Practice Areas

Workers’ Compensation

Ruegsegger Simons has more than 20 attorneys specializing in workers’ compensation law and related areas. As experts in workers’ compensation law, we represent employers and insurance carriers in administrative hearings every week. Our attorneys have represented thousands of employers in all venues in Colorado, including Denver, Colorado Springs, Alamosa, Pueblo, Fort Collins, Greeley, Grand Junction, and Durango.

Insurance Defense

Ruegsegger Simons provides services for insurance coverage analysis, bad faith litigation, and general liability, property and casualty insurance defense. Our attorneys have extensive experience in defending cases involving utilization review and managed care issues arising in insurance defense contexts. Our attorneys have experience defending employers under general liability insurance, directors and officers insurance, and employment practices liability insurance policies. Our attorneys also have experience defending health care providers and mental health care providers under licensure defense riders to professional malpractice policies.

Employment Law

Ruegsegger Simons has attorneys who advise and defend employers in a broad range of employment law issues, including:

Numerous federal and state laws make the employment relationship far more complex than in the past. These employment laws continue to change. For those reasons, we heartily embrace the adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We encourage our clients to call us with questions and issues before they become expensive legal problems.

Of course, when minor issues erupt into major disputes, we are prepared to aggressively defend our clients in any forum. Our attorneys represent clients in trials and appeals before state and federal courts, as well as in proceedings before state and federal administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Labor. When appropriate we encourage our clients to participate in and represent our clients in forms of alternative dispute resolution such as arbitration or non-binding mediation.

Health Care Law

Ruegsegger Simons represents health care providers in license issues before Colorado professional licensure boards and in credentialing issues involving hospital privileges and professional review. This representation includes administrative proceedings involving provider professional review or de-selection by multi-specialty provider groups, preferred provider organizations, professional licensure boards, and hospitals. Our representation of health care providers also extends to matters regarding employment contracts, recruitment, retention, compensation, non-competition, and litigation. Ruegsegger Simons also represents health care organizations in managed care contracting, compliance and litigation. We also represent public and private hospitals regarding medical staff issues, employment litigation, and employee handbooks and personnel policies.

Civil Litigation

Ruegsegger Simons has attorneys with experience in complex civil litigation such as medical malpractice cases, business disputes, contract disputes, construction defect cases, and employment law matters. We have attorneys who represent litigation clients such as individuals; small, medium, and large corporations; statewide health care provider networks; and multi-state corporations. We have attorneys who represent public entities and public employees including special districts, municipalities, counties, and the regents of the University of Colorado. Our attorneys are licensed in the trial courts and appellate courts for the States of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio and Utah, and in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Subrogation

Ruegsegger Simons has attorneys dedicated to subrogation work on behalf of our clients. Through subrogation litigation, we are able to recover losses paid by our clients from third parties who are actually responsible for causing injuries to our clients’ employees. Our attorneys have been at the forefront of subrogation law in Colorado for years.

Automobile Liability Defense

Ruegsegger Simons defends automobile accident cases and the related claims for personal injuries and insurance bad-faith. In these cases, we assist our clients with responses to pre-litigation monetary demands; answering complaints; asserting counterclaims, cross-claims, and third party claims; structured settlements; settlement conferences; pretrial disclosure, discovery, and depositions; and multi-day jury trials. We work closely with our clients to develop appropriate legal strategies for their needs and budgets and to position those cases for favorable settlements whenever possible.

Medicare Set-Aside

Federal law prohibits Medicare from paying for medical treatment related to workers compensation injuries. Parties to workers compensation claims must consider Medicare’s interest when settling any workers compensation matter that discontinues medical treatment. Some cases actually require parties to enter into a separate Medicare Set Aside agreement to cover the costs of future medical treatment. These agreements must then be approved by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Ruegsegger Simons has been a pioneer in developing a practice dedicated to this emerging and highly specialized area of practice. Our specialists have provided hundreds of written opinions to help parties craft settlements that appropriately consider Medicare’s interests and have presented over one hundred formal proposals to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for approval.

Appeals

Ruegsegger Simons has attorneys who have handled numerous appeals before the Industrial Claim Appeals Office, the Colorado Court of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a result, our attorneys have played a significant role in shaping workers’ compensation and employment law for the State of Colorado.

Corporate Law

Ruegsegger Simons represents businesses in the drafting and revision of corporate formation documents such as articles of incorporation, corporate bylaws, and employee manuals and procedures. Ruegsegger Simons attorneys advise businesses regarding proper compliance with such corporate governance documents. Ruegsegger Simons attorneys also advise their business clients regarding various aspects of corporate contracting and operations issues.