The University of Colorado is paying outside attorneys up to $900 an hour to represent the university in a lawsuit brought by Regent Wanda James claiming retaliation, discrimination and free speech violations.
Since March of 2025, CU has spent about $1 million on third-party legal costs and independent investigations regarding James, records show. James sued her fellow regents in May after they voted to censure and sanction her, an act she claims was discriminatory and retaliatory.
“The university is spending this money to defend the seven Regents that Regent James is suing and this is the cost of defending seven separate individuals,” CU spokesperson Michele Ames wrote in an email to the Daily Camera…