Denver's Legal Bills Soar to $800 Per Hour for Outside Lawyers Amidst Budget Deficit
The City of Denver is facing scrutiny over its escalating legal expenditures, with reports indicating the city is paying an outside law firm, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell (WTO), as much as $800 an hour for four lawyers to defend against two employee lawsuits. This rate significantly surpasses the average hourly rate for lawyers in Colorado, which Clio, a legal technology company, reported as $321 in 2025, with the highest rates typically around $492 per hour. One of the lawyers billing at $800 an hour is Hannah Chapple, who graduated from law school just two years prior. The city's contract with WTO, signed by Mayor Mike Johnston, had a cap of $470,000 for one year of legal work, but the firm's bills reached $852,000 in approximately four months, exceeding the cap by $382,000. This overspending necessitates a request for supplemental funds from the Denver City Council, as the original contract amount did not require council scrutiny. The City Attorney's Office, which has about 160 in-house lawyers, opted to hir... 
