The Denver Gazette

McClain mom fights $4 M in fees from ex-attorney

BY CAROL MCKINLEY AND JULIA CARDI The Denver Gazette

The mother of Elijah McClain is contesting a request by her former lawyer for nearly $4 million in legal fees from a wrongful death action.

In the complaint filed Tuesday in Denver District Court, Sheneen McClain accused Mari Newman of creating an unnecessary power struggle between her and Elijah’s father, of giving her bad legal advice and of using the high-profile tragedy to promote herself.

Sheneen McClain fired Newman, of Killmer, Lane & Newman, in April 2021, a year and a half after Elijah McClain’s death. The 23-year-old died at a hospital after he was stopped by Aurora police

— whether the stop was legal has been called into doubt — and given a lethal dose of ketamine.

Sheneen McClain hired the Denver civil rights law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai to take on the case after terminating Newman. The firm Ciancio Ciancio Brown is handling the latest filing. Newman continued to represent Elijah McClain’s father, LaWayne Mosley.

In November, Aurora agreed to pay $15 million to the McClains after they filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The $3.9 million requested by KLN represents 40% of the $9.5 million the single mother received as part of a settlement from Aurora in her son’s death. Mosley received $5.5 million.

Sheneen McClain’s 11-page complaint accuses Newman of improperly collecting contingency fees from Elijah McClain’s estate, of bringing on Mosley as a client and then pitting the two of them against each other, and of using the high-profile case for her own gain.

Sheneen McClain and her lawyers say Mosley was an absentee father and denied paternity while her son was alive and owed a substantial amount of child support.

“She disrespected what I wanted and made me feel like I was crazy,” Sheneen McClain told The Denver Gazette. “Mari uses the death of Black people and other people who are experiencing trauma for her own benefit.”

The statement was painful to hear for the family of Marvin Booker, who was killed in Denver City Jail in July of 2010.

“Ms. McClain’s words about deceit toward Black people are false. We have the highest respect for Killmer, Lane & Newman. We are African Americans and we totally disagree. Mari has never made us feel uncomfortable. That firm handled the loss of our brother with the greatest respect,” said Gail and Spencer Lamar Booker, who now live in Atlanta. “Those words are heartbreaking for us.”

In a statement, Killmer, Lane & Newman said it is proud of its legal work.

“For decades we have fought alongside our clients to protect their constitutional rights and civil liberties. This is not just what we do, it is who we are and what we believe.

“Our team poured our hearts and souls into seeking justice for the McClain family and helped them achieve the largest civil rights settlement in Colorado history. The allegations against us are false, and we stand by our hard work. We hope that this misdirected anger does not distract from the important goals of continuing to force change in Aurora’s policing and criminal accountability for Elijah’s killers,” the statement read.

Newman, a prominent civil rights attorney, helped draft the 2020 police reform bill, which has been used as a model across the country.

She has represented the families of individuals who died at the hands of police, including the family of Michael Marshall, who was also killed in the Denver City jail, the parents of Devon Bailey, who was killed by Colorado Springs police in 2019, and the family of Jamaal Bonner, a Black man who was shot nearly 20 years ago by Aurora police.

In addition to the $4 million it is seeking, KLN has already collected over $2 million in the case, including its share of Mosley’s settlement and 40% of a $350,000 settlement with the ambulance company that attended to Elijah McClain as he was dying.

According to the complaint, the firm never had a written fee agreement with McClain’s estate and didn’t have permission to collect money from it. It also said the contingency fee agreement KLN had with Mosley and Sheneen McClain stipulated that the firm would give up any claim to attorneys’ fees if KLN was fired for wrongful conduct.

The lawsuit also accused KLN’s attorneys of prioritizing their own careers over serving Sheneen McClain’s interests. It alleged that, in their pursuit of media attention, they made unauthorized public comments that didn’t reflect Sheneen McClain’s positions.

Sheneen McClain told The Denver Gazette that she survives tough days by staying busy to stave off depression. This latest court battle is something she wishes she doesn’t have to deal with, but she said she had to fight KLN’s monetary request for herself and her son.

“She picked the wrong mama,” Sheneen McClain said. “She thinks I’ll just walk away. I promise you I will not. I’ll stand right there.”

“Ms. McClain’s words about deceit toward Black people are false. We have the highest respect for Killmer, Lane & Newman. We are African Americans and we totally disagree. Mari (Newman) has never made us feel uncomfortable.” Gail and Spencer Lamar Booker, whose brother Marvin Booker was killed in Denver City Jail in July 2010

FRONT PAGE

en-us

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/281496459891801

The Gazette, Colorado Springs