At a Glance

• Primary rules: Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.6. Separate lead-generation restrictions under C.R.S. 6-1-741 took effect August 12, 2026; traditional clearly identified legal marketing and specified persons are addressed separately.
• Responsible advertiser: Communications under Rule 7.2 must identify at least one responsible lawyer or law firm and provide contact information.
• Solicitation records: Rule 7.3(f) requires five years of retention for covered solicitations, subject to specified recipient exceptions.
• Injury-related outreach: Rule 7.3(d) imposes a more-than-30-day restriction, relationship exceptions and additional safeguards.
• Specialist certification: Rule 7.2(c) governs qualifying certifications. Comment 11A supplies Colorado’s specific certification disclaimer.

Rule 7.2 · Rule 7.3 · Rule 7.1

Read source: Rule 7.2 · Rule 7.3 · Rule 7.1

Who Regulates

The Colorado Supreme Court regulates the legal profession and adopts the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel investigates and prosecutes professional-conduct complaints. Formal disciplinary cases are handled through the Presiding Disciplinary Judge and the disciplinary process. The Colorado Bar Association publishes a rule compilation linked by the regulator, but it is not the disciplinary authority.

The operative rule text controls. Comments explain the rules and guide compliance, but do not independently add obligations. That distinction matters when using Colorado’s detailed advertising comments, including the comments on contingent-fee claims and specialist certification. This guide identifies those provisions as comments rather than presenting them as separate statutes.

Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel and rules and procedures; Scope, paragraphs 14 and 21

Read source: Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel · rules and procedures · Scope, paragraphs 14 and 21

What Counts as Advertising

Rule 7.1 covers communications about a lawyer or the lawyer’s services. Its truthfulness standard reaches websites, paid search ads, social posts, videos, print materials, directory profiles, firm names and professional designations. Rule 7.2 permits communications through any media; it does not exempt newer channels from the other rules.

A solicitation is more specific. Under Rule 7.3(a), it is a communication initiated by or for a lawyer or firm, directed to a specific person whom the lawyer knows or reasonably should know needs legal services in a particular matter, and offering or reasonably appearing to offer services for that matter. Comment 1 distinguishes general-public advertising, responses to requests for information and communications automatically generated in response to electronic searches.

Calling a communication an educational update does not settle the issue. Evaluate what it says, why it was sent and what the lawyer knows about the recipient’s circumstances.

Rule 7.1 and comments and Rule 7.2; Rule 7.3

Read source: Rule 7.1 and comments · Rule 7.2 · Rule 7.3

Required Disclosures

Responsible Lawyer Or Firm

Rule 7.2(d) requires the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for a communication’s content. Comment 12 identifies a website address, telephone number, email address or physical office location as contact information. The rule does not universally require a street address. A platform’s small format does not create an express exception to the identification requirement.

Fee Claims

Rule 7.1 comment 3A addresses advertising that states or implies that a client pays no fee without a recovery. The communication must also disclose that the client may be liable for costs or the opposing party’s attorney fees if ordered by a court. The comment excludes communications stating only that contingent or percentage arrangements are available, or only that the initial consultation is free. Do not reduce this disclosure to litigation costs alone.

Fee advertising should also fit the actual engagement terms and Rule 1.5. The current rule prohibits referral fees and nonrefundable fees or retainers. Its comment 3, effective January 1, 2026, also flags other law governing service offers, specifically the pricing-disclosure provisions of C.R.S. 6-1-737. A professional-conduct review alone does not resolve those statutory requirements.

Solicitation Labels And Case-Handling Disclosures

Covered solicitations must carry “Advertising Material” on the outside envelope, if any, and at the beginning and end of recorded or electronic communications. Rule 7.3(f)(1) exempts the recipient categories in paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3). Although paragraph (b)(4) separately permits certain live contact with a licensed legal paraprofessional, it is not included in that labeling exception.

The outside envelope or self-mailing brochure must not reveal the recipient’s legal problem. Injury or wrongful-death solicitations must also disclose when another lawyer will actually handle the matter or the matter will be referred elsewhere.

Rule 7.2(d) and comment 12; Rule 7.1, comment 3A; Rule 1.5 and Rule Change 2025(29); Rule 7.3(d) and (f)

Read source: Rule 7.2(d) and comment 12 · Rule 7.1, comment 3A · Rule 1.5 · Rule Change 2025(29) · Rule 7.3(d) and (f)

Filing, Review & Recordkeeping

The reviewed advertising rules do not establish routine advance filing or approval for every advertisement. That does not make publication approval automatic or transfer responsibility to a marketing vendor.

Rule 7.3(f)(3) requires covered solicitations to be retained for five years from dissemination, including a copy or recording of the communication and a sample envelope, if used. The exemption is limited to the recipients listed in paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3). It does not expressly include the licensed legal paraprofessional category in (b)(4). This is a solicitation retention rule, not a blanket five-year archive mandate for all advertising.

As a practical control, keep the final creative, audience criteria, dissemination dates, fee terms, certification records and support for factual claims. Preserve the version actually sent, including disclosures and envelope design. These broader campaign records are recommended risk-management practices, separate from the rule’s express retention requirement.

Rule 7.3(f)

Read source: Rule 7.3(f)

Results, Testimonials & Comparisons

A literally accurate statement can still be misleading. Rule 7.1 prohibits material misrepresentations and omissions that make the communication, taken as a whole, materially misleading. Comment 3 warns that past achievements can create unjustified expectations when presented without the factual and legal circumstances of the individual matter. Unsubstantiated service, fee or comparative claims also create risk.

For a results page or client testimonial, confirm the underlying facts and the impression created by the headline, image, excerpt and surrounding text. A disclaimer may help explain limits, but it does not turn a false claim into a permissible one. Avoid implying that a prior recovery predicts another client’s outcome or that a ranking establishes an objectively superior result.

Client permission and confidentiality need separate attention. Rule 1.6 protects information relating to a representation, not only confidential communications, and Rule 1.9(c) continues protections for former clients. Do not assume that public litigation records authorize a lawyer to reuse client information in marketing. Obtain an appropriate basis for disclosure before publishing identifiable stories or responding to reviews with case details.

Rule 7.1; Rule 1.6 and Rule 1.9(c)

Read source: Rule 7.1 · Rule 1.6 · Rule 1.9(c)

Specialization & Certification

Colorado distinguishes a truthful description of a practice focus from a claim of specialist certification. Comment 9 to Rule 7.2 permits descriptions such as concentrating or specializing in an area when supported by experience, training or education, subject to Rule 7.1. That does not authorize an unsupported implication that a credentialing body has certified the lawyer.

Under Rule 7.2(c), a certification claim requires certification by an organization approved by an appropriate state, District of Columbia or U.S. territory authority, or accredited by the American Bar Association. The communication must clearly identify the certifying organization.

Current comment 11A specifies this disclosure for an advertisement affirmatively claiming specialist certification: “Colorado does not certify lawyers as specialists in any field.” It exempts information in a law list, law directory or publication intended primarily for the legal profession. Do not omit the statement from consumer-facing advertising merely because the underlying certification is valid.

Rule 7.2(c) and comments 9 through 11; Rule 7.2, comment 11A

Read source: Rule 7.2(c) and comments 9 through 11

Firm, Trade & Domain Names

Rules 7.4 and 7.5 are reserved. Current firm-name guidance appears in the comments to Rule 7.1, so older summaries organized around an operative Rule 7.5 can mislead.

Comment 5 allows nonmisleading trade names, website addresses and social-media usernames. A name must not falsely imply a government connection, a public or charitable legal-services organization, or an association with a lawyer who is not part of the firm or its predecessor. A geographic trade name resembling a public legal clinic may need clarification that the firm is not a public legal-aid organization.

The comments also address multijurisdictional office listings, false impressions that separate lawyers practice as one firm, and the name of a public official who is not actively and regularly practicing with the firm. Identify jurisdictional limitations for lawyers not licensed where the listed office is located.

Rule 5.5(a)(4) separately prohibits leaving a disbarred lawyer’s or licensed legal paraprofessional’s name in the firm name, or the name of a suspended lawyer or paraprofessional who must petition for reinstatement. Office pages and biographies must also respect Colorado’s authorization-to-practice requirements.

Current rule index; Rule 7.1, comments 5 through 8; Rule 5.5

Read source: Current rule index · Rule 7.1, comments 5 through 8 · Rule 5.5

Solicitation & Direct Contact

Live Contact

Rule 7.3(b) restricts live person-to-person solicitation when a significant motive is financial gain for the lawyer or firm. Its exceptions cover lawyers; people with a family, close personal, prior business or professional relationship with the lawyer or firm; routine business users of the offered legal services; and licensed legal paraprofessionals.

Comment 2 describes live contact as in-person meetings, live telephone calls and other real-time visual or auditory encounters without time for reflection. It distinguishes chat rooms, texts and other written communications that recipients can readily disregard. Written outreach still has to meet the remaining solicitation requirements and other applicable law.

Personal Injury And Wrongful Death

Rule 7.3(d) prohibits solicitation through any medium concerning personal injury or wrongful death unless the lawyer has a family or prior business or professional relationship with the person, or the communication is issued more than 30 days after the event. The relationship list here is narrower than the live-contact exception: it does not separately include a close personal relationship.

The rule also bars such communications when the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the person is represented in the matter, and requires the case-handling or referral disclosure described above. The rule expressly cross-references C.R.S. 13-93-111. Check that statute independently before launching an injury-related campaign rather than treating the rule’s timing provision as a complete statutory clearance.

Other Limits

No solicitation may involve coercion, duress or harassment, or continue after the recipient has made a desire not to be solicited known to the lawyer. Rule 7.3 also preserves communications authorized by law or ordered by a court and sets specific conditions for independently operated prepaid or group legal-service plans. Its labeling, envelope-privacy and retention provisions remain separate compliance questions.

Rule 7.3(b) and comments 1 through 3; Rule 7.3(d); Rule 7.3(c), (e), (f) and (g)

Read source: Rule 7.3(b) and comments 1 through 3

Channel-Specific Notes

The same core rules apply to organic pages, paid campaigns and third-party profiles. Keep attorney credentials, office locations, service descriptions and fee statements accurate across the website and the channels that point to it. Rule 8.5 can also make another jurisdiction’s rules relevant to a multistate campaign; a Colorado address alone does not resolve every choice-of-law question.

Rule 7.2(b) generally prohibits paying for recommendations, with specified exceptions for reasonable advertising costs, qualifying referral or legal-service-plan charges, purchases of law practices, nonexclusive reciprocal arrangements with client disclosure, and genuinely nominal appreciation gifts. A promised reward for future referrals is not simply a thank-you gift.

Rule 7.2 comment 5 addresses paid leads, but it is not a complete legal clearance. Effective August 12, 2026, SB26-174 added C.R.S. 6-1-741 and made violations deceptive trade practices under C.R.S. 6-1-105(1)(tttt). The act applies to conduct occurring on or after its effective date. Source: enacted 2026 Session Laws, chapter 345.

The statute defines “lead generation legal marketing” as marketing in which a lawyer, law firm or licensed legal paraprofessional compensates a third party to receive information about a potential client or case. It covers direct and indirect compensation, per-lead and per-case payments, subscriptions and payments through intermediaries or affiliates. Compliant fee sharing among licensed attorneys, firms and licensed legal paraprofessionals is excluded from that definition; the exclusion does not independently authorize a fee arrangement otherwise prohibited by law or court rules.

Subject to subsection (4), the act prohibits paying for or engaging in this defined practice in Colorado and selling leads to lawyers, firms or licensed legal paraprofessionals in the state. Subsection (4) addresses persons authorized by the Colorado Supreme Court to practice in the state; persons working on their behalf when the authorized practitioner, firm or business is clearly identified in the advertising, materials, information or resources; and nonprofit organizations engaged in legal services in the state. These provisions require examination of the actual arrangement and identity disclosures, rather than treating every vendor contract as either automatically exempt or categorically prohibited.

The statute expressly preserves “traditional legal marketing,” defined around clear identification of the practitioner or firm whose services are advertised. Its examples include SEO, pay-per-click, radio, television, streaming, billboards and legal directories with clear identity disclosure. A campaign’s label or billing model alone does not resolve whether its substance fits that provision.

A civil action can seek injunctive relief; an affected attorney, firm, licensed legal paraprofessional or consumer may sue. If a person is held in violation in that action, subsection (6)(c) provides $10,000 per violation plus reasonable attorney fees and costs. Criminal prosecution under subsection (7) depends on conduct constituting a crime under the Colorado Criminal Code, not merely an assumption that every statutory violation automatically creates a new criminal offense. Review the statute and professional rules together before buying, selling or routing leads. C.R.S. 6-1-741(2)–(9), chapter 345.

Rule 7.2’s separate restrictions still matter: the provider must not recommend the lawyer, falsely imply a free referral, or create the impression that it analyzed the person’s legal problem to select the lawyer. Payments and communications must satisfy the applicable fee-division, professional-independence and truthfulness rules. Review the provider’s intake language, sales claims, identity disclosures and compensation structure, not only its description of a “lead.” Rule 7.2(b) and comments 2 through 8.

Rule 5.3 requires appropriate supervision of nonlawyer assistance. Rules 1.5 and 5.4 constrain referral payments, fee sharing and interference with professional judgment. Colorado’s specific provisions for licensed legal paraprofessionals do not create a general exception for commercial marketing companies.

A separate statute, HB26-1421 (2026 Session Laws, chapter 403), also took effect August 12, 2026. According to the General Assembly’s enacted-bill summary, it bars a lawyer or law firm from compensating a provider of administrative or nonlegal business services unless the compensation is not contingent on a percentage of legal fees or revenues and is not determined by recoveries, settlements or other case outcomes, subject to the act’s exemptions; the act repeals September 1, 2029. Check revenue-share or outcome-based marketing-vendor pay against that act as well as the professional rules.

Political contributions used to obtain government legal work or judicial appointments raise a separate restriction under Rule 7.6. And using artificial intelligence to produce or distribute marketing does not remove the lawyer’s obligations: the Court’s January 2026 technology amendments expressly preserve responsibility under the professional rules.

Rules 7.1 and 7.2 and Rule 8.5; Rule 5.3, Rule 5.4 and Rule 1.5; HB26-1421, chapter 403; Rule 7.6 and Rule Change 2026(02)

Read source: Rules 7.1 and 7.2 · Rule 8.5 · Rule 5.3 · Rule 5.4 · Rule 1.5 · Rule 7.6 · Rule Change 2026(02) · HB26-1421

Recent Changes & Scope

Reviewed November 12, 2026. This guide uses the current regulator-linked rule texts and the Colorado Supreme Court’s adopted and proposed rule-change listings reviewed on that date.

The core advertising provisions were substantially reorganized in September 2020; the current solicitation text includes the November 2023 licensed legal paraprofessional amendment. Later developments relevant to marketing review include the January 1, 2026 fee-rule comments about other pricing law and the January 8, 2026 technology amendments. The adopted 2026 amendment to Rule 6.5 concerns limited legal-service programs rather than rewriting the advertising rules.

Statutory update: SB26-174, approved June 3, 2026, became effective August 12, 2026 according to the General Assembly’s session-law listing. Its lead-generation provisions are summarized above; they are enacted law, not a pending professional-rule proposal. This update is not a comprehensive review of implementing rules or litigation about every marketing arrangement. HB26-1421 (chapter 403), the fee-sharing act noted above, appears in the same session-law listing with an August 12, 2026 effective date. No referendum petition on SB26-174 appears among the measures the Secretary of State certified for the November 2026 ballot.

No proposal to amend Rules 7.1 through 7.3 or 7.6 appeared in the current proposed-change listing reviewed for this guide. Recheck the official sources before publishing an advertisement or launching a new campaign, particularly for statutory requirements beyond these professional-conduct rules.

Adopted changes; Proposed changes; 2026 session-law listing; 2026 ballot certification

Read source: Adopted changes · Proposed changes · 2026 session-law listing · 2026 ballot certification

Official Sources

Read the official rules alongside other applicable law and obtain campaign-specific advice.

1. Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, current Colorado Bar Association compilationOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
2. Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel: rules and proceduresOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
3. Rule 7.1: communications, results, fees and firm-name commentsOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
4. Rule 7.2: specific advertising rules, referrals and specializationOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
5. Rule 7.3: solicitation, labels, timing and retentionOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
6. Rule 7.6: political contributions and government engagementsOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
7. Rule 1.5: fees and referral-fee prohibitionOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
8. Rules 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 8.5 through the official rule indexOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
9. Rule Change 2025(29): fee-rule and pricing-law updatesOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
10. Rule Change 2026(02): technology amendmentsOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
11. Colorado Supreme Court adopted and proposed rule changesOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
12. HB26-1421: fee sharing with nonlawyers (chapter 403)Official source · Checked November 13, 2026
13. Colorado General Assembly 2026 session-law listingOfficial source · Checked November 13, 2026
14. Colorado Secretary of State 2026 ballot certificationOfficial source · Checked November 13, 2026

This guide provides general information, not legal advice. Requirements can depend on the facts, the audience, the communication method and other applicable law. Consult qualified Colorado ethics counsel about a specific campaign.