Top Birth Injury Lawyers Near Me in Denver Area

Jim Puga, a Colorado native, dedicates his practice to seeking compensation and justice for those injured by the negligence of others, with a particular focus on medical malpractice and personal injury. Jim has successfully tried, settled, or is currently handling cases throughout the United States including the states of Colorado, Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming. Prior to joining Leventhal & Puga in 1999 and dedicating his practice exclusively to the representation of those injured by the negligence of others, Jim handled complex business and civil litigation matters at the law firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs and tried numerous cases as insurance defense counsel at smaller litigation boutique firms. Jim has been recognized since 2007 by Best Lawyers in America in the field of medical malpractice and since 2012 in the field of personal injury. Jim has also been recognized as a Colorado Super Lawyer since 2007. Jim has been AV rated by Martindale-Hubbel for over 15 years. In addition to his trial work, Jim has briefed numerous cases to the Colorado Court of Appeals, to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Colorado Supreme Court. Jim has argued before the Colorado Supreme Court, and has numerous reported appellate decisions in the state of Colorado, the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado, and the 10th District Court of Appeals.. Jim is a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy instructing in the area of trial skills and he has lectured for the State of Colorado to attorneys at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association in the areas of medical malpractice and trial advocacy. Jim has also lectured at the American Association of Justice’s annual convention on medical malpractice and scientific evidentiary issues in medical malpractice, and he has lectured at the Western Trial Lawyer’s Association on matters of medical malpractice and scientific evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Jim has lectured at the University of Colorado Medical School in the area of shoulder dystocia birth injury, as well as at various business and insurance related seminars. Jim is the current co-editor of the American Association of Justice Birth Trauma Litigation Newsletter.. Jim attended the University of Denver as a University Scholar, graduating cum laude and with University Honors in political science and history. Jim then attended the University of Denver College of Law on a College of Law scholarship graduating in 1989.. Jim is a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association for Justice, the American Association of Justice Leaders Forum, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and he is a member of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations. Jim currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and he has also been active in his community as a youth baseball and lacrosse coach, tutoring disadvantaged students, and serving as a volunteer with Denver Kids, Inc. Jim has received recognition as Denver Kids, Inc.’s Friend of the Year.. In his free time, Jim enjoys spending time with his wife and teenage children, and is an avid reader, cyclist, and skier.

Chris is an experienced trial lawyer and one of the founding partners of Make Right Law. He focuses his practice on serious personal injury and wrongful death claims as well as fire damage resulting from negligently started wildfires. He is a second-generation trial lawyer who literally grew up living in his father’s law firm which was on the first floor of Make Right Law’s current Texas office. Chris and his father, Tim Hoffman, lived upstairs above the law firm and Chris grew up working every job in the firm before going to college at the University of Texas where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy with Honors. He then went to the University of Texas Law School where he bested 63 fellow students to win the Thad T. Hutcheson 1st Year Moot Court Competition. He graduated near the top of his class in 1997 with Honors.. His first job out of law school was as a staff attorney for the Texas Department of Insurance where he pursued enforcement actions against insurance companies who violated Texas insurance laws. But after a year, the inevitable return to his father’s firm happened and he went to work for Hoffman, Sheffield & Sauseda where he worked until 2001 when he was made a partner and the firm became Hoffman, Sheffield, Sauseda & Hoffman, PLLC.. Chris’s first trial with the firm resulted in what, at the time, was the single largest medical malpractice verdict in Potter County history. Since then, he has been representing those who are the victims of reckless behavior and safety rule violations, including car wrecks, truck wrecks, medical malpractice, construction injuries, burn injuries and all manner of personal injury and wrongful death cases. Although Chris has represented a broad spectrum of people and families, his passion is representing children injured by negligence and families who have lost a child due to negligence. The strength of these children and their families in times of unspeakable tragedy has inspired Chris both personally and professionally to maintain a positive attitude and work hard to get the best results he can for all of his clients.. Chris is actively involved in several professional associations. He is the former President of the Panhandle Trial Lawyers Association and former Board Member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Chris is also a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association participating in the Auto/Truck Injury and Medical Malpractice practice groups. Chris is a frequent contributor to four litigation forums where injury attorneys exchange ideas and assist one another. Chris’s peers included him as a Texas Rising Star in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 and have named him a Texas Super Lawyer for 2024. Chris has earned the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, which signifies the highest level of professional excellence and ethical standards. His clients have frequently reviewed his services and on the strength of those reviews he has also been named a Platinum Client Champion.. In 2010, Chris became licensed in Colorado and his family moved to Denver, where he opened a second office for Hoffman, Sheffield, Sauseda & Hoffman. He actively practices law in both Texas and Colorado. In 2023, after his partners Tim Hoffman, Mike Sheffield, and J.E. Sauseda had transitioned to Of Counsel roles, Chris joined forces with distinguished trial lawyer Joe Lovell to form Make Right Law. The recent formation of Make Right Law has further energized Chris as he has added new fields of law to his repertoire including representing the victims of negligently caused wildfires.. Chris has two sons with whom he enjoys skiing, mountain biking, and hiking in the mountains of Colorado. He is passionate about music, playing guitar, attending live concerts whenever he gets the chance and spending time in front of his stereo listening to his collection of vinyl records. Chris’ motto as a trial lawyer is a rough paraphrase of a Maya Angelou poem: Rather than dwelling on accepting the things I cannot change; I prefer to change the things I cannot accept. He believes that while getting just compensation to his clients is tremendously important and sometimes life changing, the real aim of being a trial lawyer is to make things right for his clients by preventing what has happened to his clients from happening again, being a voice for his clients, helping his clients through some of the worst times of their lives, and holding those who are responsible for his clients’ injuries accountable. His desire to make it right for his clients, was the inspiration for the firm’s name, Make Right Law.