Colorado Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Colorado Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a Colorado water lawyer represent more than one client with water rights on the same river system?
The opinion concluded that representing multiple clients with water rights in the same river system is not by itself a conflict; a conflict arises under Rule 1.7 only when one client's water right…
Could a Colorado lawyer who served on a public quasi-judicial board, or the lawyer's firm, represent clients before that board?
The opinion concluded that the board-member lawyer could not represent clients before the board, even with recusal. It also concluded that the firm was disqualified in most circumstances because the…
When could Colorado prosecutors or government lawyers communicate with represented people during criminal or civil enforcement investigations?
The revised opinion permitted contacts during the investigative stage when authorized by law and generally prohibited them after formal adversarial proceedings began. It identified limited…
How did Colorado Ethics Opinion 94 direct a lawyer to handle client funds claimed by a medical provider or another third party?
The opinion distinguished claims based on a lien, contract, court order, or lawyer-induced reliance. It required prompt distribution of undisputed funds, preservation or interpleader of disputed…
Can a Colorado lawyer agree, as part of settling a case, not to represent other clients against the same defendant or to limit how the lawyer handles future cases?
The opinion concluded that under Rule 5.6(b) a lawyer may not offer or make a settlement that restricts the lawyer's right to practice, including a promise not to represent other claimants against…
What duties does a Colorado lawyer selected and paid by an insurer owe to the insured when the insurer's interests or instructions diverge from the insured's?
The opinion treated the insured, not the carrier, as the lawyer's client and required undivided loyalty, confidentiality, communication, and independent judgment for the insured. Carrier control…
What security measures did revised Colorado Ethics Opinion 90 require when lawyers used email, smartphones, wireless networks, and other communications technology?
The revised opinion required reasonable, risk-based efforts to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure. Routine unencrypted email and smartphone calls were not per se improper, but sensitive…
Could a Colorado lawyer collaborate with financial planners, insurance agents, or document companies to market and prepare living-trust packages?
The opinion concluded that the described ventures commonly violated prohibitions on aiding unauthorized practice, sharing fees, solicitation, and nonlawyer interference with independent judgment. A…
Can a Colorado lawyer settle a malpractice claim with their own client, and what protections does the client get?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may settle a client's malpractice claim against the lawyer only after disclosing the facts and the nature and extent of the claim, advising the client (preferably…
Could a Colorado law firm list nonlawyer staff on letterhead or give them firm business cards?
Yes. The opinion permitted both when the material clearly identified the employee as a nonlawyer and was not false or misleading, while holding the firm responsible for staff misuse of the cards or…
Can a Colorado lawyer keep a client's papers as a retaining lien for unpaid fees, and when is asserting that lien ethically off limits?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may ethically assert a statutory retaining lien on a client's papers when a client who can afford to pay fees fails or refuses to, but may not assert the lien in…
Can a Colorado lawyer participate in a prepaid or group legal service plan, and what conditions must the plan meet?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may participate in a prepaid legal service plan only if the plan complies with the governing rules: the plan member (not the plan) must be the client, the plan…
What did Colorado Ethics Opinion 80 require when opposing counsel made an obvious commercial-closing mistake that benefited the lawyer's client?
The revised opinion required the lawyer to advise disclosure when silence would be a knowing misrepresentation about a basic contract term. If the client refused, the lawyer had to withdraw, and the…
Can a Colorado lawyer send a paralegal or other nonlawyer assistant to appear at a deposition, hearing, or administrative proceeding to represent a client?
The opinion concluded that using a nonlawyer legal assistant to represent a client at a deposition, or at a hearing or administrative proceeding where the task is the practice of law, aids the…
Can a Colorado lawyer use a medical-legal consulting firm on a contingent or modified contingent fee basis in a malpractice or personal injury case?
The opinion concluded that using a medical-legal consulting firm on a contingent or modified contingent fee basis raises serious risks under the Code of Professional Responsibility, including…
Can a Colorado lawyer advertise as 'experienced' in personal injury or other litigation areas without substantial trial experience?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who advertises must be or promptly become competent in the advertised area, that a lawyer without substantial trial experience misleads the public by claiming to…
When could a Colorado lawyer contact current or former employees of a represented adverse organization without its counsel's consent?
The 2010 revision barred contact with specified current constituents who dealt with counsel, could bind the organization, or whose conduct could be imputed to it. Former constituents and mere fact…
Can a Colorado lawyer send a newsletter about legal developments to clients and prospective clients, and must the lawyer disclose if someone else wrote it?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may send a newsletter on current legal developments to existing clients and to non-clients, even where pecuniary gain is a significant motive, so long as it…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer in Colorado contact the defendant's insurance adjuster directly once the insured is represented by defense counsel?
The opinion concluded that once a claimant's or plaintiff's lawyer knows the insurance company has retained counsel to represent its insured in the matter, that lawyer may not communicate, or cause…
Could a Colorado lender recover attorney fees for collection or foreclosure work performed by salaried in-house counsel?
Yes, but only the reasonable pro rata salary and benefits actually attributable to the matter. The opinion excluded overhead and support costs because any excess would be an unreasonable fee or…
Can defense counsel in a Colorado personal injury or malpractice case talk ex parte with the plaintiff's treating physician once the plaintiff has put a medical condition in issue?
The opinion concluded that although a plaintiff who pleads a physical or mental condition impliedly waives the physician-patient or psychologist-client privilege for that condition, defense counsel…
After a verdict, can a Colorado trial lawyer tell the jurors about evidence that was suppressed or never admitted at trial?
The opinion concluded that after a verdict it is improper for a lawyer who participated in the trial to tell the jury about information not presented at trial if it is disclosed to criticize the…
Could a Colorado lawyer charge a contingent fee to collect past-due or future child support or spousal maintenance?
The opinion permitted a reasonable contingent fee to collect support arrears because each overdue installment was already a fixed judgment. It prohibited contingent fees on future child support or…
What matters can a lawyer who serves part-time as a county or municipal judge represent clients in, and does the conflict extend to the lawyer's firm?
The opinion concluded that a part-time judge may not represent a client in any matter likely to come, or that has come, before the judge or derived from such a matter; a part-time county judge may…
Can a Colorado lawyer take a job with a traffic-ticket clinic that is owned and operated by nonlawyers?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not enter an employment relationship with a traffic clinic owned and controlled by nonlawyers where the clinic sets the fee schedule, collects fees from…
Could a Colorado prosecutor condition dismissal or a plea concession on the defendant releasing civil claims against the government or police?
The opinion rejected coercive or blanket release-dismissal demands. It recognized a narrow case-specific exception only when related charges were well founded, no known serious civil-rights…
What are a Colorado lawyer's ethical duties when using paralegals and other nonlawyer assistants?
The opinion set out guidelines: a lawyer must ascertain an assistant's abilities, limitations, and training and limit the assistant's duties accordingly; train the assistant on the ethical standards…
What must Colorado legal aid lawyers do when their program loses funding and they can no longer represent all their clients?
The opinion concluded that as substantial defunding becomes reasonably evident, legal services lawyers must protect existing clients first: notify clients, set priorities, inform the courts, and…
May a Colorado lawyer condition settlement of a malpractice action on the claimant withdrawing a disciplinary grievance against the defendant lawyer?
The opinion concluded that defense counsel may not condition a civil malpractice settlement on withdrawal of a grievance against the lawyer-client. Its 1998 addendum permitted resolution of related…
When a law-firm member takes a judicial or public office that keeps the lawyer from practicing, can the firm keep the lawyer's name in its firm name and on its letterhead?
The opinion concluded that when a firm member takes a judicial, legislative, or public executive or administrative office for a substantial period during which the lawyer is not actively and…
When can a Colorado lawyer use the term 'associates' on a letterhead, and when is it misleading?
The opinion concluded that it is improper to use 'associates' to describe lawyers who merely share office space and some costs but do not share responsibility or liability for each other's acts, and…
Can a lawyer who serves as counsel to a public body, like a county or special district, represent private clients in matters before that body?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who represents a governmental body has the responsibilities of a public official and may not represent a client in a matter before that body that creates a…
Can one lawyer represent both spouses in a Colorado dissolution-of-marriage case?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not represent both parties to a dissolution where conflicting interests exist, and because property, support, custody, or maintenance issues nearly always…
Can a lawyer who serves as a municipal attorney also defend criminal defendants in that municipality's court or in cases involving the municipality?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer employed as a municipal attorney may not represent a defendant prosecuted in that municipal court; the lawyer may, with proper consent, defend in a non-municipal…
When an insurer hires a lawyer to defend its insured, whose interests come first if the insurer and the insured disagree on strategy?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer hired by a liability insurer to defend its insured must represent the insured with undivided fidelity and may not take any position potentially disadvantageous to…
Can a lawyer take over a matter from another lawyer the client wants to replace?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may properly accept employment on a matter previously handled by another lawyer, provided the superseding lawyer has assured himself that the client has given the…
Can a lawyer accept a referral fee from the title-examining lawyer he selects for a client, without telling the client?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a lawyer to accept, or for another lawyer to pay, a referral fee unless it is based on a division of service or responsibility, and unless the lawyer…
Can a personal-injury lawyer advance living expenses to an injured client, to be repaid out of any recovery?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a lawyer in a personal-injury case to advance living expenses to or for an injured client, because doing so amounts to acquiring an interest in the…
Can lawyers contribute to and solicit funds for a judicial candidate's campaign, and what campaign tactics are off-limits?
The opinion concluded that lawyers may contribute reasonable amounts to judicial-campaign funds and solicit contributions from others, but may not give or receive excessive contributions or ones…
What kinds of public statements about a pending case may a lawyer not make to the press, radio, or television?
The opinion set out a statement of principles, embellishing Canon 20, identifying categories of statements about pending civil and criminal cases that lawyers should not originate for publication,…
Can a lawyer who represents a lending institution take referrals of its loan customers and also represent the seller, buyer, or borrower in the same deal?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer for a financial institution may not let the institution systematically refer its loan customers to him for their own legal services, and may not represent the…
Can a lawyer let a collection agency put the lawyer's name or signature on a summons the agency's lay staff prepared without the lawyer's involvement?
The opinion concluded that it is unethical for a lawyer to consent to an arrangement in which the lawyer's name or signature appears on a summons that is in fact prepared by the client collection…
Can a law firm keep its offices inside the premises of a financial-institution client when a firm member is also an executive of the institution?
The opinion concluded that a firm may locate its offices in a financial-institution client's premises even when a firm member is an executive there, but the firm must take great care that the close…
Can an insurance company select and pay the lawyer who represents a minor's guardian in getting court approval of an injury settlement?
The opinion concluded that it is unethical for a lawyer to represent a minor's guardian in obtaining court approval of an injury settlement when the lawyer was selected or employed by the insurance…
Can a lawyer sue a client or use a collection agency to recover an agreed, unpaid legal fee?
The opinion concluded that, although lawsuits and controversies over fees should be avoided, a lawyer may ethically recover an agreed, unpaid fee either by suing the client in the lawyer's own name…
Can a lawyer prepare deeds and closing documents for a non-broker firm that sells home-selling services to property owners?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a lawyer to prepare legal documents for the sale of real property at the request of a firm that sells home-selling services but does not act as a true…
Can an attorney who sits on a city council represent defendants charged with city-ordinance violations in that city's municipal court?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for an attorney who is also a city councilman to appear for defendants prosecuted for city-ordinance violations in the municipal court, because the council…
Can a municipal judge and the city attorney who appears before that judge share the same suite of law offices for their private practices?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a municipal judge and a city attorney to engage in private law practice in the same suite of offices, because the arrangement implies the city attorney…
Can a lawyer retained by a lending institution to give it a title opinion allow that opinion to be sold to the institution's borrower?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer retained by a lending institution to render a title opinion may not sell, or acquiesce in the sale of, a copy of that opinion to the institution's customer,…
Can a Colorado lawyer who only rents office space to other lawyers list them as part of his firm or as associated with him?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who merely rents space to other lawyers may not represent, by letterhead, phone listing, or otherwise, that they are associated with him or part of his firm,…
Can Colorado lawyers who only share office space and expenses list each other as "associates" on their letterheads?
The opinion concluded that lawyers whose only real relationship is sharing office space and expenses may not list each other as "associates" on their letterheads, because that implies a partnership…
Can a professional corporation made up of lawyers be a partner in a Colorado law partnership, and how must the firm describe it?
The opinion concluded that it is ethically proper for a professional corporation consisting of one or more lawyers to practice law in partnership with individual lawyers or other professional…
How much can a Colorado lawyer charge for a foreclosure, and can the fee be higher because a non-client debtor or purchaser pays it?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not agree to, charge, or collect an illegal or clearly excessive fee for handling a foreclosure, that a fee amount specified in the note or security…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Colorado Bar Association interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are advisory, not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.