Peter W. Burg

Peter W. Burg J.D. is one of America’s leading trial lawyers and one of the country’s foremost legal experts handling claims for persons with traumatic brain and/or spinal cord injuries. Mr. Burg is a senior shareholder at Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, a national trial firm known for fighting for victims of negligence, malfeasance, malpractice, and abuse that has secured over $1 billion in verdicts, settlements, and judgments on behalf of its clients.

Over the course of his career spanning nearly four decades, Mr. Burg has successfully represented high-profile cases including significant and catastrophic injuries arising from product liability, dangerous pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, construction defects, motor vehicle and trucking crashes, ski accidents, and mass tort litigation.

As an expert in traumatic brain and spinal cord injury litigation, Mr. Burg has negotiated numerous multi-million dollar settlements on behalf of his clients. Mr. Burg is committed to educating the public about the consequences posed by these injuries and to help individuals understand their legal rights. In a case filed against Hertz Corporation, Burg obtained $3.25 million in a jury award on behalf of a client who sustained serious injuries after a motor vehicle collision with a Hertz employee. Mr. Burg also recently obtained several multi-million dollar settlements in matters involving traumatic brain injuries, and settled two wrongful-death matters and obtained multi-million dollar settlements in both cases. Peter Burg has been recognized by the U.S. Legal 500 as a “particularly strong and intelligent leader” and shows “the ability to try cases when necessary and to settle cases for top value when settlement is clearly in the client’s best interest.”

Burg has taken on “Big Pharma” and medical device manufacturers in multiple dangerous drug and device mass tort cases including Zyprexa, Vioxx, Gadolinium-based contrast agents (in which he served as co-lead national lawyer appointed by the federal judge overseeing the consolidated litigation) and Wright Medical Technology hip fractures and metal-on-metal claims (where he also serves as part of the State and Federal Leadership Group). His work on these cases has led to recoveries on behalf of thousands of clients who have suffered injuries, obtaining settlements that significantly improve their lives.

Peter Burg has been selected to The Best Lawyers in America peer-review listing from 2008-2022 and Colorado Super Lawyers list from 2006-2022. In 2013, Mr. Burg received the University of Denver Sturm College of Law’s Law Star Award for Outstanding Alumni.

AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, Mr. Burg has consistently been listed in Best Lawyers in America and Colorado’s “Super Lawyers." He has also been recognized as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and received the "Lawyer of Year" award in 2014 by Best Lawyers in America. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award by America’s Top 100 Attorneys, and was selected as a Top Lawyer by 5280 Magazine from 2019-2022.

Burg is a member of the Colorado and Arizona state bars, and he’s an Adjunct Professor of Law at his alma mater, the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and belongs to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), the Faculty of Federal Advocates (FFA), and the Melvin M. Belli Society.

Burg was admitted to the practice of law in 1980 after receiving a J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan. He lives in Denver where he is involved with numerous philanthropic and community initiatives. Peter is actively engaged in the brain and spinal injury community. He is a former member of both the Craig Hospital Operating Board and Foundation Board having served the maximum 6-year terms on both boards. Peter is also a former Board Chair of Craig’s Operating Board, a past Craig Hospital PUSH Dinner Chair, and a long-time member of Craig’s PUSH event planning committee. Craig Hospital is a Denver-based hospital that is world-renowned as a premier center for specialty rehabilitation and research for people with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. He also is a frequent lecturer around the country on numerous litigation topics involving catastrophic injury matters often focused on medical and legal issues in traumatic brain injury cases. He also is involved with the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado, the Ali Meyer Foundation, and the Anti-Defamation League.

In addition, the firm is in the tenth year of its annual scholarship essay competition, offering graduating Colorado seniors the opportunity to win monetary prizes for the best essays about the importance of the jury system as the guardian of American rights and liberties. To date, Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine has awarded over $100,000 in college scholarships to deserving Colorado youth while educating them about the legal system.