J. Kyle Bachus

Early Passion for Advocacy and a Career Devoted to Plaintiff

Kyle’s drive to advocate began in high school when he was selected to argue before a panel of licensed lawyers sitting as a mock state supreme court. Recognized statewide as one of the strongest presenters of the program, he left that experience knowing he would become a lawyer and that his work would be on behalf of people who needed a voice.

He graduated from the University of Florida College of Law and began work the Monday after graduation in a plaintiff’s personal injury firm. From day one, his career was devoted to representing injured people, never institutions.

In the mid-1990s Kyle moved to Colorado and, in 1996, co-founded Bachus & Schanker, LLC with little more than a partner, determination, and a small, rented office. Over three decades the firm has grown into one of the region’s leading plaintiff injury firms, now with more than 30 lawyers handling serious cases across Colorado and the nation.

Within this firm, Kyle narrowed his own practice to the most serious matters: catastrophic injury and wrongful death.

A Personal Loss That Defined a Professional Mission

Kyle’s commitment to families facing sudden tragedy is also personal. His own mother was killed when she was run over by a concrete mixer truck. That loss gave him an unfiltered understanding of what families endure after a fatal incident: shock, grief, unanswered questions, and financial fear.

Later, he wrote the bestselling book Unthinkable: Real Answers for Families Confronting Catastrophic Injury or Death as both a resource for families and a legacy to his mother. He began writing it within months of her death so that other families facing sudden loss would have clear, practical guidance from someone who had lived through it himself. The book received positive critical attention, including a favorable review from Kirkus Reviews, and was featured by Forbes on its list of recommended “life hack” books for navigating major life crises. Unthinkable is now available in Spanish as well as in audiobook format so it is accessible to as many families as possible.

In his office is a wall filled with photographs of families. Not photographs of Kyle’s own family, but the families he has represented, each photograph including a loved one who was killed and the family they left behind.

Founder of the Firm’s Elite Litigation Group

Kyle created and leads the firm’s Elite Litigation Group—a dedicated team of experienced trial lawyers and in-house victims’ advocates who handle only catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.

His personal practice is concentrated on these matters of the highest stake. The group pairs trial lawyers with victims’ advocates so families receive both first-rate legal representation and continuous human support from inside the firm, meeting families where their needs are.

He was among the first Colorado lawyers to integrate dedicated victims’ advocates directly into civil wrongful death representation.

Helping More Colorado Families Through Wrongful Death Each Year

Kyle Bachus has devoted his practice exclusively to wrongful death and catastrophic injury for years. Each year, he and his Elite Litigation Group at Bachus & Schanker help more Colorado families through wrongful death cases than any other individual plaintiff lawyer in the state.

At any given time, his team is working directly with approximately 25 grieving families, guiding them through the legal, practical, and personal consequences of a fatal loss.

A Holistic Approach to Supporting Families

Kyle and his team take a truly holistic approach to representation.

They pursue the civil wrongful death case aggressively and precisely while also supporting the family as people. Through their Bachus & Schanker victims’ advocates, families receive clear communication, help coordinating resources, and day-to-day support that goes beyond court filings and legal strategy.

The goal is not only legal accountability but helping families navigate everything that follows a sudden death.

Protecting Families in Both Civil and Criminal Courts – Enforcing Colorado’s Victims’ Rights Act

When a death or serious injury also leads to criminal charges, Kyle’s team ensures families are protected in both systems at once.

They enforce families’ rights under Colorado’s constitutional Victims’ Rights Act (VRA) so families are informed, present, and heard throughout the criminal case, while the civil wrongful death action proceeds in parallel.

Victims’ advocates from the firm stand beside families through the criminal process, helping them understand what is happening and ensuring their rights under the Colorado Constitution are protected.

This coordinated civil-and-criminal advocacy is a defining part of the team’s holistic model.

Writing and Changing Colorado Law to Protect FamiliesThe Made Whole Doctrine – C.R.S. § 10-1-135

Kyle authored the legislation that became Colorado’s “made whole” statute, C.R.S. § 10-1-135, and stood with the Governor when it was signed into law.

Before this statute, health insurance companies and disability insurers routinely attempted to take money back out of an injured person’s settlement or verdict to reimburse themselves for medical or disability payments, even when the injured person had not been fully compensated.

The made-whole rule changed that. Under Colorado law, those insurance payers generally cannot take reimbursement from a person’s recovery unless and until the person has first been fully compensated, or “made whole,” for their losses.

This statute protects families from having their recovery reduced by reimbursement claims from health insurers, disability insurers, or similar payers before they themselves have actually been made whole.

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Law – C.R.S. § 10-4-609

Kyle was also instrumental in drafting and passing amendments to Colorado’s uninsured/underinsured motorist statute, C.R.S. § 10-4-609, closing loopholes that had allowed insurers to limit or deny the very coverage people bought to protect themselves and their families.

The Colorado Supreme Court Decision in Fisher v. State Farm

As both trial and appellate counsel in Fisher v. State Farm, Kyle obtained a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that insurers cannot withhold undisputed uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits as leverage to force settlement.

When benefits are clearly owed under C.R.S. § 10-4-609, the insurer must pay them.

That protection for Colorado families exists because Kyle fought this case to the state’s highest court.

Teaching and Educating Lawyers Across Colorado

Since 2003, Kyle has co-chaired and taught the annual statewide seminar on subrogation and reimbursement, educating Colorado lawyers on the made-whole doctrine, insurance reimbursement rights, and related wrongful death and injury issues.

He is regularly consulted by other attorneys on the interaction between wrongful death law, insurance reimbursement and subrogation, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and parallel criminal proceedings under the VRA.

Lawyers throughout Colorado refer their most serious death cases to him because of this depth of focused, specialized experience.

Credentials, honors, and professional distinctions

• AV Preeminent® rating, Martindale-Hubbell
• Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
• Colorado Super Lawyers (Personal Injury) – 20 consecutive years
• Recognized annually among Colorado’s top plaintiff personal injury lawyers in major peer-review publications
• Lawyers of Distinction – Personal Injury Law
• Law Leaders – Personal Injury Attorney recognition
• Best of the Best Attorneys – Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney
• Lawdragon – Top 500 Leading Personal Injury Lawyers in America
• The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 – Civil Plaintiff
• Author of the bestselling book Unthinkable (also available in Spanish and audiobook)
• Co-founder of Bachus & Schanker, LLC (1996)
• Founder and leader of the firm’s Elite Litigation Group for wrongful death and catastrophic injury
• Co-chair and longtime instructor of Colorado’s annual subrogation and reimbursement seminar (since 2003)
• ColoradoBiz Media 2026 Colorado 500 Power List

Plaintiff-Only, Families-Only

Kyle has never once represented an insurance company or a large corporate defendant, not even a single time. He has no desire to do so. His entire career has been devoted to representing people and families, not insurers or billion-dollar corporations.

Every major case, credential, and legal reform associated with his name was earned standing opposite insurance companies and powerful defendants on behalf of injured people and grieving families.

If you are an insurance company or a corporate defendant, he is the lawyer you may face across the aisle.

If you are a member of a family, he is the lawyer who has spent 30 years on your side.

His Life’s Work

Kyle Bachus has spent three decades standing beside families after catastrophic injury or death, supporting them holistically, protecting their rights under Colorado law and the Colorado Constitution, changing the statutes that govern insurance and reimbursement, teaching other lawyers how to handle these cases correctly, and holding insurers and wrongdoers accountable.

He continues to actively represent families in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases today. If your family is facing this kind of loss, you can reach out to speak with him directly. He would be honored to meet with and work alongside families in need of this help.

It is his life’s work.