For over a year now, the

State Bar of California State Bar officials have has

conducted one of the largest surveys

it belongs to the organization

history in the conduct of attorneys handling lawsuits related to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s

2013

billing collapse

in 2013

.

The results of that probe may come to light soon.

Stands

Bar detectives Charles Calix and Abrahim Bagheri appeared at a federal court hearing in downtown LA on Tuesday and provided an update on the investigation. Calix told U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. that “public procedures” towards

S

some individuals can enter

a subsequent

a few months.

Calix

So

suggested that the

State Bar

research is unparalleled in the

the bars of the office

History. Another lawyer, whose client is helping the investigation, told Blumenfeld at Tuesday’s hearing that 18 lawyers are under investigation.

Investigating detectives

How

the city office

is handled

Lawsuits arising from a faulty DWP billing system

That

launched in 2013.

Faced with a deluge of lawsuits over billing errors, attorneys working for the city conspired with the opposing attorney to quickly settle a class action lawsuit brought by

the

DWP customers.

That covert lawsuit was known internally at the city attorney’s office as the “white knight” case because it was drafted to “quickly settle a slew of costly, embarrassing, and politically damaging lawsuits on terms the city wanted,” officials said. justice of the US law firm.

wrote said

in court documents this month.

The criminal investigation led by the American law firm has produced two guilty pleas from lawyers who worked for the former City Atty. mike fire

Prosecutors have referred in lawsuits to other “top city attorney personnel” who led the legal settlement but have not filed additional charges.

against that person or individuals.

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the US law firm, declined to comment Friday when asked about the lack of charges.

At the same time

A 2021 court report on the lawyers’ actions concluded that several

lawyers

have violated the ethical rules against dishonesty, deceit and conspiracy and have violated their ethical duties to the court in violation of the rules of professional conduct.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Calix told Blumenfeld that some attorneys are being investigated by the State Bar

from California

invoke their 5th Amendment law against self-incrimination, in an apparent attempt to allow the statute of limitations

each

possible costs

expired.run out.

They help the

bar State Bar

with the

ir

investigations included Paul Paradis, a lawyer who had worked for Feuer’s firm. Paradis pleaded guilty to one charge of bribery in the federal investigation into the legal scheme.

Paradis was due to be sentenced on Tuesday, but Blumenfeld postpones

editing

the sentencing until September so that Paradis could continue to help

bar State Bar

detectives.

David Scheper, lawyer for Paradis, told the judge that

his client Paradise

had

made every effort to help

prosecutors in both the criminal and state investigations

Unpleasant

“rooting out corruption that goes to the highest places.”

He also said 18 lawyers are under investigation

at the bar during State Bar rehearsal

. A spokesman for the State Bar

from California

turned down

Unpleasant

comment on how many lawyers are scrutinized.

Paradis previously accused Feuer of knowing about it

the

misconduct in the matter and has been accused of the

former

city ​​attorney of perjury during a statement in 2019. Brand denies the allegations.

In August 2022, the US law firm wrote

a letter

to Feuer’s attorney, noting that it had no active investigation of Feuer in connection with the DWP billing scandal.

This month, Paradis was aiming for another

first time

senior official in Feuer’s office: former Deputy Chief Atty. Jim Clark. In a letter to Blumenfeld, Paradis wrote that Clark had asked him and others to carry out the “secret trial plan”.

Marisol Mork, a lawyer for Clark, told The Times that Paradis’ letter “is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by a criminal defendant to convince the court to reduce his incarceration by shifting the blame onto others for the egregious behavior described by the American law firm.”

Paul Kiesel, another lawyer who worked for the city attorney on DWP billing proceedings, told The Times on Monday that he was present at a meeting when Clark instructed Paradis to draft the lawsuit

that witch

would be known as the “white knight” complaint.

Mork did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kiesel’s statement.

Clark has not been charged

by prosecutors.

in the case.

Fire, who is?

now

candidate for Congress has confirmed that he is under investigation

by the State Bar of California

but insists he

did nothing did nothing

wrong.

Firework,

Tuesday reached,

Firework

said he was “fully cooperating and fully convinced that there is no problem with regard to me.”

Fire declined to comment on Tuesday when asked about the comments

made about Clark

from Pebble and Paradise

about clark

.