In short, a Colorado civil litigation attorney is simply an attorney who practices civil law in civil court. Civil law is the set of laws that serve to help victims of the wrongful or illegal behaviors of one party to be compensated for injuries or harm suffered.
In general, most civil law cases in Colorado are tort cases. Although the exact definition of what constitutes a tort varies by state, the legal term “tort” in Colorado refers to a wrongful act or an infringement of a right, other than a legal right under contract, which leads to civil legal liability.
Tort violations may occur either due to the intentional actions of a party, the negligent actions or inaction of a party, or by a party violating certain laws. Once again, if a tort is committed, Colorado law grants the victim the legal right to civilly sue the person who allegedly harmed them.
Tort laws in Colorado result in many different tort and other civil causes of action. Examples of the most common types of cases heard in civil court that pertain to civil laws include:
- Cases involving the negligent actions of another person, such as car accidents;
- Cases involving the fraudulent actions of another person;
- Cases involving a sales contract or service agreement;
- Cases involving intentional physical torts such as civil battery or assault;
- Cases involving intentional property torts such as conversion or other theft crimes;
- Cases involving emotional torts, such as defamation, libel, slander, and/or an invasion of privacy.
In addition to the above cases involving injuries to one’s person or property, the other major type of cases that makeup a significant portion of Colorado’s civil court’s caseload are cases regarding family law matters and administrative law matters.
Colorado civil courts also hear a variety of different civil matters, including issues surrounding:
- Visitation and custody of children;
- Advisory matters;
- Spousal maintenance or alimony;
- Child support;
- The loss of parental rights;
- Paternity and adoption;
- Child abuse and child neglect matters.
When to Hire a Civil Litigation Attorney?
Once again, when a person in Colorado who is harmed in some way as a result of another party’s actions is legally allowed to file a civil lawsuit against the wrongdoer. A local Colorado lawyer will be most familiar with Colorado’s civil laws and statutes, as well as the entire civil procedure process involved in initiating a lawsuit against a party for damages.
It is often advised to enlist the aid of an attorney as soon as possible. This is because enlisting the aid of an attorney earlier in the process may result in fewer issues arising later on during the lawsuit. They may also be able to resolve the case without the necessity of a civil lawsuit.
Further, if your civil matter is a family matter, an attorney will be familiar with the laws and civil process involved in pursuing those matters as well. This means that involving them, in the beginning, will allow you to ensure that your legal rights are protected during any pre-trial proceeding, such as a temporary orders hearing.
What to Expect from Your Civil Law Attorney?
When it comes to what you can expect from a civil law attorney, you should expect the attorney to handle all of the major aspects of your civil lawsuit. The major aspect of your case will be dependent on the type of lawsuit that you are involved in.
In general, an attorney will be able to assist you throughout every phase of your lawsuit, including:
- Pre-lawsuit Phase: During this phase, the attorney will meet with you to understand your specific legal issues and attempt to resolve your case without the necessity of filing a lawsuit.
- If the attorney is unable to resolve your case without a lawsuit, the attorney will then assist you in drafting the necessary lawsuit, properly serving it on the defendant, and continuing to pursue the lawsuit;
- Pre-trial Phase: During this phase, your attorney will mainly assist you with conducting discovery, which is the formal process by which one party will serve requests upon the other party or parties involved in the lawsuit to gather information to support their civil claims.
- An attorney will also be able to represent you at any in-person proceedings prior to a final trial, such as handling pre-trial motions or temporary hearings;
- Trial Phase: During this phase, your lawyer will be able to represent you in court in front of the judge or jury by arguing your claims, questioning witnesses, and formally introducing evidence gathered in the previous stage of the lawsuit;
- Post-trial Phase: After a case has been concluded, an attorney may still be involved in the case by collecting and disbursing the funds that were recovered from the civil lawsuit.
- An attorney may also continue to represent you if an appeal of the ruling in the case is needed.
In addition to all of the above, the main thing that you should expect from a civil litigation attorney is that they will keep you well informed of your case. This means that you should always expect your civil attorney to inform you of all of your settlement options and possible resolutions and send you detailed billing statements. In fact, attorneys are obligated to keep their clients informed of their cases.
How Much Does a Civil Attorney Cost?
When it comes to calculating the total cost of a civil attorney, the total cost of civil suit lawyers varies widely. This is because the costs for a civil attorney will be dependent upon a number of differing factors, including but not limited to:
- The area of law in the attorney practices;
- The areas of law that your particular claim claim encompasses;
- The attorney’s level of experience, such as their years of practice and whether or not they are bar-certified;
- The attorney’s reputation in the industry;
- The difficulty of your case;
- The location in which the attorney practices, as different cities have different cost averages;
- The total amount of time that is spent either pursuing or defending the lawsuit on your behalf.
In general, the most important factor used in calculating the total cost of a civil attorney is the amount of time that it will take to finish the case. This is because, in civil lawsuits, most contracts executed between clients and the attorney are hourly fee agreements.
In an hourly contract fee agreement, an attorney agrees to take on a case based on the client paying the attorney an hourly rate for work as work is completed. In most cases, an upfront “retainer” is required to start the case. A retainer is a payment made by the client to secure the services of the attorney.
The attorney will then bill against the retainer as work is completed and ask that the client make sure the retainer is refreshed as work is completed on the client’s case. For instance, an attorney may require an upfront retainer of $3,500. The attorney will then work the case, such as filing discovery to gather evidence, drafting motions and pleadings, taking depositions of key witnesses, and representing their client in court for pre-trial motions or other in-person court matters.
If the attorney’s hourly fee is $350 per hour, then the retainer would be depleted after 10 hours of work on the case. Of course, many attorneys utilize support staff that bill at lower rates for the day-to-day management of the case. This may stretch out the retainer more.
The client would then have to replenish the retainer so the attorney could continue representing them. As can be seen, this makes the most important factor in determining the total cost of a civil attorney is the amount of time needed to finish the case.
There are also other common fees in a civil case, such as court filing fees, expert witness fees, fees to certified copies of documents, mailing fees, and fees for process servers, to name a few.
Do You Need a Civil Attorney?
As can be seen, there are numerous different laws and procedures that you must be familiar with when pursuing a civil case against another party. As such, if you are involved in a civil lawsuit in Colorado or are seeking to file a lawsuit as a result of a legal issue that you are having, then it is in your best interests to consult with an experienced civil litigation attorney in Colorado.
A civil litigation attorney will be able to help you determine your best course of legal action and can also answer any questions that you may have regarding the issues that you are facing. LegalMatch can assist you in locating an attorney and setting up an initial consultation with them.
Further, an attorney will also be knowledgeable about Colorado’s civil laws and civil procedure. This means that the attorney will be able to represent you throughout the entire civil legal process, from pre-lawsuit to post-trial, if needed. Finally, an attorney will also be able to represent your interests in court, as needed.
