Attorney Fees

If a claimant hires an attorney, they probably will have to pay that attorney for their services.  Many workers’ compensation claimant attorneys provide services on a contingency fee basis, which means that they will take a part of an amount of benefits awarded to the claimant by an Administrative Law Judge, or take a portion of a settlement.  Colorado law regulates how much the attorney can charge.  No contingency fee can be applied to any benefits that have been admitted to by the insurance carrier or self-insured employer.  On unappealed contested cases, a contingent fee exceeding 20% of the amount of contested benefits will be assumed to be unreasonable.  If a claimant’s case is appealed, their attorney may be able to charge them more than 20% of contested benefits.  If they have a disagreement with their attorney about the reasonableness of their fees, they can ask the Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation to decide what portion of the benefits were contested or whether the fee charged by their lawyer is reasonable.  A party has 180 days after a judge decides the case to ask the Director to review the attorney’s fees.  In any type of case, (claimant or respondent) an attorney must provide you with a document which sets forth the specific fee arrangement, specifies whether you will be charged for the attorney’s expenses or advances made by the attorney on your behalf, and is written in easy to understand language.  (Section 8-43-403, C.R.S.).