It’s simply a fact of life that even the least litigious among us will be in need of a lawyer at some point. When you find yourself in that position, though, navigating the complicated legal world can be overwhelming, especially when you consider that the law has been split into dozens of categories: Everything from criminal law to bankruptcy to insurance necessitates specific expertise. That’s why we put together Denver’s Top Lawyers 2021, our seventh annual list of the best attorneys in the region. To compile the list, we first invited attorneys in the seven-county metro area to vote for the peers they respect most in 50 legal specialties. Survey responses in hand, we then did weeks of reporting to get an on-the-ground perspective: Who are the best litigators? The finest contract writers? Who’s been quietly building a name for herself? Who’s been coasting on an outdated reputation? Based on those interviews and our survey results, we assembled the following list of the most skilled attorneys around.

To see our complete Top Lawyers list, click here for our searchable directory.

5280 January 2021
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FAQ

Your questions about the list, answered.

Which attorneys did you survey?
All licensed attorneys in the seven-county metro area were welcome to participate in our survey, which went live on 5280.com in May. We reached out to more than 17,700 licensed attorneys actively registered with the Colorado Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel and connected with local bar associations to make sure we received a strong response to the peer-reviewed ballot.

How did you ensure that big law firms didn’t stuff the ballot box?
Good question! In order to vote, each attorney had to register with his or her work email address and his or her Colorado attorney registration number. We monitored IP addresses to make sure one person wasn’t voting for everyone in a firm. We checked out any suspicious votes—and tossed them if necessary.

Were the results from the ballot the only data you used to create the list?
No. To supplement the online ballot results, we did what we do best: research. We made many, many phone calls, spent hours mining the internet for
standout cases, and generally did our due diligence on each name on the list.

How did you pick the specialties represented on the ballot?
We assembled this year’s list of 50 specialties based on input from the Colorado Bar Association, attorneys, and area law firms.

I’ve heard the list is rigged—that only lawyers who advertise with you make it. Is that the case?
Nope. The Top Lawyers list is unaffected by which attorneys advertise with 5280. Local attorneys sometimes choose to advertise after they have been selected for the list, but how much, if, or when lawyers choose to advertise is not taken into consideration.

Does 5280 check out every attorney on the list?
Our fact-checking department independently verifies every lawyer’s pertinent information (name, phone number, office address, website, etc.). We take the added step of sending the list to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel to check for disciplinary and licensing issues—meaning all attorneys on the list are currently in good standing with the state.