It’s been a significant year for personal injury lawyers in Colorado. The legislature rounded out its session by increasing damage caps and over 20 Colorado attorneys sent announcements to Law Week they were recognized as Super Lawyers in the personal injury space by Thomson Reuters.
Law Week spoke with Ryan Winter, a managing member at Hall & Evans, and Deirdre Ostrowski, a managing partner at Keating Wagner Polidori Free, via email to see what the designation meant to them and what to look out for in the personal injury space in the near future.
Winter said he was honored to be recognized by Super Lawyers and his peers.
“I appreciate that Super Lawyers’ selection process is more rigorous than other awards, so it means a lot to me to be selected again this year,” added Winter.
Ostrowski shared the sentiment. “It is an honor to be recognized by my peers and a reminder of the importance of building a strong legal community that builds relationships with one another,” said Ostrowski.
Damages and Personal Injury Strategy Changes
Winter said that as a personal injury lawyer on the defense side, he’s always examining the strategies attorneys on the prosecution side are using to try to increase the value of their clients’ claims and damages.
“In recent years, this has meant advocating in motions and hearings for the principle that damages should be tied to reason and evidence in the case so as to ensure that juries reach rational and non-arbitrary verdicts,” said Winter.
He noted it’s particularly challenging when personal injury attorneys are faced with issues like non-economic damages, permanent physical impairment and wrongful death claims, as those are more difficult to measure in monetary terms.
“In recent years, new, creative strategies related to these forms of damages are being used by personal injury attorneys to advocate for their clients, which in turn we must respond to,” said Winter. “This has resulted in a trend towards motions practice and proceedings before trial judges.”
Ostrowski, on the plaintiff side, has noticed an increase in the amount of cases getting filed.
“I see that more and more cases are getting filed and requiring a fair amount of litigation before a compromise can be made,” said Ostrowski.
AI Hits PI Too
The use of technology and artificial intelligence is on the rise across all industries, and the legal industry is no exception.
Law firms have been increasingly looking at ways AI, natural language processing programs and machine learning software can streamline practices or further meet modern business needs. Law practice-specific AI tools have been popping up in recent years and attorneys have been both excited to try out the new tech while also being wary of possible pitfalls.
Roughly five years ago, legal tech experts thought AI in the practice was more of a passing trend. While on the consumer side, Colorado lawmakers introduced several bills this past session designed to put guardrails in place for generative AI.
“There is a boom in the use of AI across all practice areas; lawyers should see how it can assist with their workflow,” said Ostrowski.
Bolstering Business Protections
Part of Winter’s practice is representing clients in the sports and recreation business, and most of those businesses are small to medium in size.
“One challenge personal injury defense attorneys like me grapple with more and more is ensuring the enforceability of contracts and statutes offering these businesses some level of reasonable protection, such as waivers of liability,” said Winter. “Without these contract or statutory protections, many of our sports and recreation clients would not be able to continue to secure insurance and do business.”
Winter added attorneys on the other side of the aisle, as good advocates for their clients, were looking to erode these protections. But for Winter, the focus is different.
“As advocates for our clients, it is our job to ensure these protections remain, particularly since this industry is so vital to our state and its residents,” said Winter.
What’s Next
Winter is looking forward to assisting with Hall & Evan’s continued growth and expansion.
“When I joined the firm in 2001, we only had offices in Colorado,” said Winter. “We now have offices in eight states all around the Rocky Mountains and Midwest Regions. We expect this trend to continue, as more and more of our larger clients, which are Fortune 500 companies and large insurers, are expecting their panel firms to have a more regional presence.”
Ostrowski, whose work has been recognized by Colorado Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America and Law Week Colorado, is looking forward to a vacation.
Six firms shared their personal injury honorees with Law Week. Other attorneys on the Super Lawyer List for personal injury in 2024 include:
Joseph Farchione, John Fitzpatrick, James Hooper, LaMar Jost, Kevin Kuhn, Michael O’Donnell, Kara Rosenthal, Edward Stewart and Malcolm Wheeler at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell; David Gelman at Hall & Evans; Barbara Glogiewicz and Laura Wassmuth at Caplan & Earnest; Michael Keating, Melissa Sullivan and Bob Wagner at Keating Wagner Polidori Free; Peter McClenahan, Murray Ogborn, Steve Shapiro and Jason Wesoky at Ogborn Mihm; and Michele Harden at Messner Reeves.