A Tarzana attorney who was recommended for disbarment by a California State Bar Court judge has vowed to appeal the decision, which grew out of a decade-old scandal involving a Los Angeles utility’s billing system overhaul.
Judge Yvette Roland issued the decision against attorney Michael Jacob Libman on Jan. 28, finding him culpable for nine charges of ethical misconduct, including moral turpitude, dishonesty, collusion, making false court filings, disobeying court orders and participating in conflicts of interests.
“Upon careful review of the evidence, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that Libman is culpable of each of these ethical violations,” Roland said in her opinion. “Given the severity of his misconduct, the court concludes that disbarment is warranted.”
The charges relate to an ongoing investigation into a 2015 class-action lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles over the Department of Water and Power’s deployment of a problem-plagued billing system. Libman was found to have used a client as an “unknowing pawn” in advancing a class action lawsuit whose terms were favorable to the city.
“Libman allegedly signed his name to legal filings he did not create and knew were written by now-disbarred New York attorney Paul Paradis or California attorney Paul Kiesel, both of whom were representing the city of Los Angeles as outside counsel,” the State Bar said in a news release.
But Libman told the Southern California Record that the charges were a sham.
“My legal team and I strongly disagree with Judge Roland’s decision and recommendation,” he said in an email. “Her decisions are not based on true facts or proper application of the law. We will appeal this flawed decision that rubber-stamped a false narrative in retaliation for my independent investigation of (Los Angeles County Superior Court) Judge (Elihu) Berle and other prominent attorneys. I was scapegoated and railroaded.”
Berle oversaw the class action in question and eventually appointed another lawyer, Brian Kabateck, to succeed Libman as class counsel.
“Overwhelming evidence and testimony from many fact witnesses, including of Judge (Dickran) Tevrizian, was arbitrarily ignored by Judge Roland,” Libman said. “The decision and the process of how it was arrived at is irrefutable evidence of desperately needed reforms of the justice system and attorney discipline system. Stay tuned.”
Tevrizian acted as mediator in the class action litigation against the LADWP.
The State Bar Court manages disciplinary proceedings and evaluates charges filed by the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel, which described the allegations against Libman as serious and considerable.
“... Disbarment is appropriate because Mr. Libman’s misconduct was egregious and extensive, revealing a total disregard for his responsibilities as a lawyer,” Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said in a prepared statement. “It included knowingly acting as a figurehead attorney in collusive litigation, submitting false declarations to obtain $1.65 million in attorneys’ fees and compromising the court and private communications of an attorney and a sitting judge.”
Among the counts, Libman was charged with plotting to hire Israeli hackers to obtain private emails and phone accounts of Judge Berle and attorney Kabateck. Judge Roland’s recommendation will be evaluated by the California Supreme Court unless an appeal is sought by one of the parties, according to the State Bar.