Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Denver, CO
Hit by a drunk driver in Denver? Lionheart Injury Law pursues punitive damages and every liable party to maximize your recovery.
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What Can You Recover After a Drunk Driving Crash?
Most serious drunk driving accidents we take resolve between $250,000 and $5 million, and punitive damages stack on top. Punitive damages exist for exactly this, and they ride on top of everything else.
We prepare every case for trial from day one, and insurers know it. That is why our settlements come in bigger and faster. And so far, we are undefeated.
With us, you speak directly with your attorney, we help you get immediate medical care, regardless whether you have insurance, and there's no fee unless we win. Contact us now for a free consultation.
The Criminal Case vs. Your Civil Claim
The criminal case, the State of Colorado prosecuting the driver for DUI or vehicular assault, is about punishment: jail, fines, license consequences. It may include restitution to you, but restitution rarely approaches the real cost of a serious injury. Your civil claim is separate. It is your own case against the driver and their insurer for the full measure of your damages, and it does not wait for or depend on a conviction, because the civil standard of proof (more likely than not) is lower than the criminal one (beyond a reasonable doubt). A guilty plea or conviction becomes powerful evidence in the civil case, one more reason the two tracks should be coordinated by a lawyer who understands both.
As a DUI crash victim, you have rights in the criminal case too. Colorado's Victim Rights Act entitles victims of vehicular assault and homicide to be informed, present, and heard. We help you exercise those rights while we build the civil claim.
At its core, the civil claim is built with the same evidence and valuation playbook as our car accident breakdown, plus the punitive track only DUI cases carry.
Why DUI Cases Are Worth More: Exemplary Damages
Drunk driving is the textbook example of willful and wanton conduct, a conscious choice to endanger others. That opens the door to exemplary damages under C.R.S. § 13-21-102, awarded on top of your compensation to punish the driver and deter others. Colorado caps them at the amount of your actual damages (a court can raise that to three times for continued misconduct), requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and does not allow the claim in the initial complaint; it is added by amendment once the evidence supports it. We build toward that amendment from day one: the BAC result, the bodycam footage, and the bar tab all feed it.
Suing the Bar or Liquor Store: Colorado's Dram Shop Law
Under Colorado's dram shop law (C.R.S. § 44-3-801), a licensed establishment can be liable if it willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, or served anyone under 21, and that service contributed to the crash. It is a powerful second source of recovery when the driver's own coverage is thin, but Colorado sets a high bar and two hard limits: dram shop claims carry a separate statutory damages cap, and they must be filed within one year, far shorter than the three-year deadline against the driver. Social hosts face liability only for knowingly providing alcohol (or a place to drink) to someone under 21. The one-year clock is why we trace the driver's evening, receipts, tabs, surveillance video, witnesses, immediately, not after the criminal case winds down.
How We Build a Drunk Driving Injury Case
The State builds much of the liability file for us: the DUI investigation, field sobriety tests, breath or blood results, dashcam and bodycam footage, the arrest report, is devastating civil evidence, and we obtain all of it. On top of it we add the crash reconstruction, your complete medical picture, and the trace-back of where the driver drank for the dram shop claim. We also coordinate with the DA's office on restitution so nothing is left behind, and we identify every policy in play, the driver's, your own UM/UIM if the driver is uninsured or underinsured (common in DUI cases; see our uninsured driver overview), and any employer or umbrella coverage.
What Types of Damages Are Available?
Economic damages (medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity) are uncapped. Non-economic damages fall under HB24-1472's $1.5 million cap (2025); our Colorado damage caps guide explains how the caps work and what sits outside them. Physical impairment damages are uncapped, exemplary damages come on top, and a fatal DUI crash carries the $2,125,000 wrongful death cap (see our wrongful death overview).
First Offers, Insurance Games, and Deadlines
In a DUI case the insurer often concedes fault quickly, then fights everything else: injury causation, treatment length, the punitive exposure. The fast, apologetic first offer is designed to close the file before the exemplary-damages amendment lands. Don't take it. The deadlines: three years against the driver (C.R.S. § 13-80-101), two years for wrongful death, and one year for the dram shop claim, the shortest fuse in Colorado injury law.
Will My Case Go to Trial?
Most settle, DUI defendants make terrible trial defendants, and their insurers know it. But the leverage only exists when the file is trial-ready and the punitive claim is loaded. Venue is Denver District Court or the county where the crash occurred. If trial is what it takes, we are ready.
Talk to a Denver Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
The driver made a choice. Colorado law makes them, and sometimes the bar that served them, pay for it. Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
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