6 westword.com WESTWORD JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | against a blue-and-white background while promoting their success rate. They don’t use jokes like the Azars of the world, but they do chase consistency. “I don’t believe you can go without a brand,” Bachus says. “We want to be friendly and approachable. We are real lawyers who operate a real law fi rm for real families.” Rafi also decided to go with a smiling face and a simple, clear message: “Call Rafi .” “[The ads] are always about fi ghting ... be intimidating,” Rafi says. “And so when I was fi rst doing the creative, I was like, ‘That’s not really my personality.’ I would not be genuine by doing that.” The 40-year-old lawyer, whose face is everywhere in Arizona and now Denver, claims he’s a bit of an introvert. He says the approach is just part of the industry’s modern landscape. Bachus says he never wanted to put his face out there, either, but it’s part of the game. “I’ll pull up next to a bus, and it’s got my big bald head on it,” he laughs. “I don’t like the fact that the anonymity that I had for years doesn’t so much exist here in Colorado, but it’s something I’m willing to sacrifi ce.” Bachus admits there is a sense of egotism to it, but it’s from a competitive standpoint. His fi rm believes that “any person who’s in- jured in Colorado that ends up with a differ- ent law fi rm is losing out on an opportunity to have better representation.” Ramos instead uses a black background with a bright splash of yellow. He likes to note that he was a medical doctor for 15 years in the metro before becoming a lawyer, enter- ing the fi eld to help people explain medical terms and evaluations accurately. According to Ramos, this has become his brand and what separates him from the pack. “I never wanted my picture on any of my billboards,” he says. “I was kind of kicking and screaming, but I decided to go ahead and do it, because you’re spending so much money, you might as well get the biggest bang for your buck.” But even Ramos says the whole billboard game is “absolutely ridiculous” at the end of the day. Fuicelli & Lee, on the other hand, have refused to use their faces on billboards during their 18-year ten- ure in Denver, instead opting for animals native to Colorado. This helps them stand out while showing they are less driven by personas, and more focused on clients, they argue. “We thought it would be cool to have the animals there to kind of draw people’s attention rather than, frankly, more white guys on a billboard,” co-founder John Lee says. “We’re different than the com- petition, and that’s why it’s not a matter of ego. That’s why our faces aren’t plastered on the billboards.” New Kid on the Board While the billboard race is not nec- essarily to pinpoint the next meme, there are still jabs across the aisle. “There are attorneys who have found out where I live, and they’ve stra- tegically placed billboards along my route home,” Ramos alleges with a laugh. “There’s absolutely a strategic card game that goes on with it.” Bachus says when they entered the bill- board arena, they did so with fervor: “We’ve always been go big or go home.” Then there’s Rafi , who has hit marketing hard during his short time in Denver — and when any new competitor comes in with deep resources, the established players take another look at their own game plans. “I’ll tip my cap to him. It’s a really com- petitive market,” Lee says of Rafi . “We’ve only practiced in Colorado, and we’ve both been practicing for more than 25 years. He’s from somewhere else, and so if he wants to come in here, good luck.” Bachus calls Rafi Law Group an “out- of-state law fi rm coming into our state and putting up billboards and sending those calls to a call center in Arizona.” “That sort of entry makes it all the more important for us to make sure that our mes- sage is out there,” Bachus says. Rafi says he hires Colorado-based em- ployees for his Denver headquarters and wants to establish himself as a real fi gure in the community through his nonprofi t and charitable donations. The sheer amount of real estate he’s taking up could drive the mar- ket up, however, especially when it comes from a fi rm valued at around $450 million. “[Rafi is] a giant in the market, and for him to come in, he takes up that real estate. What happens to the other attorneys is that they start having to pay more,” Ramos says. Even with such a big budget behind the new competition, Lee still has faith in Denver’s current billboard king: “Let’s be honest: Who’s going to outspend Frank Azar?” he asks. There is one thing every lawyer inter- viewed by Westword agrees on: The big win- ners here are Denver billboard companies, which are able to pit fi rms against each other while raising rates in a limited market. Scarcity in the City Billboards have always been tough to erect in Denver. The city tried to outright ban bill- boards in 1971, stopping all new construction and issuing an order that standing bill- boards be taken down. But a billboard company from Arizona sued the city, and the Colorado District Court (and later the Colorado Supreme Court) sided with the company. The rules and restrictions are still pretty strict, though. “There’s a lot of regulation, a lot of limitation, limited space,” Bachus says. Billboards within Denver city limits can only be in specifi c zones, including areas around the National Western Center, the theater district, Peña Station and specifi c Billboard Use Overlay Districts, like Santa Fe Drive. These do not count areas not directly owned by the city, such as major highways overseen by the state Department of Transportation. Furthermore, signs cannot be above certain heights, illuminated late at night or be animated (unless they’re on 16th Street). These regulations were set in the city’s 2010 zoning code. According to T.C. Beohnet, a supervisor on the city’s com- mercial zoning team, Denver rarely sees any new billboards put up. “What we have in place now is developed from a list of standards that we’re trying to protect,” he says. “We want to make sure that we can allow for people to do business, but fi t within our regulations to make sure we’re doing what we want to do in the City and County of Denver.” Most billboards in the Denver area are owned by companies like Outfront and La- mar Advertising, and lawyer advertisements make up a “meaningful portion,” according to Lamar Advertising communications man- ager Allie McAlpin. None of the law fi rms interviewed would share their advertising budgets. Ramos says that, depending on size and location, bill- boards can cost $2,000 to $10,000 per month. “Nowadays, if you’re going to get a bill- board, you are going to be prepared to pay thousands of dollars per month,” Ramos says. The growth in these ads is a nationwide phenomenon. The American Tort Reform Association, a nonprofi t that seeks to limit civil verdicts and reform the justice system, released a 2024 study estimating that lawyers spent around $2.5 bil- lion on advertising on all mediums throughout the country, a 32% increase from 2020. Denver didn’t place in the top 12, with Los Angeles and New York City taking fi rst and second, respec- tively. Florida cities with signifi cantly smaller populations and land areas, such as Orlando and Fort Myers, also made the list. “As compared to cities of the same size, Denver is currently underserved when it comes to [outdoor ads] due to zoning re- strictions,” McAlpin says. “It’s unfortunate, because billboards have proven to be one of the most cost-effective advertising mediums for local businesses seeking to increase vis- ibility and attract customers.” Denver may have a lot of billboard lawyers, but there could be more Azars, Rafi s and law- yer-inspired animals looking down upon you. “It’s a good thing, right?” Lee says of the scarcity. “If it’s so beautiful here, why would you want to put a billboard up in front of it?” Email the author at [email protected]. Bachus & Schanker have opted to largely avoid jokes in their 30 years of advertising. Frank Azar has different jokes on billboards throughout the city. ANTONY BRUNO ANTONY BRUNO News continued from page 4
