El Paso County paid a law firm $180 an hour for legal work that cost taxpayers $175,700 in the past two years and is bound to cost more. But that�s what happens when a convicted cop shooter sues the county after a deputy returned fire and hit him in the butt. Believe it or not, Keith Clayton Brooks, 26, has filed a federal lawsuit against the two deputies involved, Sheriff Terry Maketa, the county and others, alleging excessive force. Here�s what happened: On Oct. 17, 2005, Brooks broke into a Security home. When officers showed up, a shot through the garage door sent splinters into deputy Steve Gaenzle�s face. Wounded, Gaenzle shot back, hitting Brooks as he jumped a fence. He was found three days later bleeding from the wound. Last April, Brooks was sentenced to 144 years in prison on charges of attempted first-degree murder, theft, burglary and assault. Now, Brooks wants money, claiming to be the victim in a case the county can�t risk losing. That�s why interim County Attorney Bill Louis brought in big-gun defense firm Vaughan and Demuro. The firm must be good. It collected 66 percent of all the county�s outside legal fees in 2006 and 2007 for various cases. �We hire outside counsel . . . when it appears that the county attorney�s office does not have the expertise or time resources to handle it,� Louis said. �The types of cases we send out are usually complicated cases where the monetary stakes can be very high. And when we purchase services of outside counsel, we�re really purchasing the expertise of experienced trial counsel.� Last year, 33 people filed notices of claim, meaning they might sue, for such things as traffic crashes, slips and falls, unreasonable search and false arrest. Many are nuisance cases. But can the county risk losing? Sometimes the county decides it�s cheaper to get out the checkbook and avoid litigation. A trial can cost $75,000. Since 2000, the county has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements in cases involving deaths in jail. But Louis said the county mostly avoids settling. �Our initial inclination and that of our clients, the Board of County Commissioners and the Sheriff�s Office, is to defend both on the facts and on principle,� Louis said. �That�s going to be expensive and time consuming.� Outside attorneys are paid from the county�s self-insurance fund, not the county attorney�s budget, which couldn�t afford it since it�s been on a crash diet of late. Louis� budget dropped from $852,497 in 2006 to $715,709 this year. It also shed about 300 pounds. (It has two fewer attorneys today than in 2003.) The four who are left are plenty busy, Louis said, and the county can�t risk a million-dollar default judgment because of a missed filing deadline or misunderstanding of federal law. �It comes down to a judgment call,� he said. �I think you�ll see we use the taxpayer resources very wisely. We do more with less. You keep peak performers and pay them to stick around.� CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com