Firefighter's attorney says city mishandled the case

The attorney for an injured former Seattle firefighter who won a $12.75 million jury verdict this week claims the city badly mishandled the case.

Dick Kilpatrick, co-counsel for Mark Jones, said he offered to settle the case for $8 million during mediation talks last year, but the city's best count-

eroffer at the time was $2.5 million. He said that during the subsequent six-week trial, lawyers working for the city attempted to paint his client as a terrible person, a tactic that backfired.

Kilpatrick said when the city came back with a $5 million offer late in the trial, it was too little, too late, especially given the attorneys' hard-nosed tactics.

City Attorney Tom Carr confirmed Kilpatrick's figures, but said he didn't want to rehash the city's negotiations or trial tactics. He said the city offered substantial settlements both in 2008 and during the trial, based on the facts available at the time.

"My heart goes out to Mr. Jones and his family," Carr said. "I'm glad that he will be compensated, and hope he can live the most productive life possible."

Carr said the city is still evaluating whether to appeal the case, which was decided Thursday in King County Superior Court. Anne Bremner, one of the attorneys from the Stafford Frey Cooper law firm who defended the city, referred questions to Carr's office.

Jones was injured after falling 15 feet down an unguarded fire-pole hole at the Fire Department's Station 33 in December 2003. As well as injuries to his back and pelvis, Jones suffered damage to his brain that has led to confusion, slowness with words and the likelihood he will never work again, Kilpatrick said.

The verdict, the biggest during Carr's eight-year tenure as city attorney, comes at a politically sensitive time. Carr is in a tough election battle against Pete Holmes, with the outcome to be decided in less than two weeks.

Public records released by the city on Friday indicate the city had spent about $526,000 on outside counsel for the Jones case through mid-October — a figure that will increase when all the trial costs have been added.

Since 2001, records show, Seattle has spent $32.5 million on outside attorney fees and about $63 million on settlements and judgments. Holmes said the City Attorney's Office should be more focused on settling cases such as Jones' case before they reach trial.

Carr responded that it was "reprehensible" for Holmes to politicize the Jones case, and he added that his office has a good track record when it comes to defending the city.

The Fire Department has 11 stations with fire poles. Since Jones was injured, the department has installed chest-high latching mechanisms on the doors to fire poles so firefighters have a "level of awareness" about opening the doors, said department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick.

A station completed in January 2008 was granted a variance from a 1996 state regulation that prohibits fire poles in new stations, Fitzpatrick said. At that multistory building, Fire Station 10 in downtown Seattle, latches on doors to poles automatically unlock when the fire bell rings as an extra safeguard, she said.

Firefighters have the option of using poles or stairs, Fitzpatrick said. Padding is in place at the foot of the poles, she said.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com