Lawyer accused of filing class action suit at behest of litigation opponent

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Lawyer accused of submitting class motion swimsuit at behest of litigation opponent

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 11, 2024, 1:10 pm CDT

A California lawyer has been accused of submitting a category motion lawsuit that had been ready by a lawyer working for his litigation opponent after which accumulating lawyer charges when the case settled on phrases advantageous to the opponent.

The State Bar of California filed a discover of disciplinary costs in opposition to California lawyer Michael Jacob Libman in a March 6 grievance, report Law360 and the Los Angeles Instances.

The disciplinary costs allege that Libman was a neighborhood counsel within the class motion swimsuit ostensibly filed on behalf of identify plaintiff Antwon Jones, a utility buyer, in opposition to the Los Angeles Division of Water & Energy. The general public utility firm offers electrical energy and water to metropolis residents. The swimsuit was primarily based on billing errors that occurred after the adoption of a brand new billing system.

In actuality, the Jones swimsuit was ready by Paul Paradis, one among two attorneys employed by town to sue PricewaterhouseCoopers, which had configured and carried out the billing system, the ethics costs allege. The $67 million settlement settlement within the Jones swimsuit was additionally ready Paradis, in keeping with the ethics costs.

Libman was recruited as a neighborhood counsel by Paul Kiesel, the opposite lawyer employed to sue PricewaterhouseCoopers, the costs say. Paradis recruited an Ohio lawyer to be the lead counsel and reached an settlement for the Ohio lawyer to chill 20% of his lawyer charges to Paradis, the ethics grievance alleges. The Ohio lawyer has since died, in keeping with Law360.

Jones wasn’t conscious of the alleged collusion in his swimsuit in opposition to town, and neither was the choose who authorised a $1.65 million payment for Libman, the swimsuit says. In his payment request, Libman had falsely claimed to have labored on wage-and-hour class actions previously, in keeping with the costs.

Libman was ordered in March 2021 to forfeit his lawyer charges. Libman didn’t obey court docket orders to show over detailed time data for the case and to reply deposition questions, the ethics costs say. He was present in contempt in August 2023, ordered to pay $1,000 for every act of contempt, and ordered to pay a $700 each day nice till he complies with court docket orders, the ethics costs say. So far, he has not complied.

The discover of costs alleges ethical turpitude, conflicts of curiosity and failure to obey court docket orders.

The Los Angeles Instances known as the ethics costs “the most recent twist in a DWP corruption saga that largely centered on the position of the [Los Angeles] metropolis lawyer’s workplace and the way its attorneys responded to litigation over a defective billing system.”

The Los Angeles Division of Water & Energy scandal led to responsible pleas by 4 folks, together with three metropolis staff, the article says. Libman was not charged within the scheme, however Paradis pleaded responsible to bribery, in keeping with a November 2021 U.S. Division of Justice press launch.

Libman’s authorized counsel supplied an announcement on his behalf to Law360.

“I’m upset that the state bar filed costs in opposition to me on this politicized [Los Angeles Department of Water & Power] case pushed by vindictive, corrupt and linked attorneys bent on railroading me as a result of I’ve been exposing their corruption for the previous few years,” Libman mentioned.

“If I’ll get a good trial that enables me to current all of the proof, I shall be absolutely vindicated and the true scale of the layers of corruption additional uncovered,” Libman mentioned. “I stay up for the general public trial, and I invite members of the media, bench and bar to come back watch.”