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***EXCLUSIVE***MUST CREDIT ***COMPLETECOLORADO.COM*** July 29, 2010 CompleteColorado.com has obtained calendar documents showing that disgraced Democratic lawyer Willie Shepherd may have fallen from the position of power he enjoyed circa the 2008 Democratic National Convention, but he still has access to the titular head of the state's party machine, namely, Mayor John Hickenlooper. Shepherd was previously a rising star within the Colorado Democratic Party, until ethical allegations at his law firm, Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert LLP, caused him to withdraw from the firm. Eventually, Shepherd was publicly censured by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel (OARC), a body intended to investigate allegations of misconduct against members of the bar. The full Shepherd saga was detailed in a lengthy expose called "Power Broken," by Maximillian Potter of 5280 magazine. One excerpt involves an unnamed source who alleged that Shepherd repeatedly instructed him/her to overbill: One such source, who was not contacted by OARC, worked for Shepherd. "I don't want my name mentioned," the source said. "I don't want my name linked. I fear retaliation. I did have him tell me to go into his calendar and find 30 hours. Next month, he said, 'Wow, you did well, let's find 60 hours.' I would try to find as much valid time as possible. Then there were other times he had me put in as many as 90 hours per month that were not valid. Let's say an associate had a time entry for work on a piece of a project; Willie would claim that he did that work, too, and I know he didn't work on it. He was even out of the office. Not even in the country sometimes. I knew it wasn't right. But this was the kind of man who would fire you if there wasn't enough ice in his glass." (According to two sources, Shepherd tried to fire members of the firm's catering staff when there wasn't enough ice in the pitcher on his desk.)Click "Full Screen" on the right for a better view of the calendar page. Mayor Hickenlooper Calendar - Shepherd meeting - PDF may not be reproduced without consent from CompleteColorado.com. The following is an email exchange between CompleteColorado.com and Eric Brown, spokesman for Mayor Hickenlooper. 1) Was this meeting private? I.e. just the Mayor and Mr. Shepherd? The meeting you referenced on May 3, 2010, was not a meeting with Willie Shepherd. It was an informational meeting requested by Southwest Generation. The Mayor, an executive from Southwest Generation, Deputy Chief of Staff Jack Finlaw and Willie Shepherd attended the meeting. Mr. Shepherd accompanied Southwest Generation to the meeting. 2) What was discussed or what was the nature of this meeting? See above. 3) Any concerns on the Mayor's part in terms of meeting with a lawyer that is, one would assume, in general, thought to be "disgraced," and who has been accused of overbilling, and has been publicly censured for lying (by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel)? Again, the meeting on May 3 was an informational meeting requested by Southwest Generation. Mr. Shepherd accompanied Southwest Generation to the meeting. 4) To your knowledge, has the Mayor had any other private or "close" meetings (i.e. less than 5 people present, not including the Mayor) in the last 12 months? I am aware of only one other meeting in which Willie Shepherd attended. The Mayor met with First Data Corp. on April 19. It was an informational meeting requested by the company. The Mayor, an executive from First Data Corp., Chief of Staff Roxane White and Willie Shepherd were at the meeting. Mr. Shepherd accompanied First Data Corp. to the meeting. ***END OF REPORT*** |
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