Denver city attorney faces second ethics complaint, this time over Denver International Airport legal work

Denver City Attorney Miko Brown is facing the second ethics complaint in two days, this one accusing her of pressuring an insurance broker to steer legal work to the Denver law firm where she was once a partner.

The complaint, filed Monday by an employee of Denver International Airport's legal department, asks the Denver Board of Ethics to investigate Brown's conduct surrounding a May incident at the airport. The employee asked to remain anonymous, writing, "Miko will punish me."

The complaint alleges Brown exerted pressure to have Denver-based Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell, or WTO, replace another law firm that had been hired in connection with the incident.

On May 8, Michael Mott, 41, hopped a perimeter fence and entered an active runway at Denver International Airport. Mott was struck and killed by a departing Frontier Airlines Airbus. His death was ruled a suicide.

AIG, a global insurance company that provides some insurance coverage for DIA, retained two law firms in connection with the incident: Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, or GRSM, and WTO, where Brown worked for 10 years. AIG, rather than the city, was responsible for paying both firms.

The ethics complaint alleges Brown "sought to have WTO replace" GRSM. It further alleges: "She participated in or directed efforts through DEN/DEN Legal and DEN's insurance broker to have AIG reverse it's decision, via broker pressures".

The City Attorney's Office disputes that account.

In a written statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for the office said, "Miko did not exert pressure or direct efforts to have WTO hired instead of (GRSM). AIG is the insurance carrier for Denver and directly retained both (GRSM) and WTO to represent the City at AIG's sole expense. No one from the CAO ever challenged or objected to (GRSM) retention. The alleged facts are inaccurate." 

The City Attorney's Office also rejected other allegations in the complaint, saying, "We have no idea why people are making accusations based on inaccurate facts."

Chris Lujan, a former assistant Denver city attorney who now practices law privately, said Tuesday that the two ethics complaints raise enough questions to warrant a thorough investigation.

"I don't think the [ethics] board has a choice. I think they have to do a credible and substantive investigation to find out what happened here," said Lujan.

The new complaint follows CBS Colorado's investigation last week into Denver's spending on outside legal work. That investigation found Brown's former law firm had been awarded a city contract to defend Denver in two employment lawsuits, with WTO lawyers billing $800 an hour. One of those lawyers just obtained her law degree two years ago. In four months, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell billed the city of Denver more than $850,000 for its legal work, nearly twice its original contract cap.

The first ethics complaint was filed last Friday by an employee of the City Attorney's Office who also asked to remain anonymous.

That complaint asks whether Brown violated the Denver Code of Ethics by "exercising, directing, influencing, or failing to recuse from official action concerning the selection, engagement, supervision, budgeting, invoicing, payment and continued retention of Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell."

It also asks, "Who negotiated and approved rates, staffing, budgets, and significant budget variances?" in the WTO contract.

Brown was a partner at WTO for 10 years before leaving the firm in 2017. She has declined requests for an interview with CBS Colorado, but has said she did nothing wrong in the contract process and followed all Denver ordinances. 

Her office has said Brown received no benefit from WTO's hiring and that the firm was best suited for the work.

But Brown has not disclosed what role, if any, she played in selecting WTO to handle the two lawsuits, whether she recommended the firm, whether she negotiated its hourly rates or how the legal bills rose so quickly.

Brown has said WTO was selected unanimously by a five-member selection panel. But she has not identified the five panel members or disclosed which other firms were considered for the contract.

The two complaints involve different events, but both raise questions about Brown's dealings with the law firm where she previously worked.

Lujan said an "appearance of impropriety" needs to be addressed. "I think you have to get an investigation and it has to be done by someone who knows what they're doing."

A spokesperson for the Denver Board of Ethics said the board will consider both complaints at its Sept. 9 meeting and decide whether to investigate.