lost ability to earn income, and other expenses including mileage to medical appointments. Economic damages are not capped in Colorado. For example, if a spinal injury costs $400,000 in lifetime care, that amount can be claimed.
Noneconomic damages (compensatory damages for pain, suffering, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life) are real losses and are frequently the largest of the claims at stake in a lawsuit. Colorado has caps on noneconomic damages. House Bill 24-1472 increased this cap from $250,000 (a figure that had gone essentially unchanged for decades) to $1.5 million for civil actions filed on or after January 1, 2025. The cap will be adjusted for inflation every two years starting in 2028. Note that older coverage of the cases that included the cap may show the old cap, as the cap is based on the date of filing, not date of accident.
Damages for physical impairment and disfigurement are not subject to the cap under Colorado law. For clients with permanent injuries, they may exceed all other damages combined, so medical documentation would be essential for these damages.
For an experienced attorney, all three figures are provisional until the demand letter is sent and discovery yields more information. Insurers will always anchor at the low end. Your case file is the counterweight.
Injured and not sure what your case is worth?
Do not accept the first offer before you know your numbers. Free case review with a Colorado attorney.
How Long Does the Whole Process Take?
Honest answer: it depends on treatment time, court calendars, and how hard the insurer fights. Colorado ranges are:
- Insurance claim resolved without filing suit: a few months after treatment stabilizes
- If the case is filed and settles in mediation: the timeline is around 9 to 15 months
- Trial: most Colorado personal injury trials occur 12 to 18 months after the case is filed, with more time for trial and appeal
Speed is a warning flag. Insurers always say that it’s in your best interest to accept their quick settlement offer, but settling before your medical condition has achieved maximum improvement means you will be guessing costs. Once released, you can’t re-open that claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Colorado? Most injury cases are subject to a two year statute of limitations under C.R.S. § 13-80-102, and motor vehicle accidents are subject to a three year statute under C.R.S. § 13-80-101, though exceptions exist, including injury to a minor or a defendant leaving the state. Stick to this deadline, and see a lawyer well in advance of the deadline.
How much does it cost to file a personal injury lawsuit in Colorado? With a contingency-fee firm, no upfront fees. At Tactical Lawyers, we front the costs of your case, collecting a fee only if we recover money for you. Filing fees in district court are a few hundred dollars and are considered case costs incurred during litigation.
Will I have to come to court? It is very unlikely that you will actually have to go to trial, but you will have to answer written discovery requests, give a deposition, and attend mediation.
Can I represent myself in a Colorado personal injury case? Self-representation may be workable for minor fender-benders with no injuries. Where claimed injuries require continuing medical attention, fault of the driver is disputed, or the settlement offer is unreasonably low, represented claimants usually recover substantially more.
What is the value of my case? Damages may include: medical expenses, lost wages/income, future medical expenses, and future lost earnings; and noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering (in Colorado, those are capped at $1.5 million in most injury cases beginning January 1, 2025). No credible attorney gives a dollar amount until reviewing your medical and accident history.
Talk to a Colorado Injury Lawyer Before the Clock Runs Out
Time is of the essence in this process. The first deadline is the injury date. Whether you were injured on the highway, in a business, or by a negligent driver in a parking lot, the sooner you preserve evidence, the better everything will be for the rest of the process.
In Colorado, Tactical Lawyers represents clients in personal injury cases on a contingency basis. We serve Douglas County and the Denver metro area from our Castle Rock office. We respond same day. We organize your medical appointments. We trace every insurance possibility before we talk about money. Call us at (720) 499-0000 or get a free consultation.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Every case is different; consult a licensed Colorado attorney about your specific situation.