Monday, March 2, 2026
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Kiesel ‘Rejects’ State Bar’s Charges Relating to DWP Billing Scandal
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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PAUL KIESEL
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Paul Kiesel, founder of the prominent Beverly Hills firm Kiesel Law LLP and a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, has responded to the State Bar filing disciplinary charges against him for his involvement in litigation relating to the city’s water and power billing scandal, saying that he rejects the allegations as “unfounded, misguided, and fundamentally wrong.”
Citing his cooperation in the body’s investigations into the scandal, he remarked:
“Consumers received every dollar they were owed, and the State Bar considered my integrity strong enough to use me as a cooperating witness in its own prosecutions. For the Bar to pursue charges in spite of these facts is shameful and disappointing.”
The charges, filed by attorneys with the Office of Chief Trial Counsel (“OCTC”) on Wednesday, accuse him of covering up, while serving as outside counsel for the city, a plan to recruit “friendly” plaintiff’s counsel in a class action lawsuit against the municipality to favorably settle ratepayer claims over the 2013 disastrous rollout of a new Department of Water and Power (“DWP”) billing system developed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (“PWC”).
That system caused some residents to be overcharged while others never received a bill, leading to four proposed class-action lawsuits being filed in 2014 against the city.
Litigation Strategy
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office had retained Kiesel and now-disbarred New York attorney Paul Paradis to pursue claims on behalf of the city against PWC as part of a litigation strategy to shift the blame away from the municipality and onto the consulting firm.
According to OCTC lawyers, then-Chief Deputy City Attorney Jim Clark authorized the outside attorneys to find lawyers to represent a ratepayer, Antwon Jones, who had previously retained Paradis to pursue a fifth lawsuit against the city.
In Wednesday’s notice, the OCTC attorneys said that Kiesel sent an email to Michael Libman, one of the lawyers eventually hired to represent Jones, on March 3, 2015, copying Paradis and saying:
“We are preparing the complaint for your review. Can you send me your State Bar number for inclusion in the draft complaint? I am including Paul Paradis, my cocounsel, who is drafting this complaint.”
Kiesel and Paradis were still serving as lawyers for the city when the pleading was filed against their client in Los Angeles Superior Court on April 1, 2015.
A proposed $67 million settlement was announced in the Jones v. City lawsuit that July, with $19 million allocated to attorney fees. Counsel for the plaintiffs in one of the earlier-filed putative class actions accused the City Attorney’s Office of engaging in a reverse auction to sell resolution to the lowest bidder; the settlement was approved in July 2017.
Dishonesty Charges
OCTC filed four counts against Kiesel, accusing him of failing to withdraw as counsel when ethically required to do so and of acting dishonestly in the scheme to obtain a favorable settlement for the city.
In Wednesday filing, the lawyers claimed:
“Between in or about January 2015 and…March 2019, while serving as special counsel to the City…regarding the LADWP ratepayer billing issues arising from the [billing] system,…respondent colluded with multiple individuals, including attorneys…represent[ing] the plaintiffs in the matter, and the City of Los Angeles to structure, position, and settle Jones v. City in a manner that served the interests of the City…, while concealing…and failing to disclose this collusion to the court overseeing and approving the settlement….”
The notice cites an opposition to a motion to compel discovery, filed by PWC in the city’s lawsuit against the firm, in which Kiesel purportedly admitted to helping prepare the draft complaint in the Jones v. City matter and asserted that the pleading “is protected from disclosure” as attorney work product.
He also asserted that the settlement between Los Angeles and Jones was the product of “informed, good faith, arms-length negotiations,” assertions OCTC lawyers say he knew were “false and misleading.”
Kiesel, who graduated from the Whittier College School of Law, allegedly cooperated with the State Bar in disciplinary cases filed against other lawyers accused of colluding to manufacture a favorable settlement for the city and asserted that “[f]ederal prosecutors examined the facts and fully cleared me.”
His firm provided a statement of support on Friday, saying that “[t]he partners of Kiesel Law…express complete confidence he will be exonerated” and remarking:
“Mr. Kiesel has been a key cooperating witness in the State Bar’s investigations and prosecutions of others who were responsible for ethical violations. Mr. Kiesel rejects any suspension outright and maintains that he acted ethically at all times and was later scapegoated by city officials looking for someone to blame.”
Other attorneys who faced disciplinary charges for their parts in the scheme include Libman, for whom the State Bar recommended disbarment in January 2025, and Clark, who was dealt a two-year suspension recommendation from the body last week.
In addition to losing his law license, Paradis was sentenced to 33 months in prison for his participation. At his November 2023 sentencing, Paradis accused former City Attorney Mike Feuer of lying about his lack of involvement in the scheme.
Feuer, who lost a bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2024 primary election, has been adamant that he was unaware of any plan to structure a favorable settlement. He has not faced any criminal or disciplinary charges.
Copyright 2026, Metropolitan News Company