Editor’s Note: Law Week Colorado edits court opinion summaries for style and, when necessary, length.
In June 2023, Peter Weber entered a fee agreement with a grandmother to represent her grandson in a criminal case. Weber’s fee in the case was $1,200 per hour. Weber had never tried a similar case. Although he had some experience with such cases, those matters reached a resolution or were dismissed before trial.
The billing statements show that Weber charged the grandmother $1,000 for a one-hour consultation with the client before Weber was retained, that Weber collected $87,732 from the grandmother between June 2023 and April 2024 and that Weber asserted within the final billing statement that the grandmother owed $22,255. The hourly rate that Weber set forth in the fee agreement and the amount he charged the grandmother were unreasonable, according to the disciplinary opinion.
In another matter, Weber agreed in November 2020 to represent a client in the client’s driving under the influence case. The client paid Weber $3,500 as a retainer plus a $400 consultation fee. The representation spanned more than a year and ended when the client entered a plea in December 2021. But Weber didn’t send the client a billing statement for another five months. When he finally produced a statement, it reflected work and fees totaling $11,724. Weber asserted in the statement that the client owed another $7,824, after applying the client’s payments of $3,900 and a discount of $1,063.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved Weber’s stipulation to discipline and suspended him for six months, all to be stayed upon Weber’s successful completion of a two-year period of probation, which carries conditions. Weber’s probation takes effect Dec. 20.