What Makes a Product Liability Case Valid in Colorado
You used a product the way it was supposed to be used. It hurt you anyway. That’s the core of every product liability case we handle in Greenwood Village, and Colorado law is on your side here more than most people realize.
Colorado follows strict liability for defective products under C.R.S. § 13-21-401 et seq. That means you don’t have to prove the manufacturer was careless or negligent. You just have to show the product was defective and that defect caused your injury. Big difference. Insurance companies count on you not knowing this.
We see three types of defects come through our office. Design defects mean the product was flawed from the start, before a single unit rolled off the line. Think of an ATV with a rollover-prone center of gravity. Manufacturing defects happen when something goes wrong during production. One batch of a medical device gets contaminated, one run of brake pads uses the wrong material. Failure to warn is exactly what it sounds like. The product works as designed but carries a hidden danger the company never told you about.
Here’s something people near the DTC often ask us: can you sue if you were partly at fault? Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule under C.R.S. § 13-21-111 says you can recover as long as you’re less than 50% responsible. But manufacturers will fight hard on this. They’ll argue you misused the product, ignored a warning, or modified it yourself. We’ve seen this play out hundreds of times.
One thing that catches people off guard is the 10-year statute of repose. If the product was sold more than 10 years before your injury, your claim may be barred. Exceptions exist for latent defects that couldn’t have been discovered sooner. The general statute of limitations for personal injury in Colorado is two years under C.R.S. § 13-80-102. Two years goes fast when you’re recovering from surgery.
Our product liability attorney Anne Dieruf works these cases daily. She knows which experts to call, what evidence to preserve, and how to trace liability through every link in the chain of distribution, from the designer to the retailer who sold it to you right here in Greenwood Village.
For a free legal consultation with a product liability lawyer serving Greenwood Village, call (303) 465-8733
Who Can Be Held Responsible for Your Injuries
This is where product liability cases get interesting. You don’t just sue one company and call it a day. Colorado’s strict liability framework allows you to hold every party in the chain of distribution responsible. That means the manufacturer, the distributor, the retailer, and sometimes even the company that designed a single component inside the product.
We see this play out all the time in Greenwood Village.
Someone buys a space heater from a big-box store near the DTC. It catches fire. The store says blame the manufacturer. The manufacturer says blame the company that made the heating element. The heating element company says blame the assembler overseas. And while they’re all pointing fingers, you’re the one with burns and medical bills. Colorado’s strict liability framework cuts through that game. Every entity that touched that product on its way to your hands can be on the hook.
Common Defendants in Product Liability Claims
The product manufacturer is the most obvious target, but they’re often a large corporation with legal teams. We’ve gone up against some of the biggest names in the country, and our trial record of over $550 million in recoveries tells them we won’t back down. Parts and component makers are just as liable when their specific piece caused the failure. Think brake pads on a vehicle, a latch on a child’s car seat, or a battery in an e-bike. Distributors and wholesalers who moved the product through the supply chain also carry exposure. And the retailer who sold it to you can be named too, even if they had no idea the product was dangerous.
But here’s what most people don’t realize. You can also bring claims against companies responsible for marketing or labeling. A failure-to-warn claim doesn’t require proving the product was physically broken. It means the company knew about a risk and didn’t tell you. That’s a different kind of defect, and it’s one Anne Dieruf on our team handles regularly.
Insurance companies count on you not knowing who all the responsible parties are. They want you to settle with one defendant for a fraction of what your case is worth. We don’t let that happen.
Steps to Take Immediately After a Defective Product Injury
What you do in the first 48 hours can make or break your product liability case. We’ve seen people lose strong claims because they threw the product away or waited too long to document what happened. So let’s walk through this.
Keep the product exactly as it is. Don’t fix it. Don’t return it to the store. Don’t let the manufacturer take it back for “inspection” without a legal hold in place. That defective item is your most important piece of evidence. Put it in a bag, a box, whatever you have. Keep the packaging too, the receipt, and any instructions or warnings that came with it. We handle cases in Greenwood Village where clients tossed the broken part before calling us, and it made everything harder than it needed to be.
Get medical attention right away. Even if the injury seems minor. Go to Sky Ridge Medical Center or your primary care doctor and tell them exactly what product caused the injury and how it happened. That medical record becomes a direct link between the defect and your harm. Insurance adjusters will look for gaps in treatment. They’ll argue you weren’t really hurt if you waited a week to see someone.
Document everything you can. Take photos of the product from multiple angles. Photograph your injuries. Screenshot any online listing where you bought the item. Write down what happened while it’s fresh. Note the brand name, model number, lot number, and where you purchased it. If anyone saw the incident, get their name and number.
Report the injury. File a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This creates an official record and may reveal that others have been hurt by the same product. If the product is a vehicle component or child’s toy bought at a store near the DTC, there may already be a recall you don’t know about.
And don’t talk to the manufacturer’s insurance company before you talk to a lawyer. They’ll record your call. They’ll ask leading questions designed to pin blame on you. Under Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. § 13-21-111), they only need to push your fault to 50% to wipe out your recovery entirely. That conversation can wait. Your evidence can’t.
Greenwood Village Product Liability Lawyer Near Me (303) 465-8733
How Colorado’s Fault Rules Affect Your Recovery
Here’s something insurance companies count on you not knowing. Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule under C.R.S. § 13-21-111. That means if you’re found 50% or more at fault for your own injury, you get nothing. Zero. And manufacturers love to argue that you misused the product.
We see this play out constantly in Greenwood Village product liability cases. You buy a space heater. It catches fire. The manufacturer’s lawyers immediately start digging into whether you placed it too close to curtains, whether you read page 47 of the manual, whether you left it on overnight. Their goal isn’t to prove the heater worked perfectly. Their goal is to shift enough blame onto you to kill your claim or slash your recovery.
Common Blame-Shifting Tactics in Product Cases
Misuse arguments are their favorite tool. They’ll claim you used the product in a way it wasn’t “intended” for, even if millions of people use it that exact same way. Failure to read warnings comes up in almost every case we handle. The manufacturer buries a tiny warning on page 30 of a booklet nobody reads, then points to it in court like it’s a neon sign. Modification claims show up when you’ve changed anything about the product, even something minor like swapping out a battery or removing a guard that kept getting in the way.
But here’s what matters. Even if a jury decides you were partly at fault, you can still recover as long as your share stays below 50%. If they assign you 20% fault and your damages total $500,000, you’d recover $400,000. That’s still a life-changing number.
The real fight happens in how that percentage gets assigned. Insurance adjusters for companies doing business near the DTC corridor aren’t amateurs. They build their defense from day one. So the evidence you preserve early, the experts your attorney hires, the way your case gets framed before trial, all of it shapes where that fault line lands. Most of the time, the manufacturer had more control over the danger than you ever did. Our job is making sure a jury sees it that way.
What the Claims Process Looks Like With Jordan Law
Most people who call us have never filed a product liability claim before. That’s normal. You don’t need to know how this works before you pick up the phone. You just need to know what happened and what’s different about your life now.
Here’s how it plays out once you reach our office on DTC Parkway in Greenwood Village.
We start with the product itself. Anne Dieruf, our product liability attorney, and the rest of our team dig into what went wrong. Was it a design problem that made the product dangerous from day one? A manufacturing error that slipped through quality control? Or did the company fail to warn you about a known risk? Colorado recognizes strict liability for defective products under C.R.S. § 13-21-401 et seq. That means we don’t have to prove the manufacturer was careless. We prove the product was defective and it hurt you. Big difference.
Products Liability Attorney Anne Dieruf
Evidence moves fast in these cases, so we move faster. We send preservation letters to every party in the chain of distribution. Manufacturer, distributor, retailer. If a vehicle component failed on I-25 near the Orchard Road interchange, we get the wreckage secured before it disappears from a tow yard. If a consumer product malfunctioned in your home near the Landmark, we document everything before you throw it away. We’ve seen people clean up the scene and toss the broken product in the trash. Don’t do that.
Nine times out of ten, the manufacturer’s legal team is already building their defense before you even know you have a claim. They’ll argue you misused the product. They’ll point to Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule under C.R.S. § 13-21-111 and try to pin 50% or more of the fault on you, because that kills your recovery entirely. these tactics cold.
Then we build your damage case. Medical records, lost income documentation, future care projections. Colorado places no cap on economic damages like medical bills and lost wages. Noneconomic damages cap at roughly $1.5 million under HB 24-1472, though that cap can be exceeded with clear and convincing evidence. Our team has recovered over $550 million in verdicts and settlements — and as an experienced personal injury lawyer in Greenwood Village, we know exactly how to document harm so a jury in Arapahoe County sees the full picture of what this product did to your life.
Click to contact our Lawyers in Greenwood Village today
Our Greenwood Village, Colorado Office Location
Our main office is located in Greenwood Village, also known as the Denver Tech Center, just south of Downtown Denver.
Jordan Law Accident and Injury Lawyers
5445 DTC Parkway Suite 1000 Greenwood Village CO 80111
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do first if a defective product injured me in Greenwood Village?
Keep the product exactly as it is and get medical attention right away. Do not return the item to the store or let the manufacturer take it back. Go to Sky Ridge Medical Center or your doctor and explain what product caused the injury. Take photos of the product and your injuries. Write down what happened while it is still fresh. These steps protect your claim before evidence disappears.
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless to win a product liability case in Colorado?
No, you do not have to prove carelessness under Colorado’s strict liability law. You only need to show the product was defective and that defect caused your injury. Colorado follows C.R.S. § 13-21-401, which puts the focus on the product itself, not on whether the company made a mistake. This is a big advantage for injured people, and many insurance companies count on you not knowing it.
Who can actually be held responsible for my injuries from a defective product?
Every company in the supply chain can be held responsible, not just the manufacturer. That includes the distributor, the wholesaler, and the retailer who sold you the product right here in Greenwood Village. If a single component inside the product failed, the company that made that part can also be named. Colorado’s strict liability rules apply to all of them. Our attorney Anne Dieruf traces liability through every link in that chain.
How long do I have to file a product liability claim in Greenwood Village?
You generally have two years from the date of injury to file under C.R.S. § 13-80-102. Two years goes fast when you are recovering from surgery or dealing with medical appointments. There is also a 10-year statute of repose, which means claims tied to products sold more than 10 years ago may be barred. Exceptions exist for defects that could not have been discovered sooner. Call sooner rather than later to protect your options.
Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault for my injury?
Yes, you can still recover as long as you are less than 50% responsible under Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule. Manufacturers will often argue you misused the product or ignored a warning to reduce what they owe you. We see this happen often with cases near the DTC area of Greenwood Village. Our job is to push back on those arguments and show the defect, not your actions, caused the harm.
What types of product defects lead to valid injury claims?
Three types of defects lead to valid claims in Colorado. A design defect means the product was dangerous before it was ever built. A manufacturing defect means something went wrong during production, like a bad batch of materials. A failure-to-warn defect means the company knew about a risk and never told you. You do not need a physically broken product to have a case. If the warning label left out key safety information, that alone can support your claim.
