Hiring a Workers' Compensation Lawyer in Colorado
The limits on workers' comp lawyer fees in Colorado, filing deadlines, how to check a lawyer's license, and free state help for injured workers. We do not recommend or rank lawyers.
What a lawyer costs in Colorado: fee rules
| Rules on contingency fees | Colorado's former contingent fee rules (C.R.C.P. Chapter 23.3) were repealed and reenacted in Colo. RPC 1.5(c), effective January 1, 2021. The terms of a contingent fee agreement must be communicated in writing before or within a reasonable time after the representation begins and must include, among other things: the names of lawyer and client; the claim and each event that triggers the lawyer's right to be paid; how the fee is figured, including the percentage or amounts on settlement, trial, appeal or other final disposition and whether it is computed before or after deducting costs and other amounts owed; what the lawyer may be paid if the representation ends early; an estimate of expenses, whether the lawyer may advance them and the client's obligation to pay expenses if there is no recovery; the possibility of court-awarded costs or fees against or in favor of the client; and the client's rights if the lawyer brings in associated counsel. Colorado's Rule 1.5(d) prohibits domestic relations fees contingent on securing a divorce or on the amount of alimony, support or property settlement, and contingent fees for representing a criminal defendant. Repeal of C.R.C.P. 23.3: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Rule_Change_2020-31.pdf |
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| If you disagree with a lawyer's bill | The Colorado Bar Association's Legal Fee Arbitration Committee provides a service to help lawyers and clients resolve fee disputes, as referenced by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Colorado Bar Association committee: http://www.cobar.org/For-Members/Committees/Legal-Fee-Arbitration-Committee |
| If a lawyer takes your money | Colorado's Attorneys' Fund for Client Protection may compensate clients who lost money or property because a Colorado-licensed attorney, acting as their lawyer or court-appointed fiduciary, received and converted it. Fee disputes, poor investments and malpractice are not covered. The limit is $50,000 per claim, with an aggregate maximum of $100,000 for all claims against a single attorney; no interest is paid. Claims must be filed within three years of when you knew or should have known of the dishonest conduct. There is no filing fee; the claim form must be signed and notarized. Fund page: https://www.coloradolegalregulation.com/complaints/cpf/ |
Colorado rules to know first
| Lawyer fee limits | Colorado workers' comp attorneys must give clients a written fee agreement. In unappealed contested cases, a contingent fee above 25% of the contested benefits is presumed unreasonable, and no contingent fee may be applied to previously incurred medical benefits in a permanent disability award. At the request of the worker or the attorney, the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation decides which benefits were contested and whether the fee is reasonable (request within 180 days after the final order); the Director may allow more than 25% if an appeal was perfected or the attorney devoted an extraordinary amount of time. |
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| Deadline to file a claim | The right to compensation is barred unless a written notice claiming compensation is filed with the Division within two years after the injury or death. The limit does not apply if compensation has already been paid, or if the Director finds within three years that there was a reasonable excuse for the delay and the employer was not harmed by it. Payment of medical bills alone does not count as compensation. Longer rules apply to certain occupational diseases (such as radiation exposure, asbestosis and silicosis). Source: C.R.S. § 8-43-103(2) |
| Deadline to challenge a denial | Disputed claims: a notice claiming compensation must be filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation within two years after the injury (three years with a reasonable excuse), and the director and administrative law judges hear disputes. A party dissatisfied with an order that decides compensability or denies a benefit must file a petition to review within 20 days after the date of the certificate of mailing of the order (with the Office of Administrative Courts in Denver for an ALJ order), or the order becomes final; the matter then goes to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office panel. A party dissatisfied with the panel's final order may bring an action in the Colorado Court of Appeals. Read in the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 (Office of Legislative Legal Services title PDF); laws passed in 2025-2026 are not reflected. The time limit for the court of appeals action was not found in the part of § 8-43-307 read. |
| Can you sue your employer? | Suing the employer: a Colorado employer that has complied with the workers' comp act, including its insurance provisions, and its insurer are not subject to any other liability for an employee's work injury or death, and all other causes of action and remedies are abolished except as the act provides. If the employer has not complied, the employer loses the defenses of assumption of risk, fellow-servant negligence and the employee's non-willful negligence in a damages suit. Read in the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 (Office of Legislative Legal Services title PDF); laws passed in 2025-2026 are not reflected. |
| Suing someone other than your employer | Suing someone else: a worker injured by the negligence of someone not in the same employ may take workers' comp and also sue that person. Paying comp assigns the claim to the insurer to the extent of comp it owes, and the insurer is subrogated for economic and impairment/disfigurement damages (not pain and suffering), reduced by the worker's reasonable attorney fees and costs unless the insurer pursues the claim itself or intervenes within 90 days of notice. The worker must give written notice within ten days to the Division of Workers' Compensation and the parties responsible for benefits when making a demand on the third party, and a settlement for less than the comp benefits needs the insurer's written approval. Read in the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 (Office of Legislative Legal Services title PDF); laws passed in 2025-2026 are not reflected. Source: C.R.S. § 8-41-203 |
| Filing a claim online | In Colorado the employer must give notice of a compensable injury to the Division of Workers' Compensation and its insurance carrier (unless self-insured) within ten days after the injury; if the employer does not, anyone may give the notice. The worker's right to compensation is barred unless a notice claiming compensation is filed with the Division within two years after the injury (with limited exceptions, including when compensation has been paid or a reasonable excuse is shown within three years). Notices are made in writing on forms prescribed by the Division. |
Find and check a lawyer
| Lawyer referral service | The Colorado Bar Association does not give legal advice or run a referral line; it offers a Find a Lawyer directory of member attorneys searchable by legal matter, location or name, with a filter for attorneys accepting "alternative fee arrangements" for people with moderate incomes. CBA offices: 303-860-1115, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Contact page: https://www.cobar.org/contact |
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| Check that the lawyer is licensed | The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, an independent office of the Colorado Supreme Court, runs the Attorney / LLP Search & Disciplinary History tool. Search by registration number or by first and last name to see a lawyer's (or licensed legal paraprofessional's) status and disciplinary history; a lawyer must have "active" status and be in good standing to practice in Colorado. Copies of Presiding Disciplinary Judge decisions and orders are linked as a courtesy. |
| Check discipline history or file a complaint | Complaints (requests for investigation) about Colorado lawyers go to the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel's central intake division, by phone at (303) 457-5800 or toll-free (877) 888-1370, or through its online complaint form. Unsolicited emails and anonymous complaints are not accepted. An intake attorney or investigator contacts you, on average within 7 to 14 days. Have ready your contact details, the lawyer's name and registration number, relevant dates, and any court case numbers. Disciplinary history appears in the office's attorney search. |
Free legal help
| Free legal aid | Colorado Legal Services, the LSC-funded legal aid program for Colorado, gives free civil legal help to eligible low-income people in family, consumer/debt, housing, senior, government benefits, immigration and other civil matters (not every office handles every case type). Apply with the online intake form at coloradolegalservices.org or call your local office. The courts' local Self-Help Centers answer questions about court cases and forms. CBA page: https://www.cobar.org/For-the-Public/What-to-do-if-you-need-a-Lawyer |
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All legal help in Colorado · Background guide
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.