Tuesday, September 1, 2026
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California Supreme Court Disbars Attorney Tied to DWP Billing-Scandal Cases
By Kimber Cooley, associate editor
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MICHAEL J. LIBMAN disbarred attorney |
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Tarzana attorney Michael J. Libman has been disbarred for his role in purportedly conspiring with lawyers inside the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to initiate a “friendly” class-action lawsuit against the municipality over the Department of Water and Power’s 2013 rollout of a new problem-riddled billing system and allegations that he hired Israeli operatives to hack into personal accounts of a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
His name was stricken from the rolls of attorneys by way of a California Supreme Court decree, which was filed on July 29 and took effect Friday. The order follows the January 2025 recommendation of State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland who found Libman culpable on nine counts of misconduct, and declares:
“The court orders that Michael Jacob Libman (Respondent), State Bar Number 222353, is disbarred from the practice of law in California and that Respondent’s name is stricken from the roll of attorneys.”
Libman was ordered to “pay monetary sanctions to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund in the amount of $5,000” and costs were awarded to the State Bar.
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel (“OCTC”) filed an initial notice of disciplinary charges against the solo practitioner in March 2024, asserting that he worked with city lawyers to engineer a class-action lawsuit over allegations that DWP had rolled out a billing system, developed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, that resulted in some residents being overcharged.
According to the OCTC lawyers, the City of Los Angeles retained New York attorney Paul Paradis, now disbarred, and California attorney Paul Kiesel (a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association) and directed them to find local counsel to represent ratepayers in class litigation who would be friendly to the municipality’s interests.
Libman was recruited and agreed to sign a complaint against the city that was entirely drafted by Paradis, who had also already prepared a confidential settlement proposal by the time the pleading was filed on April 1, 2015. Four months later, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle approved a settlement calling for the payout of approximately $67 million to DWP customers.
Fee Award
Berle also awarded Libman $1.65 million for his work on the case, but the jurist ordered the fees disgorged in March 2021 after allegations about the conspiracy were brought to light. Libman has yet to comply with the disgorgement decree.
A second notice of disciplinary charges was filed against Libman in June 2024, asserting that the attorney plotted to hire Israeli operatives affiliated with an organization known as “Black Cube” to hack personal and professional email and phone accounts belonging to Berle and Brian Kabateck, the former Los Angeles County Bar Association president assigned to replace Libman as class-counsel in the DWP matter after the conflicts of interest came to light.
Roland acknowledged that Libman has no prior record of discipline but said in the order recommending disbarment:
“He knowingly acted as a figurehead attorney in a collusive scheme, submitted false declarations to secure $1.65 million in attorneys’ fees, and concealed relationships with opposing counsel. Even after exhausting appeals, Libman refused to return fees as ordered, compounding his misconduct. Beyond this, his deliberate efforts to compromise and access the court and private communications of a sitting judge (and Kabateck) undermines the administration of justice and demonstrates an extraordinary and calculated violation of ethical standards.”
Tool for City
On Jan. 14, the Review Department of the State Bar Court agreed with the assessment, declaring:
“Libman participated in deceit and collusion to permit the Jones class action (and Jones himself) be used as a tool for representatives of the City to obtain a fast and favorable resolution in a high-profile matter….After securing $1.65 million through a false application for attorney fees, Libman thwarted every attempt to unmask his lies. Over several years, Libman consistently refused to follow court orders, and then in apparent retribution, engaged in a vendetta campaign against Judge Berle and Kabateck.”
Earlier this year, a State Bar Court judge recommended that former Chief Deputy Jim Clark of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office be suspended from the practice of law for at least two years relating to his involvement in the plan to recruit “friendly” plaintiff’s counsel in the ratepayer class-action lawsuit.
The OCTC filed a notice of disciplinary charges against Kiesel in February, accusing him of covering up the scheme to orchestrate a favorable settlement in the litigation. He has said that he “rejects” the charges as “fundamentally wrong,” citing his cooperation with the State Bar’s investigation and pointing out that “[c]onsumers received every dollar they were owed.” Then-City Attorney Michael Feuer has not been charged in disciplinary proceedings and has insisted that he had no knowledge of the plan. Paradis has asserted to the contrary.
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