Why is there always a lawsuit?

On May 8, 2026, Michael Mott climbed the perimeter fence at Denver International Airport and walked in front of a Frontier Airlines flight as it was taking off. The engine caught fire, the crew aborted the takeoff, and passengers evacuated down emergency slides onto the runway.

In September, more than 70 passengers, crew members, and an air traffic controller sued. They named the City of Denver, the airport's security contractor, and the mental health facilities responsible for Mott's care. One plaintiff is the daughter of Silva Ermelinda de Cervantes, a Weld County grandmother who had a stroke and died eight days later. The city says it does not bear legal responsibility.

Most people's first reaction to the phrase "a lawsuit has been filed" is an eye roll. In this episode, we take that reaction seriously, then walk through what the complaint alleges. We look at the alarms that went off, the missed warning signs, and a state-funded mental health program that was supposed to provide constant supervision. We also explain why the civil justice system is often the only tool that pushes anyone to fix what failed.

In this episode:

• Initial reaction vs. informed reaction: why lawsuits like this get filed
• Why foreseeability matters, and what it means in a negligence case
• An alarm, a herd of deer, and nine minutes inside the fence
• What "competent to stand trial" means, and what happens when someone isn't
• Colorado's transitional living homes and the gaps in oversight
• How juries split fault among several defendants
• Emotional injuries you can't see, and the wrongful death claim

Read more:

• His long, sad journey to Runway 17L (Colorado Public Radio)
• Lawsuit links DIA runway death to failures in airport security and mental health care (Colorado Public Radio)
• Lawsuit claims a passenger died in aftermath of Denver airport runway suicide (Westword)

Get in touch: Have a topic for us? Email getready@ready-law.com. Find us at ready-law.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

This episode is for general information only and is not legal advice. Ready Law is not involved in this case.

This is the first part of our two-part overview of the personal injury process. Here, we cover everything that happens before a lawsuit is filed. Most injury cases settle in this stage. But they settle well only because the insurance company knows your lawyer will file a lawsuit if it has to.

We go through a claim in the order it happens. We start with choosing a lawyer you trust, then move through the flurry of early investigation, the long middle stretch of medical treatment and the settlement opportunity letter. Then comes the back-and-forth with an insurance company that is counting on you to give in first.

In this episode:

• Why free consultations really are free, and why rapport with your lawyer matters for a case that could take a year or more
• How contingency fees work (ours is one-third of the gross recovery, and if we recover nothing, we get paid nothing)
• What "full and fair compensation" means, and why "we don't know yet" is a good answer early on
• The evidence we go after: police reports, body cam, 911 calls, surveillance video and trucking records
• Why "don't wait" isn't a sales pitch: surveillance gets overwritten, vehicles get scrapped, and Colorado's 182-day notice deadline applies to claims against most government entities
• Getting all the care you need and none of the care you don't, and why the ER-to-PCP referral chain leaves people lost
• Injuries that show up weeks later, like head injuries and trauma responses
• What goes into a settlement opportunity (demand) letter, and when we skip it and file a lawsuit
• Other coverage that may apply: UIM, umbrella and homeowner's policies
• Insurance company shenanigans: lowball first offers, algorithms and blaming the injured person
• Settle or sue? Why that decision always belongs to the client
• What happens after you settle: other claims, liens, and finally delivering the check

📞 Free consultation: (303) 339-8846 🌐 ready-law.com ✉️ Topic ideas or questions: getready@ready-law.com

About Ready Law Ready Law is a personal injury firm in Centennial, Colorado, serving the Denver metro area and all of Colorado. If you or someone you love has been hurt, call us for a free consultation.

This episode is for general information only and is not legal advice. Listening does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different.

When people get hurt, the first question is usually whether they need a lawyer. We think the real question is different: Is it worth it? Can I actually benefit from one? In this episode, Vern and Jennifer Ready answer that honestly. That includes the situations where a lawyer may not be able to help.

We talk about why so many injured people want to "walk it off," and who benefits from the story that people who sue are "takers and fakers." We also cover what you're up against when you take on an insurance company by yourself.

In this episode:

• Why "Do I need a lawyer?" is really "Is it worth it?"
• Who benefits from the idea that people who sue are different from you
• Why the McDonald's hot coffee case still comes up in jury selection
• How insurers sort "minor" injuries using algorithms built on thousands of past claims
• The "what's your out-of-pocket?" question, and why it shortchanges you
• A newer insurance tactic: early deals that cover "reasonable and necessary" medical bills, and the catch in that phrase
• Recorded statements, and why insurers want to talk to you early
• A real case that went from a $400 offer to the full $50,000 policy limit after a lawsuit was filed
• How contingency fees work, and why a free consultation really is free
• When a lawyer may not be able to help: liability and damages problems

Talk to a lawyer. Talk to five. Free consultations cost you nothing and come with no obligation. The information will help you make a better decision, whatever you decide.

📞 Free consultation: (303) 339-8846 🌐 ready-law.com ✉️ Topic ideas or questions: getready@ready-law.com

About Ready Law Ready Law is a personal injury firm in Centennial, Colorado, serving the Denver metro area and all of Colorado. If you or someone you love has been hurt, call us for a free consultation.

This episode is for general information only and is not legal advice. Listening does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

In September 2026, a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit in New York. She says she was plied with alcohol and drugs and sexually assaulted by multiple students at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. Cornell ran a Title IX process, and no criminal charges were filed. After the civil lawsuit was filed, this story exploded. The district attorney reopened the investigation and the governor appointed a special prosecutor.

Vern and Jennifer Ready don't try to decide the facts. That's a jury's job. Instead, they explain how the civil justice system can reach places the criminal system often doesn't.

In this episode:

• Why the lawsuit names Cornell, the fraternity, the sorority, their national organizations, and a bar, not just the alleged offenders
• Duty and reasonableness: who was responsible for keeping students safe
• What Cornell knew before 2024, according to the complaint
• Why the timing of her messages and her report doesn't mean what public opinion says it does
• New York's voluntary intoxication exception to sexual assault, and why Vern calls it broken
• Dram shop laws: when a bar can be responsible for over-serving
• Breach of contract claims against a university
• Dividing fault among defendants, and Colorado's 50/50 rule
• Compensatory vs. punitive damages
• How long a case like this could take, appeals included

The allegations discussed in this episode haven't been proven. Everyone named is presumed innocent of any crime.

Learn more about the case:

• The New York Times: Cornell's sexual assault case (Sept. 30, 2026)
• CornellSeven.com (an independent case archive not affiliated with Ready Law or the parties)

If you need support: RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673.

About Ready Law Ready Law is a personal injury firm in Centennial, Colorado, serving the Denver metro area and all of Colorado. If you or someone you love has been hurt, call us for a free consultation.

📞 (303) 339-8846 🌐 ready-law.com ✉️ getready@ready-law.com 📍 9200 E. Mineral Ave., Suite 100, Centennial, CO 80112

This podcast is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Listening doesn't create an attorney-client relationship.

Get Ready.

Vern and Jennifer Ready are a married couple running an injury law firm in Centennial, Colorado. On Get Ready!, we talk about lawsuits, and why they matter more than you think. Fair warning: we think lawsuits can be awesome. We talk about the frivolous suits you hear jokes about, and the ones where people like you take on powerful interests and win. Each episode, we will discuss hot topics in law. We tackle the news, whether it's a national headline or a local dispute brewing down the street, and talk through how the law applies. We dig into the obstacles people face when they try to get justice, tactics insurance companies use to underpay or deny valid claims, and the gap between what a law was meant to do and what it actually does. We'll look at where the civil justice system works, where it fails, and how it could be better. We'll also celebrate the fights that make our communities safer and more fair. We see these fights up close every day, and we talk about them at the dinner table anyway. Now you can listen in. No law degree required. Subscribe today so you don't miss an episode.

In our first episode, Vern and Jennifer Ready introduce themselves and Ready Law, a family-run personal injury firm in Centennial, Colorado. Then they dig into a case that hit close to home.

Early on August 30, 2026, 19-year-old Evan Suppes was driving home from Colorado Springs on I-25 near Orchard Road in Greenwood Village. Police say another 19-year-old, driving his mother's BMW on a revoked license, hit him from behind at 144 mph and walked away from the scene. Evan died before help could reach him. His family has said they don't expect to get justice.

Vern and Jennifer talk about what justice can look like for a family like Evan's, and the obstacles in the way from day one.

In this episode:

• Why people hurry to blame victims, and how that same instinct shows up in jury rooms
• Criminal vs. civil justice: who decides to bring charges, and why the family doesn't
• "Beyond a reasonable doubt" vs. "more likely than not," and why the difference matters
• Why most injury cases are really insurance recoveries, not people suing their neighbors
• How a taken car key, a permissive user, or an excluded driver can affect insurance coverage
• Negligent entrustment and Colorado's family car doctrine
• What difference money can make after a loss that money can't fix
• How civil cases can force real change, including a policy change by the Colorado State Patrol

Coming up: Damage caps in wrongful death cases, and the Cornell sexual assault case.

News coverage mentioned in this episode:

• Family remembers 19-year-old killed in I-25 crash, driver faces charges for 144 mph wreck (9NEWS)
• Teen arrested in deadly hit-and-run was traveling 144 mph before crash, affidavit says (9NEWS)

Our thoughts are with Evan's family. The charges described in this episode are allegations, and everyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

About Ready Law Ready Law is a personal injury firm in Centennial, Colorado, serving the Denver metro area and all of Colorado. If you or someone you love has been hurt, call us for a free consultation.

📞 (303) 339-8846 🌐 ready-law.com 📍 9200 E. Mineral Ave., Suite 100, Centennial, CO 80112

This podcast is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Listening doesn't create an attorney-client relationship.

Get Ready.