§ 13-17-302 — Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:

(a) In recent years, it has become increasingly common for governmental
entities to retain attorneys pursuant to contingent fee contracts and disputes have
arisen in several states regarding the amount and propriety of contingent fees;

(b) Contingent fees are intended to enable persons of modest means to
obtain legal representation that they might not otherwise be able to afford but
governmental entities have resources that are unavailable to individual citizens;

(c) Governmental entities should be required to fully consider the costs and
risks of litigation before retaining an attorney pursuant to a contingent fee
contract;

(d) The department of law ordinarily represents the interests of the state of
Colorado;

(e) Governmental officials, including attorneys who represent governmental
entities on a contractual basis, are entrusted to protect the health, safety, and well-being of citizens and it is the policy of the state that a person who exercises
authority on behalf of a governmental entity generally should not have a personal
financial stake in the outcome of litigation initiated on behalf of the governmental
entity;

(f) A contingent fee contract that gives an attorney who is retained to
represent a governmental entity a direct personal stake in the outcome of legal
proceedings is potentially unfair to the citizens or businesses against whom the
governmental entity has filed suit and may not serve the best interests of the
citizens or businesses on whose behalf the governmental entity initiates legal
proceedings;

(g) Because contingent fee contracts do not require the appropriation of
moneys, such contracts circumvent the system of checks and balances that
ordinarily provides accountability for decisions of governmental entities and it is
appropriate to limit contingent fee contracts to ensure that the decision-making
process is protected;

(h) A contingent fee contract may result in the payment of excessive
attorney fees by a governmental entity, thereby denying citizens represented by
government the full measure of justice awarded by the courts;

(i) It is in the best interest of the people of Colorado to limit the
circumstances in which governmental entities may retain private attorneys
pursuant to contingent fee contracts.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2003: Entire part added, p. 924, � 1, effective August 6.