Sheneen McClain stands at the site where her son Elijah was killed after an interaction with Aurora police officers and paramedics resulted in the 23-year-old being restrained, choked and given a sedative on August 24, 2019. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The mother of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of Aurora police officers and paramedics in 2019, has sued the Denver law firm that once represented her, claiming it is unfairly demanding that she pay the firm $3.9 million in fees from a landmark $15 million settlement.
Sheneen McClain filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Denver District Court. In it, McClain says she fired the civil rights law firm Killmer, Lane and Newman last year because it was placing its own “publicity and self-aggrandizement ahead of” her “interests and instructions.”
She also claims the firm wrongly took 40 percent of a $350,000 settlement between the McClain estate and an ambulance company in 2020. The firm and the estate had not signed a fee agreement and, therefore, KLN had no right to the money, according to McClain’s lawsuit.
Later that year, KLN filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Aurora and its employees who were allegedly involved in the 2019 incident. McClain said in her lawsuit Tuesday that after the federal lawsuit was filed, “it became clear … KLN’s attorneys were more concerned about promoting their own careers than in honoring their client’s … wishes, interests and directives.”
“KLN’s attorneys incessantly sought media attention for their own self-aggrandizement campaign and, in doing so, made inappropriate and unauthorized public comments that did not reflect the client’s position,” the lawsuit states.
A drawing of Elijah McClain is laid among flowers and candles during a vigil held for McClain at Utah Park in Aurora on July 11, 2020. (Rachel Ellis/The Denver Post)
McClain fired KLN in April 2021 and hired the Denver firm of Rathod and Mohamedbhai. In November, a settlement was reached between the McClain estate and the City of Aurora for $15 million, the largest in Aurora history and one of the largest in U.S. history involving a death in police custody, according to media reports. The money was split between Sheneen McClain and LaWayne Mosley, Elijah’s father.
On March 11, KLN demanded that McClain pay the firm “40% of all monies received, or $3,900,000” in attorney fees, according to McClain’s lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that McClain owes KLN nothing, because she fired the firm for misconduct and before the settlement.
In a statement Wednesday, Killmer, Lane and Newman said, “For decades we have fought alongside our clients to protect their constitutional rights and civil liberties. This is not just what we do, it is who we are and what we believe.”
“Our team poured our hearts and souls into seeking justice for the McClain family and helped them achieve the largest civil rights settlement in Colorado history,” the firm added. “We stand by our hard work on this case. The allegations are misleading, and in many cases entirely false. We hope that this does not distract from the important goals of continuing to force change in policing, and criminal accountability for Elijah’s killers.”
Elijah McClain, 23, was walking home from a grocery store on Aug. 24, 2019, when police responding to reports of a “sketchy” man placed him in a chokehold. A short time later, paramedics injected him with ketamine, a sedative. He died of cardiac arrest.
Sheneen McClain is represented in the lawsuit against KLN by attorney Daniel Wartell with the Denver law firm Ciancio, Ciancio and Brown. That firm did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Sheneen McClain stands at the site where her son Elijah was killed after an interaction with Aurora police officers and paramedics resulted in the 23-year-old being restrained, choked and given a sedative on August 24, 2019. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The mother of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of Aurora police officers and paramedics in 2019, has sued the Denver law firm that once represented her, claiming it is unfairly demanding that she pay the firm $3.9 million in fees from a landmark $15 million settlement.
Sheneen McClain filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Denver District Court. In it, McClain says she fired the civil rights law firm Killmer, Lane and Newman last year because it was placing its own “publicity and self-aggrandizement ahead of” her “interests and instructions.”
She also claims the firm wrongly took 40 percent of a $350,000 settlement between the McClain estate and an ambulance company in 2020. The firm and the estate had not signed a fee agreement and, therefore, KLN had no right to the money, according to McClain’s lawsuit.
Later that year, KLN filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Aurora and its employees who were allegedly involved in the 2019 incident. McClain said in her lawsuit Tuesday that after the federal lawsuit was filed, “it became clear … KLN’s attorneys were more concerned about promoting their own careers than in honoring their client’s … wishes, interests and directives.”
“KLN’s attorneys incessantly sought media attention for their own self-aggrandizement campaign and, in doing so, made inappropriate and unauthorized public comments that did not reflect the client’s position,” the lawsuit states.
A drawing of Elijah McClain is laid among flowers and candles during a vigil held for McClain at Utah Park in Aurora on July 11, 2020. (Rachel Ellis/The Denver Post)
McClain fired KLN in April 2021 and hired the Denver firm of Rathod and Mohamedbhai. In November, a settlement was reached between the McClain estate and the City of Aurora for $15 million, the largest in Aurora history and one of the largest in U.S. history involving a death in police custody, according to media reports. The money was split between Sheneen McClain and LaWayne Mosley, Elijah’s father.
On March 11, KLN demanded that McClain pay the firm “40% of all monies received, or $3,900,000” in attorney fees, according to McClain’s lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that McClain owes KLN nothing, because she fired the firm for misconduct and before the settlement.
In a statement Wednesday, Killmer, Lane and Newman said, “For decades we have fought alongside our clients to protect their constitutional rights and civil liberties. This is not just what we do, it is who we are and what we believe.”
“Our team poured our hearts and souls into seeking justice for the McClain family and helped them achieve the largest civil rights settlement in Colorado history,” the firm added. “We stand by our hard work on this case. The allegations are misleading, and in many cases entirely false. We hope that this does not distract from the important goals of continuing to force change in policing, and criminal accountability for Elijah’s killers.”
Elijah McClain, 23, was walking home from a grocery store on Aug. 24, 2019, when police responding to reports of a “sketchy” man placed him in a chokehold. A short time later, paramedics injected him with ketamine, a sedative. He died of cardiac arrest.
Sheneen McClain is represented in the lawsuit against KLN by attorney Daniel Wartell with the Denver law firm Ciancio, Ciancio and Brown. That firm did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
