Greeley Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury law covers claims where you were hurt because someone else a driver, a business, a property owner was careless enough that the law calls it negligence. Here are a few examples of personal injury:

• a driver runs a light and hits you
• a store leaves a spill unmarked, and you fall
• a company sells a defective product that injures you

To win, you generally have to show the other party was at fault, and in return you can pursue the full picture of what the accident cost you:

• medical bills,
• lost income,
• pain and suffering
• emotional distress.

Workers’ compensation runs on a different bargain entirely. If you are hurt on the job in Colorado, workers’ comp pays your medical care and a portion of your lost wages regardless of who was at fault, even if you played a part in what happened. In exchange, Colorado law generally makes workers’ comp your only remedy against your employer, meaning you typically cannot also sue your employer in court over the same injury (C.R.S. § 8-41-102). Workers’ comp also does not pay for pain and suffering the way a personal injury claim can.

Here is where the two systems overlap. If you were hurt at work but the person responsible was not a coworker or your employer, another driver while you were driving for work, a subcontractor on the job site, or a negligent property owner, you may be able to pursue a workers’ comp claim and a separate personal injury claim against that third party at the same time. Colorado law allows both. These cases are among the most complicated in personal injury law because they run under two different sets of rules at once, and getting the full value out of either one usually takes attorneys who understand both.

That is exactly what Kaplan Morrell was built for. Our Greeley team handles workers’ compensation and personal injury claims under one roof, so if your case touches both, you are not stuck coordinating between two separate law firms that have never worked together. We have.

Personal Injury is Civil Law

If your accident also involved a crime, a DUI, a hit-and-run, or an assault, it helps to know these are two separate legal tracks, and you may be part of both.

A criminal case is brought by the State of Colorado, not by you. The district attorney prosecutes the at-fault person for breaking the law, and the goal is punishment, jail time, fines, probation. To win, the state has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest standard in the legal system. You are a witness in that case, not a party to it, and the prosecutor, not you, decides how it proceeds.

A personal injury claim is different. You file it against the person or business that hurt you, and the goal is compensation, not punishment:

• your medical bills
• lost wages
• pain and suffering, and other losses.

To win, you only have to prove it is more likely than not that the other party was at fault, a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The two can run side by side, and one does not depend on the other. Even if criminal charges are never filed, get dismissed, or end in an acquittal, you can still bring your own personal injury claim, since the two cases use different standards of proof. And when a criminal court does order restitution, Colorado law specifically excludes pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and future lost earnings from that restitution (C.R.S. § 18-1.3-602), so it rarely covers what a full personal injury claim would.

If your case involves both criminal charges against the person who hurt you and injuries of your own, Kaplan Morrell’s Greeley team, which also handles criminal defense, can help you understand where the two cases overlap and where you need your own civil claim to be made whole.

“I never once felt like just another case; they truly cared.”

“There are simply not enough words to express how grateful I am to everyone at this law office. During one of the hardest times in my life, they treated me with compassion, respect, and dedication. I never once felt like just another case, they truly cared. They fought for me every step of the way, and always made sure I felt heard.

A very special thank you to Jacqui Condon and Deidre Deery. Your professionalism, patience, compassion, and genuine kindness meant more to me than you’ll ever know.

To anyone and everyone who worked on my case, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you’re looking for a team that truly cares about their clients and will work tirelessly on your behalf, I couldn’t recommend this office more highly.

~Stuart L, Google Review, July 2026

Read more testimonials

How a Greeley Personal Injury Claim Works With Kaplan Morrell

1. Reach out for a free consultation. Call 970-356-9898 or book online.
2. Tell us what happened. We’ll walk through the accident, your injuries, and where things currently stand with the insurance company.
3. We get to work right away. The sooner we’re involved, the more we can preserve; witness accounts, crash scene details, and medical records only get harder to pin down as time passes.
4. We deal with the insurance company. You focus on recovering; we handle the calls, the paperwork, and the pushback.
5. We pursue what you’re owed through negotiation and through litigation if that’s what it takes.

On timing. Every case moves at its own pace depending on your injuries and the facts of your claim. Starting sooner protects your case. Colorado law puts a real deadline on personal injury claims (as short as two years for many injury claims, three years for most car accidents), so the sooner you call, the more options you keep on the table.

Personal Injury Resources for Greeley, CO Residents

• Weld County Courthouse, location and hours (Colorado Judicial Branch)
• Request or file a Colorado crash report (Colorado State Patrol)
• File an insurance complaint (Colorado Division of Insurance, DORA)