Colorado: no statutory cap
Colorado imposes no statutory cap on the contingency fee percentage in personal injury cases. The rate is set by private agreement, subject to a general reasonableness standard under Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 rather than a fixed legal ceiling.
A real minority of states do cap fees
Several other states have taken a different approach, setting a hard statutory ceiling on what a personal injury attorney can charge. Michigan caps contingent fees at 33.33% across all personal injury cases. California caps fees specifically in medical malpractice cases on a tiered scale. These represent a genuine minority approach nationally — most states, like Colorado, leave the rate to negotiation.
Colorado almost joined them, then traded it away
In 2024, a proposed ballot initiative — Initiative 170 — would have capped attorney contingency fees in personal injury and wrongful death cases at 25% of the client's total award. It was withdrawn before reaching the ballot, not for lack of momentum, but as part of a broader legislative compromise: in exchange, Colorado passed House Bill 24-1472, which more than doubled the state's non-economic damages cap to $1.5 million. A separate initiative to eliminate the damages cap entirely was withdrawn at the same time. The net result: no fee cap, but a much higher damages ceiling than before.
A reasonableness standard still applies
The absence of a hard cap doesn't mean any percentage is automatically acceptable. Colorado's rules still require the total fee to be reasonable, and require the written agreement to properly disclose the triggering event and how costs are handled.