Emails, texts show Denver city attorney pushed for former law firm after insurer rejected it
A series of internal emails and text messages obtained by CBS Colorado appears to show Denver City Attorney Miko Brown pushing to get her former law firm hired for legal work involving Denver International Airport — even after the airport's insurance company initially rejected the firm.
The documents — obtained under Colorado's Open Records Act — show Brown advocating for Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell, where she was a partner for 10 years, after AIG, the insurance company covering Denver International Airport, raised concerns about hiring the firm and initially said it would not do so.
Four days after Brown pushed back against AIG's decision, the insurance company reversed course and agreed to retain WTO as local counsel to help defend against lawsuits over a May 8 runway death at the airport.
Brown has declined repeated requests for an interview and said she would not answer questions about the internal communications obtained by CBS Colorado.
The revelations come as the Denver Board of Ethics investigates two complaints accusing Brown of trying to steer legal business to WTO.
The Ethics Board voted unanimously, 3-0, to investigate both complaints. The vote does not mean the board has concluded Brown violated Denver's Ethics Code. Rather, the board determined the complaints warranted a formal investigation.
Brown's former law firm
Brown was a partner at Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell from 2007 until 2017. She became Denver's city attorney in 2025.
The new documents concern legal work that arose after a May 8 incident at Denver International Airport in which Michael Mott, 41, crossed a perimeter fence and entered an active runway. He was struck and killed by a departing Frontier Airlines jet. His death was ruled a suicide.
Passengers on the flight subsequently threatened lawsuits against Denver, creating the need for legal representation.
AIG, which provides insurance coverage for the airport, ultimately retained two law firms to represent Denver in connection with the matter: WTO and a national law firm. AIG, rather than Denver, is responsible for paying the firms' legal bills.
The newly obtained communications show that Brown was seeking to get WTO involved well before AIG had agreed to hire the firm.
"Trying to get as much info as possible"
On May 15, a week after the runway incident, Brown texted Kevin Cain, a top lawyer at Denver's airport.
Brown wrote: "Trying to get as much info as possible for WTO (Wheeler Trigg O Donnell) ...."
Brown then referred Cain to WTO partner Jessica Scott, describing Scott as: "Really perfect."
Brown also indicated that Scott was already working on background checks necessary for WTO to determine whether it could take the case.
Three days later, Scott emailed Cain: "Miko asked that I reach out to you..."
Scott sought information about Denver's insurance policy with AIG so WTO could complete its background checks. She also asked Cain to confirm that AIG would not require the firm to comply with its billing guidelines.
Brown subsequently emailed several subordinates, writing: "Kevin spoke with AIG who has agreed to let us choose outside counsel. Assuming conflicts clear, Jessica Scott at WTO will handle."
The email is significant because AIG, rather than Brown or Denver, ultimately had authority to approve the outside law firms for this insurance matter.
Brown later continued advocating for WTO.
She wrote to Cain: "I should also mention that one of Jessica's partners..has expertise in aviation-related matters. He's also a licensed pilot."
AIG rejects WTO
But on June 3, Cain emailed Brown that AIG had raised what he described as an: "Apparent or perceived conflict of interest for WTO and they will not retain the firm."
Brown's response was: "Thats ridiculous.."
The next day, June 4, AIG formally notified Denver that it had selected a national law firm for the case.
In a two-page letter, AIG wrote: "AIG is not willing to retain Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell for this matter."
AIG said WTO did not have the experience.
"Wheeler Trigg does not highlight aviation as an industry in which it has relevant experience," wrote the insurance company.
AIG also suggested two other Denver law firms it said had aviation or airport experience that it was willing to hire.
"We should really push hard for WTO"
On June 5, Brown emailed Cain, writing the following: "There's something strange going on. None of (AIG's) explanations make any sense."
She asked Cain whether the city had any legal leverage to choose the law firm.
Brown then wrote: "If we do, we should really push hard for WTO."
Brown also emailed Jessica Scott at WTO, telling her that AIG was not budging from its decision.
Brown wrote: "It makes zero sense."
Three days later, on June 8, the situation changed.
Cain emailed Brown saying he had spoken with the city's insurance broker, which in turn had spoken with AIG.
Cain wrote: "AIG has now agreed to retain WTO as local counsel..."
Brown responded: "Great news. Thanks for getting them to course correct."
The documents obtained by CBS Colorado do not explain exactly what happened between June 4 and June 8 that caused AIG to reverse its decision. Contacted by CBS Colorado, AIG has not provided an explanation for what changed its position.
The communications do show the sequence: AIG initially rejected WTO, Brown continued pushing for the firm, and AIG subsequently agreed to retain WTO.
On Tuesday Mark Usellis, a spokesman for WTO, emailed CBS Colorado and said the firm does have experience in the aviation industry.
"AIG's decision to select WTO was based on our team's extensive experience handing mass claims and claims involving transportation and aviation accidents," Usellis wrote.
What did Brown's office say?
Brown has declined to be interviewed about the matter and said she would not discuss or comment on the emails and text messages.
Before CBS Colorado obtained the newly released messages, her office disputed the allegations in the ethics complaint.
The City Attorney's Office said: "Miko did not exert pressure or direct efforts to have WTO hired instead of (a national law firm)."
The office has also said that AIG, rather than Denver, was responsible for the legal fees in the Denver International Airport matter and that AIG ultimately retained both WTO and the national firm. A spokesperson for the City Attorney previously said, "The city chose WTO because it was the best local firm to represent it in the Frontier matter. AIG agreed and the costs are fully covered by the insurer."
Ethics Board investigates
The newly obtained documents are significant because the Denver Board of Ethics is now formally investigating an employee complaint alleging that Brown applied pressure to steer Denver International Airport legal work to WTO. The complaint was filed by an employee of the airport's legal department who asked to remain anonymous, writing: "Miko will punish me."
The Ethics Board voted 3-0 to investigate that complaint and a separate complaint involving Denver's hiring of WTO to defend the city in two employee lawsuits.
Lori Weiser, executive director of the Denver Board of Ethics, told CBS Colorado the board could have dismissed the complaints if it believed they were "frivolous, groundless, or ... filed for the purposes of harassment."
The board did not dismiss either complaint.
Weiser said the board will continue reviewing information until it believes its questions have been answered. Brown has the right to a public hearing on the complaints.
Denver's Ethics Code includes provisions addressing conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety. The city's ethics materials say the code is intended in part to prevent special advantages from being given to former employers.
Brown left WTO in 2017. The broader questions about whether she gave, or appeared to give, special treatment to her former firm are among the issues the Ethics Board can now examine.
The unanswered questions
The newly obtained communications leave several important questions unanswered.
- Who first contacted WTO about the potential Denver International Airport legal work?
- Why was Brown personally involved in trying to get her former law firm involved?
- Were other law firms considered before Brown began advocating for WTO?
- What happened between June 4 and June 8 that caused AIG to change its position?
CBS Colorado previously reported that Denver agreed to pay WTO as much as $470,000 under a separate contract to defend the city in two employee lawsuits, but that WTO had billed Denver roughly $850,000 within four months.
That earlier investigation prompted the first of the two ethics complaints against Brown. Brown appeared Tuesday before Denver City Council's Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee to address that earlier contract with Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell as she asked council members to approve an additional $500,000 to pay the law firm. She told council members she was one of five members of an internal committee that voted unanimously to award that contract to WTO. She said her vote was irrelevant since the four other committee members had already voted to award the work to WTO.
"I was the last vote and it didn't matter," said Brown. "There is no conflict of interest here. My primary job is to protect the city."
In pressing for the additional funds, Brown said the city needed outside legal help to handle the two employee lawsuits.
"The City Attorney's office did not have the capacity to handle that scope and magnitude in that quick of a time frame that was necessary."
And she said Denver has hired other lawyers charging more than the $800 per hour Denver agreed to pay WTO lawyers. She called WTO a "great value" as she said they had been successful in defending against both lawsuits.
Usellis' Tuesday statement to CBS Colorado also included a response about what it calls the "Frontier matter" and a comment about a lawsuit filed by current Denver city employee Everett Martinez.
"The lead attorneys on this matter, Ms. Scott and Mr. Nasrullah, are nationally regarded litigators and WTO has provided outstanding legal counsel to the City for more than 15 years.
Ms. Scott did not work with Ms. Brown when Ms. Brown was at WTO. When WTO proposed to represent the City in the Martinez matter, Ms. Scott interviewed with a City selection panel that included multiple individuals—none of whom she had a relationship with. The results WTO has obtained since being hired for these matters have been significant and are consistent with WTO's past experience representing the City."
View all of the text messages and emails obtained by CBS Colorado below:
