Sheneen McClain, center, speaks during a press conference in front of the Aurora Municipal Center on Oct. 1, 2019. Mari Newman of KLN is left of her. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
A Denver law firm made “ethical missteps” while representing the parents of Elijah McClain after he was killed in Aurora and therefore cannot collect a 32 percent fee from the largest civil rights settlement in state history, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The court’s 56-page decision decreases the fee that Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, must pay the firm Killmer Lane & Newman from about $3 million to $1.4 million.
Elijah McClain, 23, died in August 2019 after he was held down by Aurora police officers and injected with a large dose of ketamine by paramedics. One officer and two paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide; two other officers were acquitted.
Killmer Lane & Newman represented Sheneen McClain and LaWayne Mosley in lawsuits against the City of Aurora and the paramedics’ ambulance company until January 2021, when McClain grew frustrated with KLN’s representation and fired the firm.
A few months later, in June 2021, the City of Aurora settled the case for $15 million. McClain, who received $9.8 million from the settlement, was represented at that time by the firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, raising questions about how much RM and KLN should be paid.
In talking among themselves, the firms decided that KLN would receive 32 percent of the $9.8 million and RM would receive 8 percent, for a total of 40 percent, a standard contingency fee in Colorado civil rights cases and what McClain had agreed to pay her attorneys. But McClain sued KLN in 2022, claiming it wasn’t entitled to any pay because it had been fired.
After a six-day trial, Denver District Court Judge Ross Buchanan sided with KLN, ruling in late 2022 that although it had made mistakes, the firm ultimately did an “extraordinary job” and “Ms. McClain would be unfairly or unjustly enriched if she does not pay” the firm.
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’s attorneys appealed that decision. Oral arguments were held at the University of Denver last month and a three-judge panel issued its decision Thursday.
“KLN’s representation of McClain and Mosley was tainted by a concurrent conflict of interest,” the Court of Appeals determined, since McClain and Mosley were estranged, had different ideas about how to honor their son, and were entitled to different portions of the settlement.
“The district court did not err by concluding that KLN engaged in wrongful conduct. But was that wrongful conduct so clear and serious that it warranted a complete forfeiture of the right to any fee?” the appeals court asked, before answering its own question.
KLN’s work “was not substantially affected by the conflict of interest,” the court ruled, and “by all accounts KLN provided extraordinary legal services” for McClain and Mosley. So, it deserves to be paid for its work — but is not deserving of 32 percent of McClain’s settlement.
Because McClain rightly fired KLN, the 40-percent contingency fee that she had agreed to “cannot stand as a matter of law,” the Court of Appeals ruled. Instead, KLN should be paid on an hourly basis. With that, the court ordered McClain to pay $1.4 million to KLN.
One of McClain’s attorneys, Loren Brown, declined to comment on Thursday’s decision, saying that he hasn’t had enough time to review it and discuss the opinion with his client. McClain was represented by Brown and Dan Wartell of Ciancio Ciancio Brown in Denver.
Requests for comment from KLN and its lawyers were not answered Thursday. KLN was represented by Michael McConnell and Robert Steinmetz of McConnell Van Pelt.
Sheneen McClain, center, speaks during a press conference in front of the Aurora Municipal Center on Oct. 1, 2019. Mari Newman of KLN is left of her. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
A Denver law firm made “ethical missteps” while representing the parents of Elijah McClain after he was killed in Aurora and therefore cannot collect a 32 percent fee from the largest civil rights settlement in state history, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The court’s 56-page decision decreases the fee that Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, must pay the firm Killmer Lane & Newman from about $3 million to $1.4 million.
Elijah McClain, 23, died in August 2019 after he was held down by Aurora police officers and injected with a large dose of ketamine by paramedics. One officer and two paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide; two other officers were acquitted.
Killmer Lane & Newman represented Sheneen McClain and LaWayne Mosley in lawsuits against the City of Aurora and the paramedics’ ambulance company until January 2021, when McClain grew frustrated with KLN’s representation and fired the firm.
A few months later, in June 2021, the City of Aurora settled the case for $15 million. McClain, who received $9.8 million from the settlement, was represented at that time by the firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, raising questions about how much RM and KLN should be paid.
In talking among themselves, the firms decided that KLN would receive 32 percent of the $9.8 million and RM would receive 8 percent, for a total of 40 percent, a standard contingency fee in Colorado civil rights cases and what McClain had agreed to pay her attorneys. But McClain sued KLN in 2022, claiming it wasn’t entitled to any pay because it had been fired.
After a six-day trial, Denver District Court Judge Ross Buchanan sided with KLN, ruling in late 2022 that although it had made mistakes, the firm ultimately did an “extraordinary job” and “Ms. McClain would be unfairly or unjustly enriched if she does not pay” the firm.
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’s attorneys appealed that decision. Oral arguments were held at the University of Denver last month and a three-judge panel issued its decision Thursday.
“KLN’s representation of McClain and Mosley was tainted by a concurrent conflict of interest,” the Court of Appeals determined, since McClain and Mosley were estranged, had different ideas about how to honor their son, and were entitled to different portions of the settlement.
“The district court did not err by concluding that KLN engaged in wrongful conduct. But was that wrongful conduct so clear and serious that it warranted a complete forfeiture of the right to any fee?” the appeals court asked, before answering its own question.
KLN’s work “was not substantially affected by the conflict of interest,” the court ruled, and “by all accounts KLN provided extraordinary legal services” for McClain and Mosley. So, it deserves to be paid for its work — but is not deserving of 32 percent of McClain’s settlement.
Because McClain rightly fired KLN, the 40-percent contingency fee that she had agreed to “cannot stand as a matter of law,” the Court of Appeals ruled. Instead, KLN should be paid on an hourly basis. With that, the court ordered McClain to pay $1.4 million to KLN.
One of McClain’s attorneys, Loren Brown, declined to comment on Thursday’s decision, saying that he hasn’t had enough time to review it and discuss the opinion with his client. McClain was represented by Brown and Dan Wartell of Ciancio Ciancio Brown in Denver.
Requests for comment from KLN and its lawyers were not answered Thursday. KLN was represented by Michael McConnell and Robert Steinmetz of McConnell Van Pelt.
