Courtesy of CGH Injury Lawyers
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The following is sponsored content by CGH Injury Lawyers.
Personal injury law firm CGH Injury Lawyers, previously known as Cheney Galluzzi and Howard, was founded in 2016 on the day attorneys Kevin Cheney and Tim Galluzzi were admitted to the Colorado Bar Association. The two best friends had been dreaming of having their own practice since meeting in their first year of law school at the University of Colorado Boulder. They started the business from Cheney’s dining room, meeting clients at coffee shops and storing files in the trunks of their cars.
Today, they’re celebrating ten years in business, are part of the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, and were recently honored as New Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association.
Cheney and Galluzzi wanted to create their own law firm so they’d have the freedom to operate differently. Though they now work from their downtown Denver office, it’s a less intimidating and more welcoming environment than traditional law offices.
“We’re not a very formal office. Generally, I show up in shorts and a T-shirt,” Cheney says. “So much of the rigidity of other law firms is not what clients are looking for, so we saw an opportunity to do things differently and to better serve clients.”
The firm focuses exclusively on plaintiff personal injury cases: “Our main practice areas are car accidents, slips and falls, medical malpractice, and products liability, but that all broadly falls under plaintiff personal injury. We only represent the injured person, so it’s always us versus the insurance company.”
For a comprehensive list of all of the law group’s practice areas, refer to the CGH Injury Lawyers website.
From its inception, the firm’s goal has been to level the playing field for everyday folks battling corporations backed by big insurance companies. They’re committed to taking every case as far as it needs to go, because they value the experience of each unique client.
“We focus on the holistic client experience. It’s never just money to us,” confirms Cheney. “You’re not just a number. We’re going to talk a lot and be there to help you with the tangential issues that may arise with your case, and you’re going to be treated like a human being from start to finish.”
With 32 employees, CGH is the ideal size for a law firm: large enough to have needed resources at your disposal, but small enough that you’ll still receive individualized attention from a dedicated team.
“Our mission is to deliver more than money to people that have been injured through no fault of their own, and to fight for justice both inside and outside of the courtroom,” Cheney says.
“The money is important — don’t get me wrong — but we like to spend enough time with our clients to really get to know them, to deliver hope and dignity, and to make them feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. While we’re really good at getting people as much money as we can, it’s that human touch that sets us apart.”
Each attorney at CGH has a substantially lower caseload than at other firms, plus several support staff, allowing them to devote their full efforts to each and every case. Their dedication to client advocacy goes beyond the courtroom, too.
“We’re really proud of the work we’ve done at the legislative level,” notes Cheney. “We’ve been a part of writing several statutes that have increased consumer protection and the rights of regular Coloradans in the contexts of insurance and public safety. We’ve had an opportunity to influence things in a larger way than just on a case-by-case basis.”
Although the majority of CGH cases settle before going to trial, the firm still takes insurance companies to court three to five times a year.
“Trials keep the insurance companies honest. They know, if the law firm never goes to trial, then they’re eventually going to accept whatever the insurance company is offering,” Cheney explains. “There are a lot of personal injury firms where the entire firm has not gone to trial in five or ten years, and these insurance companies know that they’re eventually going to cave. We have a big enough war chest that we can really go toe to toe with the insurance companies.”
Even if you’re not sure if you have a case or can afford a lawyer, CGH Injury Lawyers recommends reaching out for a free, no-commitment consultation.
“We work on a contingency fee, so we don’t take any money up front, no one pays us hourly, and we only take a percentage if we win the case. We essentially take on all of the risk,” Cheney says.
