Bar charges one more attorney in LA water billing litigation scandal

The California State Bar filed charges against one more attorney involved with the Los Angeles water billing litigation scandal and detailed discipline proceedings against four others.

Some of those charged have already pleaded guilty or been convicted of federal crimes.

Charged on Thursday was former Chief Deputy City Attorney James Patrick Clark, accused of misconduct "related to his role in secretly directing - then lying under oath about - a scheme of collusion, deceit, and concealed conflicts of interest intended to enable the City of Los Angeles to settle ratepayer class actions on terms favorable to the City and LADWP." He also faces two charges of failing to report a gift.

Clark's attorney, Erin Joyce of Erin Joyce Law in Pasadena, responded by email Friday: "It is difficult to understand, given the State Bar of California's well-documented history of ignoring legitimate complaints of stolen client settlement funds, that the State Bar has now brought charges and initiated a disciplinary proceeding against James Clark based solely on a complaint by disbarred former New York lawyer, convicted felon, and federal prison inmate Paul Paradis.

"Mr. Clark is a highly respected attorney who has enjoyed a distinguished legal career over the past 49 years, unblemished until now by a single complaint to the State Bar or by any allegation of ethical impropriety. It is beyond regrettable that the State Bar is attempting to tarnish Mr. Clark's record and his good name at the behest of a disgraced and disbarred criminal whose only motivation in making his bogus complaints was an attempt to reduce the number of years he will spend in prison."

The "reverse auction" arrangement, while legal in most cases, involves a defendant arranging with one of many suing plaintiffs a global settlement that will absorb and end all the other lawsuits. Jones v. Los Angeles, BC577267 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 1, 2015)

In this case, however, the main plaintiff, Antwon Jones, did not know that his attorney, Michael Libman, allegedly had allowed the city's outside counsel to draft and settle the lawsuit. It was settled quickly with a $60 million payout to attorneys. Libman, previously charged by the bar, is the only attorney involved who has been ordered by a judge to disgorge his fees: in his case, $1 million.

Libman reacted by phone Friday, saying, "The bar's and other accusations against me are completely unfounded. I did not participate in any collusion nor was I aware of one. I hope my situation will be the harbinger for much needed reform in our legal community."

The city attorney's office's plan was to settle the Antwon Jones lawsuit, then join with the plaintiffs in suing PricewaterhouseCoopers - which was tasked with setting up the billing system. Eventually the city dropped its case against PwC and paid court costs.

Tarzana attorney Libman is accused of colluding with two of the city's outside counsel - Paul Paradis and Paul Kiesel - as the lead attorney for the plaintiff in the arranged class - action, "when the other attorneys wrote the majority of the legal documents for the matter, and Libman knew they represented the city." Libman is also accused of planning to hack a judge and an attorney's email after he was removed from the case. The judge in the case is Elihu Berle of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. During court appearances, Libman has been involved in several debates with the newly appointed class counsel, Brian S. Kabateck of Los Angeles.

Paradis is serving a prison sentence.

Kiesel was cleared of wrongdoing by the federal government.

Former City Attorney Michael Feuer has not been charged by the federal government or the bar. He has denied knowing of any illegal plan, and denied being at a meeting in which the federal government said a plan had been agreed to pay a bribe by a former attorney of one of the outside counsel in return for her silence about the litigation deals.

Clark's attorney said in her email Friday, "Paradis' self-serving allegations, which rely largely upon a falsely claimed conversation at an alleged meeting over nine years ago (in 2015), of which meeting there is no written record whatsoever, were made in an unsuccessful effort to obtain a more favorable sentence in his federal criminal case. In fact, Paradis' sentence ended up being almost twice as long as even the Government had recommended. Notably, Mr. Clark is one of 18 attorneys against whom Paradis has complained to the State Bar arising from the same series of transactions."

Libman said Friday, "I am being persecuted because I dared to investigate a judge and his undisclosed friend, Brian Kabateck ... I never hacked anyone, never tried to hack anyone and that false and unsubstantiated and ridiculous charge is that I was properly investigating Judge Berle and Kabateck's connection and expose them."