Caplan and Earnest
Caplan and Earnest is a Boulder, Colorado-based law firm with more than 30 attorneys serving clients throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region across twelve practice areas, with particular depth in education, health, litigation, and estate planning law.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1969
- HeadquartersBoulder, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Caplan and Earnest does
Caplan and Earnest (legal entity: Caplan & Earnest LLC) is a Boulder, Colorado-based law firm founded in 1969 by Gerald Caplan and Lane Earnest. The firm operates more than 30 attorneys across twelve distinct practice groups: Education Law (described as the largest in Colorado, serving more than half of the state's school districts), Health Law, Litigation, Estate Planning, Immigration Law, Business and Commercial Law, Compliance and Workplace Investigations, Family Law, Real Estate Law, Outdoor Recreation Law, Construction Law, and the Masterminds professional development program. Its clients include Colorado school districts and educational institutions, healthcare providers and senior living facilities, large and small corporations, and individuals in Boulder, the Front Range, and the broader Rocky Mountain region. The firm has been repeatedly recognized in peer-reviewed rankings, with 10 attorneys named 2026 Colorado Super Lawyers and 8 attorneys named 2026 Best Lawyers in America.
The firm operates no proprietary technology product and is not a technology business; it delivers professional legal services through traditional attorney-client engagement. Its "product surface" consists of twelve practice groups plus fee-based ancillary training (90-minute Education Law trainings at $1,500 per session, Masterminds programs at $1,200–$1,600 per participant, and a lecture series at $150 per person). The firm's core technology profile is therefore non-applicable; operational technology is limited to standard legal practice tools, a corporate website (celaw.com), and a LinkedIn presence. No AI, API, SDK, or integration footprint was identified in the source material.
Caplan and Earnest generates revenue through three streams: traditional hourly billing for legal services across litigation, transactional, and advisory matters; fee-based professional development and training programs targeted at education administrators; and estate planning services for individuals and families. Legal services are quoted on a non-public, matter-by-matter basis, while training and lecture pricing are published. The go-to-market motion is relationship-based enterprise field sales supported by thought leadership content, community engagement (including a $5,000 annual Education Law Grant), and professional reputation in the Colorado legal market. The firm is privately held, organized as a Colorado LLC, with three co-managing members (Kristin Edgar, Elizabeth R. Friel, and Doug Stevens as of February 2026) and no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent company ownership.
Caplan and Earnest firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Caplan and Earnest
- Legal name
- Caplan & Earnest LLC
- Website
- https://celaw.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1969
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Caplan and Earnest is a Boulder, Colorado-based law firm with more than 30 attorneys serving clients throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region across twelve practice areas, with particular depth in education, health, litigation, and estate planning law.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Caplan and Earnest industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Legal Services
- NAICS
- Offices of Lawyers (541110), Offices of Lawyers (54111)
- SIC
- Services-Legal Services (8111)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Real Estate & Construction Law (BPAHAAAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD)
Keywords
Where Caplan and Earnest is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boulder
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Caplan and Earnest business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Traditional hourly billing for legal services across multiple practice areas including litigation, transactional work, and advisory services
- Professional Development Programs: Fee-based training programs including 90-minute education law trainings at $1500 per session, Masterminds professional development program at $1200-$1600 per participant, and lecture series at $150 per person
- Estate Planning Services: Estate planning services including wills, trusts, probate and trust administration, asset protection planning
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Education Law Trainings - $1,500 per 90-minute session |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Lecture Series - $150 per person |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Masterminds Professional Development - $1,200-$1,600 per participant |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Caplan and Earnest product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Caplan & Earnest is a Boulder-based law firm with more than 30 attorneys that delivers full-service legal representation across 11 specialized practice areas: Education Law, Health Law, Litigation, Estate Planning, Immigration Law, Business and Commercial Law, Workplace Investigations, Family Law, Real Estate Law, Outdoor Recreation Law, and Construction Law. The firm primarily serves educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and businesses throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region, with supplementary offerings such as the Masterminds professional development program for education administrators.
Product overview
Caplan & Earnest is a Boulder-based law firm operating as a single integrated legal services platform with more than 30 attorneys offering multiple specialized practice areas. The firm provides legal services across twelve distinct practice groups: Education Law (the state's largest), Health Law, Litigation, Estate Planning, Immigration Law, Business and Commercial Law, Compliance and Workplace Investigations, Family Law, Real Estate Law, Outdoor Recreation Law, Construction Law, and the Masterminds professional development program for education administrators. These practice areas work collaboratively to serve clients including educational institutions, healthcare organizations, businesses, and individuals throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Education Law Practice Legal counsel and representation for school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, and local education agencies. Covers special education, Section 504/ADA compliance, employment law, student discipline, charter school management, school finance, governance, real estate acquisitions, risk management, and litigation defense. The largest education law practice group in Colorado.
- Health Law Practice Legal services for healthcare providers, senior living facilities, nursing care facilities, and community-based organizations. Covers regulatory compliance, HIPAA, healthcare employment matters, litigation, transactions, legislative advocacy, medical staff representation, privacy and data security, and professional licensing.
- Litigation Practice Litigation representation by a team that includes former district attorneys, county attorneys, and Colorado Attorney General's Office lawyers. Handles breach of contract, business litigation, civil rights, construction disputes, employment matters, and torts.
- Estate Planning Practice Estate planning services for families and individuals, including wills, trusts, estate tax planning, asset protection, business succession planning, disability and end-of-life planning, and probate and trust administration.
- Immigration Law Practice Immigration services for employers obtaining temporary visas for foreign workers and for employees seeking permanent residence and U.S. citizenship.
- Business and Commercial Law Practice Corporate legal services including general counsel, lending and commercial transactions, Colorado entity formation, and representation for corporations, LLCs, partnerships, and joint ventures.
- Compliance and Workplace Investigations Practice Internal investigation services for businesses and boards to conduct sensitive, impartial investigations to determine whether legal violations have occurred, and to develop corrective action plans.
- Family Law Practice Family law services including adoption, child support, divorce, domestic disputes, estate valuations, property division, parental rights, mediation, and prenuptial agreements.
- Real Estate Law Practice Commercial and residential real estate services including property acquisition, sale, financing, leasing, zoning, land use, community associations, and foreclosure matters.
- Outdoor Recreation Law Practice Legal services tailored for outdoor recreation organizations such as adventure travel programs, experiential educators, dude ranches, summer camps, challenge courses, and ziplines. Covers risk mitigation, contract drafting, employment issues, claims defense, land use, and regulatory compliance.
- Construction Law Practice Construction legal services with over 100 years of combined attorney experience. Covers contract drafting, defect claims, payment disputes, mechanic's liens, and warranty claims.
- Masterminds Professional Development Series Fee-based monthly professional development program for special education directors, executive directors, and Section 504 administrators. Pricing is $1,600 for special education directors and executive directors (includes 10 meetings plus 5 Mega-Masterminding sessions) and $1,200 for other special education administrators, with a flat $6,000 group rate for an entire district's administrators.
Quantifiable outcome
- Serving more than half the school districts in Colorado
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Caplan and Earnest
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Caplan and Earnest technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Caplan and Earnest partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Caplan and Earnest competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Holland & Hart LLP: Holland & Hart is a Colorado-based full-service law firm with comparable headcount (~500 professionals across multiple offices including Boulder/Denver). It serves similar institutional clients — including education institutions, healthcare organizations, and businesses — across the Rocky Mountain region, making it the most directly comparable regional legal services peer.
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is a Denver-headquartered full-service law firm offering comparable practice areas (litigation, healthcare, real estate, employment) to similar institutional and public-sector clients. Like Caplan & Earnest, it has a strong presence in the Colorado/Rocky Mountain market but operates at materially larger scale.
- Sherman & Howard LLC: Sherman & Howard is a Denver-based full-service law firm with overlapping practice areas including litigation, employment, real estate, and estate planning. It serves comparable institutional, governmental, and business clients in Colorado and competes directly with Caplan & Earnest in the regional market.
- Moye White LLP: Moye White is a Denver/Rocky Mountain-based full-service law firm of comparable size that serves similar business, healthcare, and institutional clients. Its practice mix and regional focus make it a direct competitive counterpart to Caplan & Earnest across multiple shared verticals.
- Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe PC: Ireland Stapleton is a Denver-based professional services firm combining legal, lobbying, and government affairs. It directly competes with Caplan & Earnest for institutional education and healthcare clients, particularly where legislative advocacy intersects with regulatory legal counsel.
- Kutak Rock LLP: Kutak Rock is a national law firm recognized for its leading Education Law practice serving school districts across multiple states. It is the most comparable peer to Caplan & Earnest's flagship Education Law practice in terms of client base, service model, and thought-leadership positioning, though Kutak Rock operates at significantly greater scale nationally.
- Snelson Countryman (now Snelson Kerrig): Snelson Countryman (now operating as Snelson Kerrig) is a Colorado-based law firm historically recognized for serving school districts and municipalities across the state. It is one of the closest direct competitors to Caplan & Earnest's Education Law practice and competes for the same Colorado K-12 institutional clients.
- Hutchison and Steffen (now part of Fennemore): Hutchison and Steffen, now operating within Fennemore, is a Nevada/Colorado-based full-service law firm serving education institutions, businesses, and families. It is comparable in size and practice mix to Caplan & Earnest and competes in adjacent mountain-region institutional and estate planning markets.
Broad incumbents
- Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Faegre Drinker is a large national law firm with significant healthcare and education practice capabilities and historical roots in the Rocky Mountain region (from the Faegre Baker Daniels merger). It is comparable as a broader incumbent offering overlapping institutional counsel with deeper geographic reach but less regional specialization than Caplan & Earnest.
- Fox Rothschild LLP: Fox Rothschild is a national full-service law firm with substantial education and healthcare practices and a growing presence in Colorado (via the former Comcast/LeClairRyan absorption). It represents the 'big-law encroachment' competitive vector against mid-sized regional firms like Caplan & Earnest.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Caplan and Earnest social profiles
Digital presenceCaplan and Earnest financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Caplan and Earnest leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Caplan and Earnest funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Caplan and Earnest M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Caplan and Earnest
What does Caplan and Earnest do?
Caplan & Earnest is a Boulder-based law firm with more than 30 attorneys that delivers full-service legal representation across 11 specialized practice areas: Education Law, Health Law, Litigation, Estate Planning, Immigration Law, Business and Commercial Law, Workplace Investigations, Family Law, Real Estate Law, Outdoor Recreation Law, and Construction Law. The firm primarily serves educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and businesses throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region, with supplementary offerings such as the Masterminds professional development program for education administrators.
Is Caplan and Earnest a public or private company?
Caplan and Earnest is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Caplan and Earnest founded?
Caplan and Earnest was founded in 1969. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Caplan and Earnest based?
Caplan and Earnest is headquartered in Boulder, United States, in the North America region.
How does Caplan and Earnest make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Legal Services - Hourly Billing is the primary driver. The others are professional Development Programs and estate Planning Services.
Who are Caplan and Earnest's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Holland & Hart LLP, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, Sherman & Howard LLC, Moye White LLP, Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe PC, Kutak Rock LLP, Snelson Countryman (now Snelson Kerrig) and Hutchison and Steffen (now part of Fennemore). Broad incumbents are Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and Fox Rothschild LLP.
Does Caplan and Earnest have an API?
No public API is recorded for Caplan and Earnest.
What industry is Caplan and Earnest in?
Caplan and Earnest's product category is Legal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAAAE, Real Estate & Construction Law, with a secondary code of BPAHAAAD, Employment & Labor Law. Its NAICS code is 541110 and its SIC code is 8111.