The California State Bar is accusing a former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power commissioner of violations of attorney ethics for allegedly engaging in a quid pro quo deal leading up to a vote on a city contract.
The State Bar filed a notice of disciplinary charges against former DWP commissioner William Funderburk on July 5, accusing the attorney of misuse of a city position, conflicts of interest, moral turpitude, dishonesty, corruption and improper solicitations of campaign contributions.
The charges, which could result in suspension or disbarment, grew out of the investigation into a decade-old DWP billing system scandal. At the heart of that probe are the accusations of another attorney, Paul Paradis of the New York-based Paradis Law Firm (PLF), and an apparent plot hatched among Paradis, former officials in the City Attorney’s Office and other attorneys to manipulate a civil lawsuit seeking damages for DWP customers affected by the installation of a new billing system.
The new billing system, which was launched in 2013, was a disaster, according to the State Bar’s notice of disciplinary charges.
“The CC&B (Customer Care & Billing) system overcharged some ratepayers, failed to charge other ratepayers, sent delayed bills, improperly estimated bills, failed to provide ratepayers with appropriate refunds or credits, and failed to ensure that reported problems were investigated,” the State Bar’s filing states.
Funderburk was on the DWP board in 2017 when Paradis and then-DWP General Manager David Wright were seeking to gain board approval for Paradis’ consulting company, Aventador Utility Solutions LLC, to receive a $30 million no-bid city contract, according to the State Bar’s Office of Trial Counsel.
“Paradis and Wright agreed that Wright would work to ensure that the board awarded a contract to Aventador in exchange for multiple financial benefits Wright would receive from Aventador, including an annual salary of approximately $1 million, a luxury company Mercedes vehicle and the title of Aventador’s CEO once Wright retired from DWP,” the State Bar alleges.
The July 5 filing argues that Funderburk entered into discussions with Paradis about the vote on the Aventador contract, eventually agreeing to support the contract in return for unpaid legal services Paradis would provide to Funderburk on an unrelated matter. Funderburk allegedly told Paradis, “You take care of me, I take care of you,” or words of a similar nature, the State Bar’s notice says.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California have been investigating people linked to the DWP billing scandal, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicated last year that it was not charging Funderburk with any crimes.
Funderburk’s attorney, Jan Lawrence Handzlik, said he expects his client to be cleared of any wrongdoing once the full story surrounding the case comes out.
“Bill is in good company,” Handzlik told the Southern California Record in an email. “He joins a long list of lawyers accused of misconduct by Paradis in his unsuccessful attempt to avoid prison. Bill did nothing wrong. He did not receive free legal services from Paradis, much less thousands of dollars worth.”
Paradis did not begin characterizing Funderburk’s conduct as improper until much later in the investigation, when Paradis was fingering other players allegedly involved in his massive scheme, according to Handzlik.
“In 2017, Bill had asked several lawyers, including Paradis, for routine professional courtesies,” he said. “Things like copies of pleadings filed in other cases and thoughts about a judge before whom he had a case. This had nothing to do with the Aventador contract. In fact, the contract would have been passed by the board by a vote of 4-0, even without Bill's vote.”
Handzlik indicated that Funderburk gave fundraising invitations for a U.S. senator in New York to several people, including Paradis, but stressed that it involved no candidates for state or local office. The invitation was provided months after the Aventador contract was approved, he said, adding that the Los Angeles Municipal Code does not cover fundraising activities for out-of-state candidates.