Kevin Cheney has a way of cutting through the noise that defines most conversations about car accident claims. He is not interested in the version of events the insurance company wants to tell — the one where the injured person shares some of the blame, where the medical treatment was excessive, where the settlement offer on the table is fair and final. Cheney, a Super Lawyer and managing partner at CGH Injury Lawyers, has spent his career in Denver representing the people on the other side of that conversation — the ones who are still in physical therapy, still out of work, still trying to understand why the check they were offered barely covers what they have already spent. "Winning your case isn't just about legal motions," the firm's philosophy states. "It's about securing the resources you need to rebuild your life." In car accident cases, that gap between what insurers offer and what injured people actually need is where the firm does its most consequential work.
Formally Cheney Galluzzi and Howard, the firm operates out of Denver's Five Points and RiNo district and represents clients across Colorado — from the Front Range to Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, and beyond. Director of Litigation Tim Galluzzi, partner Travis Howard, Director of Pre-Litigation Nicole Greene — a Super Lawyer in her own right — and partner Robert Lawrence make up a team that has earned Top 50 and Top 20 Verdicts recognition in Colorado for multiple consecutive years, along with Best of Denver and Best of Colorado distinctions. The firm's $3 million car crash settlement is among the results that reflect what aggressive, well-prepared litigation actually produces. But the number that matters most to any individual client is not the firm's headline result — it is the outcome in their own case, and that is what the team at CGH Injury Lawyers is focused on from the first conversation.
For anyone in Denver who has been in a crash and is trying to figure out what comes next, here is how Cheney and his colleagues think about that work — and what every injured person needs to understand before they say a word to an insurance adjuster.
What Car Accident Claims Actually Require — And Why the First 72 Hours Are Critical
"The insurance company starts building its case the moment the crash happens," Cheney says. "Most injured people don't realize that. They think the claim process is neutral — that everyone is just trying to figure out what happened and what's fair. It is not neutral. The adjuster calling to check on you is gathering information. The recorded statement they ask for is a tool. The early settlement offer is designed to close your claim before you know how serious your injuries actually are."
That dynamic — the gap between how the claims process feels and what it actually is — is at the center of why having experienced legal representation early matters so much. The decisions made in the first 72 hours after a crash can shape a case for months or years. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses gets overwritten. Witness memories fade. Physical evidence at the scene disappears. And if an injured person has already given a recorded statement minimizing their pain — because they were in shock, because they were trying to be cooperative, because they genuinely did not yet know how badly they were hurt — that statement becomes part of the permanent record of the claim.
At CGH Injury Lawyers, the intake process begins with a straightforward goal: get ahead of the insurance company before the insurance company gets ahead of the client. That means preserving evidence, identifying all potentially liable parties, and establishing the full picture of what the crash has actually cost — not just the emergency room bill, but the follow-up care, the lost wages, the diminished earning capacity if the injuries are serious, and the non-economic damages that are harder to quantify but no less real.
Truck accident cases represent one of the more complex categories the firm handles. When a commercial vehicle is involved, the liable parties can multiply quickly — the driver, the trucking company, the company that loaded the cargo, the entity responsible for vehicle maintenance. Federal regulations govern hours of service, weight limits, and inspection requirements, and violations of those regulations become powerful evidence of negligence. An attorney without specific experience in commercial vehicle litigation is not equipped to navigate that landscape, and the trucking company's insurer — which has handled thousands of these claims — knows it.
Rideshare accidents involving Uber and Lyft introduce a different layer of complexity. The insurance coverage that applies depends on the driver's status at the moment of the crash — whether the app was on, whether a ride had been accepted, whether a passenger was in the vehicle — and the platforms have structured their coverage specifically to minimize their own exposure. Cheney is direct about what that means for injured people. "Rideshare companies are not on your side. Their insurance structure is designed to limit payouts. If you were hurt in a rideshare accident and you are trying to navigate that claim without an attorney, you are almost certainly leaving money on the table."
Catastrophic injury cases — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, severe burns — represent the highest-stakes matters the firm handles, and the ones where the difference between adequate and inadequate representation shows up most starkly in outcomes. When injuries are permanent or life-altering, the value of the claim must account for a lifetime of consequences: future medical care, long-term lost earnings, the ongoing cost of living with a disability. Building that case requires medical experts, vocational analysts, and life care planners — resources that a well-resourced firm brings to the table and that an injured person navigating the process alone simply does not have access to.
What Denver Drivers Need to Know After a Crash
Colorado's roads — the congested stretches of I-25 and I-70, the mountain passes that turn treacherous in winter, the urban intersections where distracted driving produces a steady volume of serious collisions — generate a consistent and significant number of injury claims every year. What most injured people in Denver do not know is that Colorado operates under a modified comparative fault system, which means that if an insurance company can establish that the injured person was even partially responsible for the crash, it can reduce — and in some cases eliminate — the compensation they are entitled to receive.
That legal reality is one of the reasons why the narrative established early in a claim matters so much. An injured person who accepts an early settlement without understanding Colorado's fault framework may be closing a claim that was worth significantly more than what they accepted. An injured person who gives a recorded statement before consulting an attorney may have inadvertently provided the language an adjuster needs to assign them a share of the fault.
CGH Injury Lawyers operates on a contingency fee basis — no fee unless they win — which means the financial barrier that keeps many injured people from seeking legal help immediately after a crash does not apply here. Free consultations are available by phone, video, or in person, and the team will travel to a client's home or hospital when the situation requires it. That accessibility reflects the firm's core conviction: that the quality of your legal representation should not be determined by whether you can afford to pay for it while you are out of work and managing medical bills.
Cheney is equally direct about the timeline. "Do not wait to call an attorney. Not because we are trying to get your business — because the evidence that wins your case is disappearing right now. Every day you wait is a day the other side is using to build their version of what happened."
What to Look For When You Need a Car Accident Attorney in Denver
Choosing a personal injury attorney after a crash is a decision most people have never had to make before, under circumstances that are already stressful and disorienting. A few things are worth prioritizing.
Ask specifically about the firm's experience with the type of crash you were involved in. Car accidents, truck accidents, and rideshare collisions each involve distinct legal frameworks, insurance structures, and liable parties. An attorney who handles all three regularly is better positioned than one for whom any of them is unfamiliar territory.
Ask about trial experience and results. The settlement value of a car accident claim is heavily influenced by whether the insurance company believes the opposing attorney will take the case to a jury if necessary. A firm with documented trial verdicts — and the resources to prepare a case for trial — negotiates from a position of genuine leverage. A firm that settles everything, regardless of case value, does not.
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Ask how the firm communicates with clients during the life of a case. Car accident claims can take months or years to resolve, and an attorney who is unreachable when decisions need to be made is not serving the client's interests, regardless of their credentials. Responsiveness is a functional requirement, not a courtesy.
Finally, ask for an honest assessment of your case — including the factors that could work against you. An attorney who tells you only what you want to hear in the first consultation is not the attorney you want handling your claim when the insurance company pushes back.
A Firm That Fights for What the Settlement Offer Doesn't Cover
Car accidents are, for most people, among the most disorienting experiences of their lives. The physical pain, the financial pressure, and the uncertainty about the future arrive simultaneously, and the insurance system that is supposed to provide relief is often the source of additional stress rather than resolution. CGH Injury Lawyers was built for exactly that gap — for the people who need someone in their corner who understands the system, knows how to fight it, and is genuinely invested in the outcome.
Cheney and his team have spent years demonstrating that aggressive, ethical representation produces better results than accepting what the insurance company decides to offer. The firm's slogan is short and it means what it says: it is more than money. It is the medical care you need. The wages you lost. The future you are trying to protect.
For anyone in Denver who has been hurt in a crash and does not know where to turn, that commitment is worth a conversation. The consultation is free, and it starts on your terms.