I was assaulted by another woman in December of 2010. She jumped me from behind and we rolled down a set of stairs. She then hit me in the head several times and kicked me in the face. I suffered many bruises on my body, lumps on my head, bruises on my face, and a broken nose, which is now disfigured and I cannot breathe properly. I immediately went to the ER and my nose was broken in two places. Criminal charges were filed and she plead guilty this week to assault. I am planning on filing a civil suit. As a result of the assault I was not able to sleep well because I couldn't breathe at night (and still can't). I started being late for work due to oversleeping, missing my shifts, and was fired in mid-February. On top of that, I found out in January that I was pregnant and had been pregnant at the time of the assault. I was worried about the trauma my body had been through and decided to have an abortion. If the assault hadn't happened I would have kept the baby. Can I sue her for losing my job and also my baby? Also, can I also sue her landlord for being hurt on her property? This has ruined my life for the past six months and emotionally scarred me. I plan on speaking with a personal injury lawyer soon but would like some answers now.
The following response is based up Colorado law only. Did you make a request in the Criminal case for restitution for damages? Regarding the suing the landlord I don't believe that you can since it was an intentional, criminal act. Regarding the baby, you can always incorporate that claim in your civil Complaint, although I don't think that you will prevail. And since your case involves an intentional, criminal act I don't believe that her insurance company, if she had home owners or renters insurance would accept liability for the claim. Thus you would be suing the Defendant personally and probably not through an insurance carrier. Thus, I anticipate that most attorneys would probably want you to pay a retainer and would handle the case hourly or on a flat fee rather than on a contingency fee basis.
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