News & Insights

The rule of law as it exists in the United States carefully balances on the shoulders of two core promises that underpin the judicial system:
1. that counsel will be forthcoming and truthful in their advocacy; and
2. that the judicial arbiters of disputes will remain fair and impartial, without regard to their personal beliefs.
Neither promise comes without conflict. Advocates must rely upon their clients and their own investigation to keep them informed, even when the facts or the law are harmful to their client’s position. Judges must set aside their personal political, religious, and moral views to decide cases under the law. When either of the key promises slip, the delicate balance that is the “rule of law” begins to erode. In this highly polarized time with significant scrutiny of the courts, we are beginning to see what happens when both promises are broken at the same time.

2026 was a “popular” year for legislation directly impacting lawyers and arguably our ethical obligations. A number of bills directly affect lawyers, including three discussed in this article. HB25-1090-Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices Although this bill was adopted in 2025, it became effective January 1, 2026 and has a significant impact on lawyers and other professionals who bill their services by the hour or in many other forms. As I have written in my article, Attorney Engagement Letters and the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, this resulted in nearly all attorney engagement letters becoming subject to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (the “CCPA”) and requiring certain “clear and conspicuous” warnings to be set forth in the engagement letter. The imposition of these additional requirements to most attorney (and LLP) engagement letters (and those of other professionals) seems to be a significant change to most existing practices.