Colorado Legal Service

Simple guide to rules and forms to navigate the legal landscape,
and potentially greatly reduce lawyer costs.

My own results simply by reviewing the online rules, and either threatening or initiating a formal complaint

Negotiated satisfactory settlement against:

  • EBAY
  • A state school district
  • A major shopping mall company
  • A major vacation package time share company.

I have also drafted a divorce Settlement Agreement that the judge signed within 30 days, thus providing the parties with a ‘cost free’ divorce.

[Note: No information on this site is intended to be legal advice, or to guarantee any outcome. It simply provides and guides you to resources and options that should make you more prepared.]

Description of Services

For $100 flat fee you get the following:

1. Blank forms for your particular type of case and/or link to the state judiciary self-help form. Note: I have found the state forms difficult to work with, much easier to transfer the information to an MS Word style format, which I will provide.

2. Types of forms:  Small Claims [up to $7500], DISTRICT COURT COMPLAINT UNDER SIMPLIFIED CIVIL PROCEDURE. CRCP 16.1 [Up to $100,000, Motion to Change Parenting Time or Child Support, Separation Agreement for ‘cost free’ divorce.

3. Copies of relevant statutes and case law that may apply to your case; you can simply cut and paste these into whatever motion you intend to file. Reasonable presumption – if you cite the law, judges would tend to look more favorably on your filing.

4. Basic instruction on how to start a complaint, i.e. Process Serving CRCP 4.

5. Basic instruction on how to use LexisNexis – this is a site where most state law is compiled, both statutes, case law, and civil procedure for steps to follow. Basic instruction also on how to use a lawyer simply for assistance – generally you are taken more seriously a lawyer first contacts the other party.

INTAKE FORM

Court Forms

There are state filing forms for most types of cases, but I have simplified many of these into a simple Word style format – Easier to fill out in my experience.

Statutes & Case Law Included

Receive relevant Colorado statutes and case law you can copy and cite to strengthen your filing.

Step-by-Step Filing Guidelines

Find the procedures for how to start your case, serve the complaint properly, and use legal research tools like LexisNexis.

BASIC DESCRIPTION ABOUT HOW THE COURTS WORK AND YOUR RIGHTS AS A PRO SE [WITHOUT A LAWYER] LITIGANT

THE COURT POSITION ON PRO SE LITIGANTS

A couple of recent rules are paving the way for judges to flex the rules and look more favorably on people representing themselves; two key ones are CRS 13-5.7-101 and Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 2.6. You can cite those in your filings.

HOW TO HIRE A LAWYER WITHOUT HIRING A LAWYER

Typically, if you contact a lawyer they will ask you to allow them to enter an appearance with the court, with a retainer or contingency agreement. If they enter an appearance for you, you can’t contact the court or the other party, and the lawyer will be keeping a record of every 15 minutes or so they work on your case.

There is a rule called LIMITED REPRESENTATION, CRCP 11(B), that allows a lawyer to assist you or even file for you, but leaving you the ability to negotiate for yourself. Hypothetically you have a $10,000 civil complaint – a lawyer entering an appearance on your behalf might ask for a $3000 retainer, or a 30% contingency.

Another option for you is to fill out the appropriate complaint form, and then prior to filing it with the court, ask a lawyer to send it to the other party, without entering an appearance.

On the times I did it that way, the opposing party came back to me with an offer, rather than having it enter the court system, and then I personally negotiated a fair settlement – my total cost to the lawyer $300, or one hour of their time, using CRCP 11(b). So if the settlement was for $8000, I would have kept $7700, instead of something like $5000 if I didn’t specify up front that I wanted assistance with the ability to negotiate on my own, without the lawyer entering an appearance or paying them for the negotiation.

TYPES OF CASES

CIVIL CASES

Typically start with serving the other party after filing with the court, but you can draft your complaint and send it to the other party prior to filing, giving them the opportunity to settle before additional fees and litigation start stacking up. This process is called Duty to Confer – giving the other party the option to indicate opposition or settle prior to formal filing with the court.

FAMILY CASES

This will typically start with a Petition for Dissolution, which can be accompanied with a Separation Agreement – terms parties agree on, that per the language in the statute, the judge is bound to accept unless he/she finds in extremely unfair, the term is unconscionable. Property is typically divided by adding up the increase in value of each party’s assets, and then dividing those, in many cases 50/50. Typically, one party would keep the residence if owned, but have to pay the other party 50% of the increase in market value over the marriage.

Motions following divorce are often related to child support or parenting time [custody], and there are forms and rules pertaining to both.

CRIMINAL CASES

Although I have never filed in a criminal case, fortunately, typically there will be an arraignment where you meet in the DA office and are presented with an offer, a plea deal, the more you know about the range of charges for your alleged crime, what evidence the DA has against you, the better. Further there are many cases where you can plea felony down to a misdemeanor – which has obvious benefits in your favor.

SOME BASIC RULES FOR TYPES OF CASES
[Found on LexisNexis]

CIVIL CASES

Starting a complaint, process service – CRCP 4
Rules for filing a complaint, objecting to a complaint etc. – CRCP 12, CRCP 16
Rules governing the duty of the courts to provide Access to Justice:
CRS 13-5.7-101, Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 2.6

Family law DOMESTIC statutes: CRS Title 14, Article 10-14.

Required Forms

JDF 1104 [Mandatory Financial Disclosures]
JDF 1011 [Petition for Divorce or Legal Separation]
JDF 1018 [Affidavit for Decree without Appearance]
JDF 1111 [Sworn Financial Statement]
JDF 1019 [Decree of dissolution]
JDF 1115 [Property and Financial Agreement]
14-10-112. Separation agreement.

(1) To promote the amicable settlement of disputes between the parties to a marriage attendant upon their separation or the dissolution of their marriage, the parties may enter into a written separation agreement containing provisions for the maintenance of either of them, the disposition of any property owned by either of them, and the allocation of parental responsibilities, support, and parenting time of their children.

(2) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation, the terms of the separation agreement, except terms providing for the allocation of parental responsibilities, support, and parenting time of children, are binding upon the court unless it finds, after considering the economic circumstances of the parties and any other relevant evidence produced by the parties, on their own motion or on request of the court, that the separation agreement is unconscionable.