Judges, Lawyers Under Scrutiny

Former Los Angeles County Bar Association President Paul R. Kiesel, whose name has come up repeatedly in connection with the Department of Water and Power (“DWP”) overbilling scandal, on Feb. 25 was charged by the State Bar with having “intentionally committed acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption” by setting up a sham case against the city which the defendant controlled and was intended to minimize damages.

Kiesel was an attorney for Antwon Jones, lead plaintiff in an action against the city in connection with massive overbillings of ratepayers. He also represented the city, as special counsel, in a lawsuit against PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP which the city blamed for providing a shoddy billing system, leading to the erroneous billings.

The city hired Kiesel along with then-New York attorney Paul Paradis, now disbarred in connection with the matter.

The State Bar alleges:
“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….”

It asserts that Kiesel made “false and misleading statements” during a deposition conducted by Pricewaterhouse.

Kiesel on March 12 filed a motion seeking the disqualification of State Bar Court Judge Yvette D. Roland because she had found disciplinable misconduct on the part of two other figures in the scandal: Michael Jacob Libman and James Patrick Clark. Roland had determined that Libman should be disbarred and Clark should be suspended from practice for two years.

The motion was referred to State Bar Court Judge Manjari Chawla who, on March 30, denied it, saying:
“Judge Roland's prior rulings were based upon her actual observance of the witnesses and evidence during the independent trials in the two disciplinary actions and related directly to the issues before her. i.e.. Libman's and Clark's respective culpability for the alleged misconduct and the recommended discipline to be imposed. The fact that some of those findings—based on the evidence presented—related to Kiesel's alleged role in the underlying litigation does not support a rational inference of bias or partiality. Nor does it indicate that Judge Roland has predetermined the merits of Kiesel's culpability for the wrongdoing alleged in this proceeding.”

On Nov. 7, 2023, Paradis was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. of the Central District of California to 33 months in prison for his participation in the scheme. Paradis accused Mike Feuer of lying about his lack of involvement in what took place while he was Los Angeles city attorney.

Feuer has been mentioned prominently as a possible knowing participant in the skullduggery, but is not the subject of disciplinary proceedings, at present.

The name of former Chapman University School of Law Dean John Charles Eastman has been stricken from the rolls of attorneys by the California Supreme Court which on April 15 accepted the March 27, 2024 recommendation of the State Bar Court, which was seconded by the Review Department on June 13, 2025.

The disbarment stems from Eastman’s role in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election on behalf of his then-client, President Donald Trump.

Eastman was accused of 11 counts of misconduct. It was only Count 11—incitement of a riot—that State Bar Court Judge Yvette D. Roland found unsupported. She did determine that he lied to then-Vice President Michael Pence and to the public as to the vice president’s power to delay certification of the presidential election results.

The Supreme Court not only denied Eastman’s petition for review but also one filed by the State Bar. It contested the determination by Roland that Eastman’s remarks at the “Save America Rally” in the District of Columbia on Jan. 6, 2021, were not geared to incite the storming of the Capitol on that date. The Review Department concluded that Eastman’s words “establish that he made false and misleading statements, but in no way does he tell the crowd ‘to assault and breach the Capitol’ ” as alleged in the notice of charges.

The opening brief in the Ninth Circuit appeal by Thomas V. Girardi of his August 2024 conviction on four counts of wire fraud was due Dec. 26 but on Dec. 19, his lawyer, Deputy Federal Public Defender Andrew B. Talai, filed a motion for a 90-day extension of time, “to and including March 26, 2026” which, it was noted, the government did not oppose. On March 19, a further request for an extension was filed; it was ordered:

“The opening brief is due June 24, 2026. The answering brief is due July 24, 2026. The optional reply brief is due 21 days after the answering brief is served.”

Girardi, 86, is incarcerated in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. U.S. District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton of the Central District of California on Sept. 19 denied a motion by Girardi for release on bond pending appeal.

The charges stemmed from failing to pay clients the full amounts of settlement proceeds, perpetrating his crimes, according to the indictment, "by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and the concealment of material facts” which he “had a duty to disclose.”

On June 3, Staton sentenced Girardi—once wealthy, now impecunious—to seven years and three months in prison. The sentencing occurred on Girardi’s 86th birthday.

Staton ordered that Girardi make restitution in the amount of $2,310,247.26.

The anticipated release date is Aug. 1, 2031. However, it is rumored that Girardi, whose term began on July 17, 2025, is seeking compassionate release.

His estranged wife, Erika Jayne, noted in a recent episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that Girardi is bound to die in prison, commenting: “I just kind of hoped he’d die before he’d go to prison, just so he could get it over with.”