Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
An Independent Office of the Colorado Supreme Court
Promoting Professionalism. Protecting the Public.
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When an attorney is no longer able to perform his or her duties to clients, because the attorney (a) has been transferred to disability inactive status, (b) has disappeared, (c) has died, or (d) has been suspended or disbarred, and no other responsible party capable of conducting the attorney’s affairs is known to exist, the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel may file a petition for appointment of Inventory Counsel. Inventory Counsel can be either a volunteer licensed attorney, or an attorney employed by the Office of Attorney Regulation.
Pursuant to C.R.C.P. 244, Inventory Counsel reviews the attorney’s client files and takes steps necessary to protect the interests of the attorney and the clients with respect to those files and other client property that was in the attorney’s possession at the time of Inventory Counsel’s appointment. As part of Inventory Counsel’s duties, Inventory Counsel may seek a court order to disburse funds held in a lawyer’s trust account. Inventory Counsel does not, however, represent clients and does not assume any responsibility for the ongoing legal matters of clients. The file inventory and file return process may take months or years depending on the number of files, the area of practice, and the difficulty in locating the previous clients. The process of disbursing funds in a trust account can take a similar amount of time depending on documentation available from the lawyer’s practice, from financial institutions, and from clients.
If you believe an attorney is no longer able to perform his or her duties because he or she (a) has been transferred to disability inactive status, (b) has disappeared, (c) has died, or (d) has been suspended or disbarred, and there is no one else to manage client files, contact us to ask about appointment of Inventory Counsel.
Read Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure 244.1 through 244.4 – Protective Appointment of Counsel.
Learn about how other states handle inventory counsel matters.
Current Active Inventory Counsel Matters being handled by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel:
If you are a client of one of the above attorneys, please contact Jay Fernandez, Inventory Counsel at jay.fernandez@csc.state.co.us or 303-928-7873.
Current Active Inventory Counsel Matters being handled by outside inventory:
