Christopher Yvars (Partner-Denver, CO) and Kim Koehler (Partner-Denver, CO) defended a national self-storage company in Denver County District Court in a case brought by one of its renters. The plaintiff sued the client for approximately $100,000 in alleged property damage, plus attorney’s fees and costs.  She alleged that another renter was running an illegal chop shop out of his storage unit, which resulted in a fire that spread to and damaged other units, including the plaintiff’s. The plaintiff pled a single claim of gross negligence against the client in an attempt to plead around the waiver in her rental agreement, which clearly prohibits any simple negligence claims. Through discovery, Chris and Kim found that the plaintiff’s damages valuation was substantially inflated, and that she had discarded important evidence. They were ultimately successful in moving to dismiss plaintiff’s gross negligence claim against the client. Subsequent to the order of dismissal, the plaintiff filed a motion to bring new claims against the storage facility under Colorado's Premises Liability Act, and breach of contract and negligence theories. The court agreed with Chris and Kim’s opposition and denied the plaintiff’s motion, noting that allowing her counsel to essentially restart the case based on claims that could have been but were not asserted in the original complaint would undermine the purpose and spirit of the rules.