Unbundled Legal Services vs Traditional Representation

Do you know that you have options when you hire an attorney for help with a domestic relations matter in Colorado?

Well, that seems like an obvious answer. You can choose which attorney you hire, certainly, but there's more even still.

Some attorneys will offer a service called "unbundled legal services" or "limited legal representation." Let's talk about what that means.

When you opt for an unbundled legal services package with an attorney and/or their firm, it is somewhat like having an attorney on standby. This attorney will still have you sign a Fee Agreement, require payment of a retainer and charge an hourly rate (by the tenths of the hour for Colorado domestic relations cases).

The attorney can still draft documents for you, though you sometimes will be required to file them with the Court yourself (this has been modified to electronic filing even for unrepresented parties largely, however, after the COVID pandemic). The pleadings will have a notation on them that will let the Court know that they were drafted by an attorney, but that you are not "officially" represented by that attorney. This is called a Rule 11 advisement. Not only can an attorney offering unbundled legal services draft documents and pleadings for you, but they can also review documents and pleadings that you send over to them. This may include letters from opposing counsel, Orders of Court, or settlement offers.

You will still have this person on retainer to be able obtain legal advice. So, you can call or email them with a question, and they can advise you on what to do. They will also still run through a conflict check to make sure that they do not end up giving legal advice to you and to the other party.

Where unbundled or limited representation differs from traditional is that with traditional, you get the whole package. The attorney will draft the pleadings for you, but they will also take care of filing them with the Court on your behalf. They will get notification of other filings by opposing counsel or the Court.

The largest benefit to traditional representation is that the attorneys attend hearings and status conferences with you. This includes preparation for the hearing as well. They will gather, structure and file any and all exhibits. They will discuss testimony with you and your witnesses as well as file the applicable paperwork to let the Court know who they are. Limited or unbundled attorneys will not.

Another of the biggest benefits (take it from a former paralegal) is that an attorney and/or their paralegal(s) hired for traditional representation will keep track of deadlines for you. Before you are involved in a family law matter, you cannot possibly imagine the number of deadlines that get implemented, some immediately. For example, in Colorado you generally have to file your witness disclosures and serve any written discovery at least sixty-three days before your Permanent Orders hearing. That is quite a bit of time before things start ramping up heading toward a hearing. Unbundled legal service attorneys will not be keeping track of these things for you. Instead, you will be expected to keep track of all of the applicable deadlines, and you will have your attorney to draft those documents or advise you on those deadlines when the time comes.

The biggest pro to limited or unbundled legal representation is the price. If your attorney is doing less, you will be billed less and if you are billed less, you will not spend as much. The only thing I would caution for people exploring this option is to make sure that you are diligent with taking notes, keeping track of deadlines and have some semblance of the relevant Rules of Evidence. In Colorado, pro se parties (i.e. people representing themselves) are held to the same standard as attorneys. As such, if you end up at a hearing and you don't know to object to hearsay, the Judge isn't going to nudge you and ask you why you didn't. If you miss a deadline to file a Response to a Motion filed by opposing counsel, you will be held to the same standard as if an attorney missed that deadline.

It is your call which option is best for you. Just make sure that it's an informed one.