Jason Flores-Williams, an outspoken attorney who will be disbarred this month, in a 2022 photo. (Facebook)
Jason Flores-Williams, an activist attorney who once sued Denver on behalf of its homeless and claimed in court that the Colorado River is a living person, will be disbarred next week.
The 56-year-old will lose his license Dec. 26, according to a disciplinary judge’s decision made public Dec. 11. He did not answer BusinessDen’s request for comment.
“(Flores-Williams) harmed the profession and the criminal justice system,” Disciplinary Judge Bryon Large ruled. “His misconduct negatively affected (his client)’s view of lawyers and caused her to question the quality of justice she could expect to receive as a criminal defendant.”
Once labeled “a gonzo lawyer” by Westword, Flores-Williams dropped out of high school in New Mexico, took the GED exam while high on mushrooms, delivered pizzas in Prague, wrote novels in San Francisco — “a train wreck of genius,” the newspaper there called him — and blogged for High Times before becoming a lawyer, according to a Westword cover story.
After helping a black militant in Cuba avoid extradition to New Mexico for a 1971 murder and plane hijacking, Flores-Williams came to Denver in 2015, Westword reported then. The following year, he sued the city to stop homeless sweeps, which he compared to the Holocaust. The case was settled in 2019 when the city agreed to provide notice before conducting sweeps.
Then, in 2017, he filed Colorado River v. State of Colorado in an attempt to achieve personhood for the prominent waterway. He dropped that case after being threatened with sanctions.
But it was a more ordinary case that would see Flores-Williams disbarred. In late 2022, he was paid $9,250 in cash to represent Jennifer Gordon-Smith, 39, who had pleaded not guilty to burglary, theft and criminal mischief in Arapahoe County.
On July 6, 2023, Flores-Williams texted Gordon-Smith at 1:31 a.m. while under the influence of steroids, alcohol and marijuana. After updating her on the case and inquiring about her health — she had recently been diagnosed with cancer — he told her he called to say he had just won a big case and wanted “a white girl who wants to party,” according to Large’s ruling.
Gordon-Smith, who is white, took the message to be a sexual proposition as well as a request for cocaine “since ‘white girl’ is a code name for cocaine,” Large says. She declined.
Gordon-Smith later testified that she felt pressured to sign a plea agreement. Flores-Williams reportedly told her that she owed him $6,000 but he would waive that if she pleaded guilty, and claimed the plea deal called for probation when it actually included a prison term.
Then, at a hearing, Gordon-Smith told Judge Eric White about the late-night phone call.
Jason Flores-Williams in 2022 (Facebook)
“(Flores-Williams) also propositioned me for sex, and because I turned him down, I feel like maybe he’s not going to fight as hard for me,” she said. “And I am willing to take a polygraph test. I am willing to show you the text messages. I don’t want him to get in trouble, but I would like my money back, and I would like enough time to find a legitimate attorney.”
Flores-Williams withdrew as her lawyer and refunded $8,000 to Gordon-Smith, records show.
Gordon-Smith later told Large that “she had to dig into reserves of strength” to come forward about her lawyer’s actions and that it was very taxing on her. After the hearing, she spent a month in bed, quit going to work and underwent therapy, according to Large.
“He knowingly prioritized his interest in personal gratification over her interests in refraining from engaging in illegal activity,” the judge wrote of Flores-Williams, referring to cocaine use.
So, in addition to disbarring Flores-Williams, Large also ordered him to repay Gordon-Smith the other $1,250 she had given him. He must also repay $5,000 to Amber Zamora, a former client whose retainer he spent before completing work on her case. Zamora was later sentenced to seven years in prison for using a forged deed to steal a $600,000 Denver home.
Talking with Westword in 2016, Flores-Williams suggested his legal career might end this way.
“The writing, the lawyering — it’s all been part of the same trip: an effort to live free in a world of control,” he said. “I’ll be a member of the bar until my actions are quote-unquote too radical.”
Jason Flores-Williams, an outspoken attorney who will be disbarred this month, in a 2022 photo. (Facebook)
Jason Flores-Williams, an activist attorney who once sued Denver on behalf of its homeless and claimed in court that the Colorado River is a living person, will be disbarred next week.
The 56-year-old will lose his license Dec. 26, according to a disciplinary judge’s decision made public Dec. 11. He did not answer BusinessDen’s request for comment.
“(Flores-Williams) harmed the profession and the criminal justice system,” Disciplinary Judge Bryon Large ruled. “His misconduct negatively affected (his client)’s view of lawyers and caused her to question the quality of justice she could expect to receive as a criminal defendant.”
Once labeled “a gonzo lawyer” by Westword, Flores-Williams dropped out of high school in New Mexico, took the GED exam while high on mushrooms, delivered pizzas in Prague, wrote novels in San Francisco — “a train wreck of genius,” the newspaper there called him — and blogged for High Times before becoming a lawyer, according to a Westword cover story.
After helping a black militant in Cuba avoid extradition to New Mexico for a 1971 murder and plane hijacking, Flores-Williams came to Denver in 2015, Westword reported then. The following year, he sued the city to stop homeless sweeps, which he compared to the Holocaust. The case was settled in 2019 when the city agreed to provide notice before conducting sweeps.
Then, in 2017, he filed Colorado River v. State of Colorado in an attempt to achieve personhood for the prominent waterway. He dropped that case after being threatened with sanctions.
But it was a more ordinary case that would see Flores-Williams disbarred. In late 2022, he was paid $9,250 in cash to represent Jennifer Gordon-Smith, 39, who had pleaded not guilty to burglary, theft and criminal mischief in Arapahoe County.
On July 6, 2023, Flores-Williams texted Gordon-Smith at 1:31 a.m. while under the influence of steroids, alcohol and marijuana. After updating her on the case and inquiring about her health — she had recently been diagnosed with cancer — he told her he called to say he had just won a big case and wanted “a white girl who wants to party,” according to Large’s ruling.
Gordon-Smith, who is white, took the message to be a sexual proposition as well as a request for cocaine “since ‘white girl’ is a code name for cocaine,” Large says. She declined.
Gordon-Smith later testified that she felt pressured to sign a plea agreement. Flores-Williams reportedly told her that she owed him $6,000 but he would waive that if she pleaded guilty, and claimed the plea deal called for probation when it actually included a prison term.
Then, at a hearing, Gordon-Smith told Judge Eric White about the late-night phone call.
Jason Flores-Williams in 2022 (Facebook)
“(Flores-Williams) also propositioned me for sex, and because I turned him down, I feel like maybe he’s not going to fight as hard for me,” she said. “And I am willing to take a polygraph test. I am willing to show you the text messages. I don’t want him to get in trouble, but I would like my money back, and I would like enough time to find a legitimate attorney.”
Flores-Williams withdrew as her lawyer and refunded $8,000 to Gordon-Smith, records show.
Gordon-Smith later told Large that “she had to dig into reserves of strength” to come forward about her lawyer’s actions and that it was very taxing on her. After the hearing, she spent a month in bed, quit going to work and underwent therapy, according to Large.
“He knowingly prioritized his interest in personal gratification over her interests in refraining from engaging in illegal activity,” the judge wrote of Flores-Williams, referring to cocaine use.
So, in addition to disbarring Flores-Williams, Large also ordered him to repay Gordon-Smith the other $1,250 she had given him. He must also repay $5,000 to Amber Zamora, a former client whose retainer he spent before completing work on her case. Zamora was later sentenced to seven years in prison for using a forged deed to steal a $600,000 Denver home.
Talking with Westword in 2016, Flores-Williams suggested his legal career might end this way.
“The writing, the lawyering — it’s all been part of the same trip: an effort to live free in a world of control,” he said. “I’ll be a member of the bar until my actions are quote-unquote too radical.”
