Denver Council approves $375,000 police settlement, $970,000 outside-counsel cap
The settlement payment is subject to release documents, while a separate contract amendment raises the maximum for outside lawyers handling two city employment matters.
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Denver City Council approved a resolution authorizing a $375,000 settlement payment in a civil action against the Denver Police Department and raised the maximum for outside lawyers handling two city employment matters to $970,000 on Oct. 5.
The settlement resolution authorizes payment to Dormer Harpring LLC for Babette Norton in Babette Norton v. Denver Police Department, et al., Denver District Court Case No. 2025CV31876. Payment is contingent on release documents satisfactory to the city attorney, the resolution says.
Councilmember Lewis said the settlement brought her office’s tally of 2026 city settlements to $4.492 million. She said the office tracks the total by department and that settlements are paid from the city’s liability-claims fund, not agency-specific budgets, during the council meeting.
The council also approved a contract amendment for Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP to continue providing outside legal services in employment matters involving Everett Martinez and Jessica Calderon. The amendment adds $500,000 to $470,000 in existing funds, setting a combined maximum of $970,000. It lists mediation, motions, discovery and hearing preparation among the work, and keeps the contract term from March 1, 2026, through March 1, 2027, the amendment says. The maximum authorization does not establish how much the city has spent.
Debate over the legal-services amendment centered on cost and whether the city should keep the firm or hire different counsel. City Attorney representatives said four firms were considered for the Martinez matter and a selection panel unanimously chose Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell. They said new counsel would need time to get up to speed, and described the firm’s $800 blended hourly rate as below its usual rates for senior lawyers.
Some councilmembers questioned the nearly $1 million combined maximum, the hourly rate and whether they had enough information to compare firms and rates. Councilmember Gilmore criticized the firm’s representation of GEO Group, citing its detention-center work. Councilmember Flynn supported continuing with the firm, citing its work on the two cases.