Within our ranks, some attorneys want not only a low profile but no profile in the media, social or otherwise. But many have no trouble when it comes to getting and retaining clients. There are others who have a modest presence on line and may do some advertising, and then there are those who have a gigantic media presence of their own making, be it radio or television advertising, billboards, call centers, or any other means to reach the public. Some crave attention in whatever format, and I have a particular person in mind as I type this.
However, regardless of our personal preferences for publicity, I think we have all cautioned clients to beware of landing on a newspaper’s (yes, some still do exist) front page. Rarely does anything good ever come of that. Just ask California disbarred attorney Tom Girardi, whose front page LA Times stories of a few years ago, eventually landed him in prison and resulted in well-deserved shakeups in the State Bar of California’s discipline processes.
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Now comes another front page LA Times investigation about a law firm that has made a name for itself in plaintiff personal injury practice. The article should have law firms that have similar kinds of practices using similar techniques pause for a moment. The deets are in the link. (And please don’t use the excuse of TL;DR.)
Why is this news? The Downtown LA Law Group has represented many clients in Los Angeles County’s $4 billion (not a typo) settlement of thousands of sexual abuse cases in various county government facilities. Juvenile sexual abuse victims spanned decades, especially at various probation department facilities and at McLaren Children’s Center, a facility where sexual abuse was common, and which was finally closed in 2003. Children who were in the dependency court system ended up there until placement in a foster home. Imagine the trauma of being removed from your home through no fault of your own and then ending up in a place that was worse. There are no words.
In 2020, California enacted legislation that provided a three-year window for such claims, the majority dating from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, thereby waiving the applicable statute of limitations. While that’s helpful to plaintiffs, it made it much harder to defend such cases, given the passage of time and lack of available evidence.
DTLA Law Group is also now the subject of an investigation by the LA County District Attorney’s office into the firm’s alleged misconduct in recruiting clients and other potential misdeeds.
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The DA’s investigation is a “head’s up” not only for DTLA Law Group but for others who may have been involved in false claims, that is, lawyers, recruiters, and health care professionals. Not a good look if the allegations are true and which the law firm has emphatically denied.
Some clients claim that they were approached at various locations, and were paid, in varying amounts, to join the sex abuse litigation. As the Times investigation notes, California law prohibits “capping, which the firm has denied. In some cases, the law firm advanced money to clients, which is not illegal in this state.
At the end of 2024, one of the firm’s former paralegals sued DTLA Law Firm for, among other things, ignoring her complaints about illegal solicitation of clients, misrepresentation, and unethical and deceptive practices. If any of the allegations in the paralegal’s complaints are proved to be true, that could create more trouble for the law firm, which has said that the complaint is baseless.
What’s also in the settlement stew are private investors. One of the five county supervisors, Kathryn Barger, was contacted by a private investor who wondered if investing in Los Angeles County litigation would be a good investment. On which side, I wonder?
Meanwhile, the county has hired a retired judge to vet the DTLA settlements and county counsel has requested that the State Bar investigate the allegations the Times has raised. This situation is not just a kerfuffle; it goes beyond that to the very essence of lawyering and our ethical and professional responsibilities.
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at [email protected].