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Here at Colorado Lawyer Team, we craft our fees based on your unique case. In most cases, we have a rough idea of what your criminal case will cost and try to do most—if not all—of our criminal defense representation on a flat fee basis. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to predict the total cost of family law matters, and most of those cases are billed hourly.

WHAT WE CAN PROMISE THOUGH IS OPEN AND HONEST COMMUNICATION ABOUT LEGAL FEES ON YOUR CASE, ALWAYS.o

To that end, we wanted to provide a few guidelines for what your case might cost, and some resources that can help you make the right decision when it comes to hiring a lawyer. Although we will not be able to help you for free (or pro bono), we can most definitely give you the information to help you succeed with one of our DIY packages or provide some info on how to finance your case (see: https://colawteam.com/proud-to-help-clients-afford-legal-help/).

ARE THERE ANY HIDDEN FEES?

No, not really. But, we do require clients to pay for costs associated with their case. Sometimes clients will have to contract with experts directly to pay their bill, but on many cases our firm will front these expenses and recoup them from you later. Costs such as this are separate from the costs of legal representation (investigators, experts, mileage, postage, etc. are all paid separately) or the cost of going to trial.

Criminal trial fees are likewise quoted as flat fees, but will be assessed only after the case sets for trial. The reason for that is we’re not really sure how long or complex a trial is going to be until we’ve seen discovery and completed our initial investigation. If you come to us for a quote and the case is already set for trial, we will likely charge you a much higher fee than if we were to have handled the case from the beginning. Also, many of our cases never make it to trial! Frankly, we’re really good at negotiating, so why charge you money only to refund it to you later?

WE WILL WORK WITH YOU AND MAKE YOU THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR TEAM!

So, how do we price your case?

  • First, check out this article about why lawyers are just so darned expensive: https://colawteam.com/blog/why-do-lawyers-cost-so-much/
  • Next, consider the seriousness of your criminal charges. Check out this page for more on the difference between levels of offenses (misdemeanors and felonies) in Colorado
  • After that, consider how many people are involved in your situation. Are we talking about a one-day trial with just a few witnesses, or is this a week-long trial? If you don’t want to go to trial and expect a quick resolution with an acceptable plea agreement being reached, great… now, how long will that take in an age of COVID-19 court closures?
  • Lastly, we consider the travel necessary to help you. Is this a location near one of our remote offices? Are they offering virtual court appointments? Will our amazing and unpredictable Colorado weather cause problems for winter court dates? Never fear, though, our firm is 100% virtual and can help in over a third of the state of Colorado. Our attorneys have experience throughout the Denver Metro Area, many mountain communities, the Northern Front Range, rural Northeastern Colorado, and the Southern Front Range of Colorado. (see our practice areas here: https://colawteam.com/locations)

    We adjust for those factors and more when we quote you a price. We use the following general guidelines to craft the right price point for both you and us to achieve the necessary goals in your case. For example, this is our basic outline for criminal defense flat fee work.

  • Traffic Cases: $800 per court appearance
  • Serious Traffic Cases: $2,500+ (includes DMV assistance)
  • Protection Orders in Civil Court: $2,000
  • Sealing/Deregistration: $2,000
  • DUI’s: $4,500+ (includes DMV assistance)
  • Municipal Cases: $2,000-4,000, generally
  • Probation Revocations: $2,000+
  • Misdemeanor Cases: $5,500+
  • Misdemeanor Sex Offense Cases: $7,500+
  • Drug Felonies: $6,000+
  • Simple Felonies: $7,500+
  • Financial Crime Felonies: $15,000+
  • Complex Felonies: $10,000+
  • Felony Sex Offense Cases: $25,000+
  • F2 & F1 require custom quotes

We take each client’s financial situation into account when quoting them a fee.

These fee ranges are not hard and fast rules but are provided to you simply so you can be aware up front of the fees you’re likely to be charged. We certainly will work with anyone who needs a bit more help to afford us. Our standard practice is only to require 50% of the fee paid up front to begin work on our criminal cases. Even then, we’ll make it as easy on you as possible and send you the engagement letter and the fee agreement to you electronically for processing. You can pay and sign from your cell phone, and we’re opening your case within the next business day, usually!

Will you do refunds if I change my mind or if my case settles unexpectedly?

In hourly cases, the unused retainer amount is 100% refundable. Typically, we will hold the retainer for 30-60 days to allow for any lingering bills to be paid out as several vendors (including the state’s electronic filing system) bill in arrears. With our flat fee cases, the engagement agreement will specify when and if you’re entitled to a refund. Most of the time, the flat fee is earned in full and a refund, if any, would be discretionary with the attorney assigned to the case after discussion with the rest of the team. Any unused cost retainers are likewise fully refundable after the final bills have been accounted for on a case.

Please ask us about your case and how best to be able to afford the best legal team for you, today!