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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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 jury'…
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 not…
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 clients…
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 t…
What must Colorado legal aid lawyers do when their program loses funding and they can no longer represent all their clients?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 seek …
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 regularly…
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 i…
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 conflict…
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 creat…
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 co…
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 t…
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 f…
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 make…
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 litiga…
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 sugge…
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, suc…
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 selle…
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 agen…
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 co…
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 co…
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 or…
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 bro…
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 co…
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 ca…
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, because…
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, becaus…
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 or…
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 corporat…
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 instrument …
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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 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.