Longmont Personal Injury Lawyer

With its tech, breweries, and location close to the mountains and the big cities, Longmont, Colorado, is booming. With so many people out and about enjoying the amenities of the area, there is always a possibility of getting into some type of accident.

Whether you have been hurt in a car accident, slip and fall, dog bite, or any number of scenarios, a personal injury attorney with Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, can help you recover the most money for your claim or lawsuit.

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our lawyers have decades of success fighting against some of the largest insurance companies and corporations in the world. We have recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal injury verdicts and settlements, including:

• $1,330,000 truck crash settlement (Boulder County)
• $896,000 car crash verdict (Boulder County)
• $295,000 dog bite settlement (Boulder County)

When choosing an attorney, it is important to do your research and, most importantly, make sure that you feel a connection with whom you will work. We invite you to meet us and decide for yourself whether we would be a good fit to work together. We can discuss the details during a free consultation.

Our personal injury lawyer can lead your case for damages after an accident in the Longmont area. In Colorado, the compensation an accident victim can recover usually falls into two main categories of damages:

• Special damages; and
• Non-economic damages

Our Longmont personal injury attorneys understand and work with these two areas of damages on a routine basis and know how to prove your right to recover them.

Recovering special damages

Special damages concern the expenses a victim took on as a result of the accident. They can be assigned a specific dollar amount. Examples of these damages are:

• Current, past, and future medical expenses (e.g., ambulance, emergency room care, imaging services, and future home health care bills)
• Therapy expenses (e.g., costs for physical therapy, occupational therapy)
• Missed work (or having to use PTO or vacation time)
• Related out-of-pocket expenses (e.g., medical supplies and assistive devices like a cane, walker, or wheelchair)

Recovering non-economic damages

Non-economic damages are more challenging to put a hard dollar amount on. This category of damages includes:

• Pain and suffering for going through the crash and recovery
• Loss of enjoyment of life because you cannot do a hobby, or you have the inconvenience of having to attend medical appointments
• Physical impairment and disfigurement (e.g., scars, a missing limb, or even a limp)
• Mental anguish
• Emotional distress

If your damages aren’t listed here, we can review them for you and let you know if you can seek to recover them in an insurance claim or lawsuit.

Hiring a personal injury lawyer to help you manage your case after an accident in Longmont could be a wise decision, especially when it comes to your time. Accident victims are often focused on healing from their injuries and trying to get back to their everyday routine as soon as they can. Recovery takes time, so taking on a legal case could feel like an extra weight.

The legal team at Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, can take over your case and take care of legal matters for you. When you become our client, we will:

• Review your evidence and collect additional evidence for your case
• Build a strong case supporting your position
• Calculate your damages and assign a value to your case
• Explain your legal options and rights
• Communicate with all parties involved, including legal counsel and insurers
• Negotiate a settlement that meets your needs
• File a lawsuit within Colorado’s statutes of limitations timeline
• Monitor legal deadlines and take care of essential legal paperwork

We will do everything we can to help you recover the compensation you deserve. Below are some types of personal injury cases we help our clients with:

Car accidents

While we can help you regardless of how you were injured, far and away, most of our clients have been hurt in car accidents. Our attorneys know that there are several notorious intersections within the city. A recent Times-Call article points out that from 2011 to 2015, more than 1,000 crashes happened at only five intersections in Longmont.

If you or a loved one was injured at an intersection, we encourage you to reach out to our firm for support from a Longmont personal injury lawyer. We can protect and defend your interests regardless of whether a car, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian is involved. Our attorneys have successfully resolved hundreds of car accident cases, meaning we have made the at-fault driver's insurance company pay for their policyholder’s negligence.

With each case, we examine all of the important facts and develop a strategy to negotiate the largest possible settlement with the insurance company. All you need to do is ask us, and we can give you an example of how we worked up and satisfied a client with a case similar to yours.

Bicycle accidents

The trend in Colorado cities is more biking and less driving. When a bicycle accident happens, it can be beneficial to have a lawyer by your side to protect your interests. Our lawyers have helped dozens of injured cyclists throughout Colorado, ranging from recreational cyclists to nationally ranked triathletes.

Because collisions between cars or trucks and bicycles can leave a cyclist seriously injured, it is essential that your attorney scour all of the parties involved for insurance policies that might apply to your claim.

Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where your damages exceed the amount of money that is available from which you can recover. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, whether it is looking for insurance or helping prove that it was the driver who was negligent—and not the bicyclist—we are lawyers you can count on.

Slips and falls

When a business, or even another homeowner, does not fix safety problems on their property, they can be held liable when someone gets hurt. When it comes to holding negligent property owners accountable, the Longmont slip and fall lawyers at Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, have a proven track record of success.

We have helped clients with serious injuries after being hurt because a property owner failed to fix a safety issue. Many of the responsible parties include the largest corporations in America, such as 7-Eleven, Home Depot, Jimmy John’s, and large hotel chains.

If you were hurt in a slip and fall accident, especially if you required surgery for your injury, we encourage you to call us today to discuss your case.

Dog bites

If you or a loved one was the victim of a dog bite, we encourage you to get medical care first to take care of your injury and then call our team. Dog owners in Colorado have a responsibility to keep others safe from the dangerous behavior of their dogs. This is especially true—but not a dealbreaker to your case—if the dog owner had previous knowledge that the dog had dangerous tendencies.

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, we have helped victims of dog bites throughout Colorado in cases involving children, elderly adults, and adults. We work with law enforcement to document your dog bite incident and then find the applicable insurance policy—often a homeowners’ insurance or renters’ insurance policy—to cover your claim.

We have also helped those who have been hurt by dogs in restaurants or other public places where the animal was not properly restrained. A dog may also have been leashed in a way that posed a trip and fall hazard. If a dog bit you or a loved one, you can learn more about your legal options during a free consultation about your case.

Truck accidents

Semis and large trucks such as tractor-trailers, cement trucks, and delivery trucks (e.g., UPS or FedEx) are dangerous if not driven properly. Our lawyers have represented dozens of people who have been hurt by these massive vehicles, which often cause serious injury requiring hospitalization or surgery.

We know the ins and outs of the trucking industry and how to properly build a truck accident case so that it settles for maximum value. If you were hurt in a truck accident, we invite you to reach out to us today to discuss how we might be able to help you.

Ski accidents

In 2019, Colorado broke its previous record of the number of annual skier visits. Unfortunately, out of control and reckless skiers or snowboarders pose a hazard to others who are enjoying the mountain.

If another skier or snowboarder hit you while on the mountain, you may be able to bring a claim or lawsuit against that person. Our team of ski accident lawyers can help you navigate your claim and get financial compensation for your injuries. We are avid skiers and snowboarders ourselves, and we are ready to fight for you and pursue your claim.

Other questions we are asked concerning personal injury cases include:

Who pays for my damages?

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our rule of thumb is that an injured person must be fully compensated by whoever caused the injury. When a private person is at fault, a Longmont personal injury lawyer knows to investigate the assets and insurance available for that person.

Similarly, when an at-fault driver is on the job or in a company vehicle at the time of the crash, the business’s assets and insurance will be examined. With some exceptions, this is also generally true when a driver is working for the government at the time of the crash.

Where does my insurance fit in?

Unfortunately, most of the time, the at-fault driver's insurance or assets will not be paid until after the claim is resolved. In many cases, this means the victim must find a way to pay their medical bills and otherwise make it through the tough times until they receive a settlement or verdict.

This is why an attorney with knowledge about these kinds of cases will generally recommend that an accident victim use their insurance (if it is available) to pay as many medical bills as possible. If the victim has “medical payments” coverage on their automobile insurance policy, they should also use this coverage.

What happens when the at-fault party has no insurance?

When the at-fault driver has no insurance or assets or does not have enough insurance, then the victim’s own insurance policies will be in play. Please click here for an in-depth discussion on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

Many people wonder whether their car insurance rates will go up if they open a UM/UIM claim under their own car insurance policy. CO Rev Stat §10-4-416 appears to state that so long as the victim is not at fault for the crash, the insurance company cannot raise rates or reduce coverage during the policy period. Moreover, the Colorado Department of Insurance has issued regulations prohibiting insurance rate increases if a crash is not your fault.

If you were injured in an accident and have questions about what to do, we encourage you to call Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, at (303) 543-1000 for a free consultation. When you meet with us, we can learn more about your case’s specifics and offer guidance on what steps you need to take next.