The majority of the approved a $500,000 contract addition for a law firm to handle two cases on Monday after some members had raised questions about the extension.
Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez was one of the members who voted no, explaining that she didn’t support the decision for Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell to accrue those costs before the council could even consider the extension. The arrangement, which was approved 8-4, has also attracted scrutiny recently because of billing rates charged by the Denver-based firm that are higher than cities often pay for outside work.
“Council should not be put in a position where work has already been performed, and we’re asked to approve the money afterwards,” Alvidrez said. “I don’t believe we’ve been given enough information on the competing firms, their rates or why this representation is the best value for taxpayers.”
Denver’s original contract with the firm was for $470,000 to represent the city in two lawsuits, one brought by Everett Martinez, then the general counsel for Denver International Airport, and another by Jessica Calderon, who worked in the Office of Social Equity and Innovation and was laid off last year. The added dollars will bring the contract total to nearly $1 million.
Besides Alvidrez, council members Stacie Gilmore, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Shontel Lewis voted no on the contract addition. Council members Kevin Flynn, Darrell Watson, Amanda Sawyer, Chris Hinds, Paul Kashmann, Amanda Sandoval, Jamie Torres and President Diana Romero-Campbell voted in favor.
The city is paying the firm $800 per hour as a “blended rate” that includes work from both senior and junior attorneys at the firm.
Alvidrez and Gilmore both also said they were concerned that the firm represents the Geo Group, which operates a facility in Aurora for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Flynn said none of the outside law firms that work with the city would pass a client “purity test” and that Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell also worked with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to investigate Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx for alleged campaign finance violations.
“I think we need to weigh everything in the balance,” he said.
City Attorney Miko Brown said if the council rejected the contract, the city likely would have had to pay even more to bring a new firm up to speed.
“We will actually spend more money if we do not pass this contract and we are forced to retain new counsel,” she said.
The council’s decision comes after CBS Colorado has broadcast and published several stories scrutinizing the city’s contract with Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell, including to the law firm, where she once worked. Denver’s Board of Ethics is investigating two complaints over the matter, . Brown has denied those allegations.
The city’s insurance company separately chose to hire the firm to handle legal work for the city and DIA after the death of a man who walked in front of an airplane on a runway and was hit by an engine. His death has been ruled a suicide. that the insurance company initially chose a different firm but changed course after Brown’s insistence.
The council also voted 11-1 on Monday to delay a vote on several airport-related contracts, including one with Key Lime Air, which operates deportation flights for ICE, for a subsidiary to continue providing passenger service out of DIA. In December 2025, the council rejected another DIA contract with the company over its ICE work.
Sawyer was the only member to vote against the delay.
