2023 Colorado 200

Law Week Colorado’s annual Colorado 200 survey shows unique insights into the health of the local legal market. Over the past few years, fundamental changes to the practice of law have impacted local attorney headcounts. 

Firms are continually addressing retention and hiring practices to remain competitive and sustainable in the state and region. Last year, firms were experiencing a struggle to retain talent and competition in Colorado could now be coming from coastal firms. Since the pandemic, firms have tried to meet a new workforce demand by balancing remote work and schedule flexibility with some in-person activity. Firms this year have largely reported a tentative balancing of the scales for remote work and in-person business. 

Each year, Law Week surveys the 200 largest private practice law firms in Colorado to see if the number of attorneys in the state has grown or decreased in the past year. We supplement survey responses with outreach and research.

The survey asks for the total number of attorneys at a firm, the number of Colorado attorneys and other demographic and contact information. Our list below only reflects headcount. 

Overall, it looks like the number of Colorado attorneys decreased slightly over the past year. Recent research suggests Colorado is the top state where people may need a lawyer the most. In a 2023 study conducted by Texas personal injury firm The Patel Firm, the average monthly search volume for an attorney in Colorado was the highest out of any other state at 534.1 searches per 100,000 people. 

Law Week Colorado has tracked the state’s legal deserts for years, analyzing the areas with the most need as recently as 2020. In Law Week’s analysis, the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel provided data that showed counties located further away from a major metropolitan anchor could be considered legal deserts. 

Outside of the opportunity to meet the legal needs of a growing population, Colorado continues to show promising statistics related to law firm partnership. 

Our Colorado 200 survey shows 48 firms self-reported a total of 843 Colorado partners, members or shareholders. Of those firms, 24 reported diversity among partnership this year — 55 of the Colorado partners were minorities and 249 of the Colorado attorneys at the partnership level were women. 

The University of Colorado Law School in October 2020 reported roughly 10% of Colorado attorneys are people of color. Of the total number of Colorado partners reported this year, roughly 6.5% were minorities. At around 30%, surveyed firms exceed the national average for women in partner positions (around 23% as of 2021).

The list of Colorado’s largest law firms is below, ranked according to the number of local attorneys. Did we miss a firm? Contact us at [email protected].

* Number of attorneys unconfirmed at the time of publication

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Colorado 200 list will be updated as needed.