Filing a Complaint Against an Attorney


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To file a complaint against an attorney, contact the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel by calling (303) 457-5800, or toll free (877) 888-1370 or by using the following online complaint form.

When you call the office with a complaint or use the online complaint form, you will be connected to the central intake division, which is the first step of the complaint process. For telephone complaints, a non-lawyer investigator in the central intake division will ask you questions about your complaint. The intake investigator will not provide legal advice or give you an opinion about your complaint. Rather, your complaint will be assigned for investigation by an attorney in the central intake division. All of the attorneys working in the central intake division have extensive experience in the practice of law.

Either the assigned attorney or a non-lawyer investigator will contact you about your complaint as soon as possible. Because of the number of complaints filed with the office, a delay of several days is possible.

It is important to understand that Attorney Regulation Counsel cannot review a judicial decision made by a magistrate or judge. Also, the attorney assigned to your complaint does not represent you and cannot assist you in your legal matter. The jurisdiction of Regulation Counsel is limited to enforcement of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct.

When filing a complaint, please have the following information available:

  • Your full name, address, and phone number.
  • Attorney’s full name, registration number, address, law firm, and phone number.  (For assistance with this information, use attorney search.)
  • Date of occurrence and date of your awareness.
  • Court location and case numbers (if you have a court case).

When filing a complaint, please be aware that:

  • This office will NOT accept anonymous complaints.
  • The attorney in question CANNOT retaliate against you.
  • Your complaint will require approximately 20 minutes to file.
  • The average time to speak to the attorney assigned to your complaint is between 7 and 14 days.

Note that the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel generally does not handle complaints about judges, such as complaints about the way a judge handles a case or issues decisions. The office may exercise jurisdiction when a judge engages in criminal conduct, deceitful conduct, sexual harassment, or other serious misconduct that implicates the Rules of Professional Conduct. Complaints about state county court judges, state district court judges, and state appellate judges should be directed to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline. For complaints regarding state administrative law judges, please confirm with the related state agency where to file your complaint. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel also may be authorized to apply the Code of Judicial Conduct to certain other judges, including magistrate judges.

For more information on what to expect when filing a complaint, please visit our FAQs.