DTLA denied that it had any involvement with vendors, who some plaintiffs said paid them to file suit, and The Times could not reach the vendors for comment.<\/p>\n
A majority of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors expressed outrage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m disgusted,\u201d said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the chair of the county board of supervisors, which approved the settlement this April<\/a>. \u201cIt is appalling that dishonest lawyers and individuals would exploit reforms that were meant to deliver justice to survivors of abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Barger introduced a motion<\/a> calling on county lawyers to investigate \u201cany alleged misconduct by legal repreresentatives\u201d involved in sex abuse lawsuits against the county.<\/p>\n DTLA has categorically denied paying people to sue and said no representative of the firm had been authorized to make payments. The firm said they\u2019ve hired a \u201cthird-party neutral\u201d to determine if any false claims had been filed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe allegations in this story are extremely concerning and describe conduct that is contrary to our firm\u2019s values,\u201d read the statement. \u201cWhile we do not believe they are accurate, we are taking them seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n The Times investigation found seven plaintiffs who said they were paid by \u201crecruiters\u201d for a law firm outside a county social services office in South Central Los Angeles. <\/p>\n California law<\/a> bans a practice known as capping, in which non-attorneys directly solicit or procure clients to sign up for lawsuits with a law firm.<\/p>\n Hours after the story, the Consumer Attorneys of California, a powerful lawyer trade group, called for an immediate audit of plaintiffs in the settlement and demanded the State Bar launch an investigation into the plaintiffs claims of being paid and DTLA filing childhood sexual abuse cases.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a matter that can wait. Illegal \u2018capping\u2019 and \u2018running\u2019 \u2014 generating lawsuits by paying intermediaries to drive claimants to a particular attorney or firm \u2014 are corrosive practices explicitly prohibited under California Law,\u201d wrote Geoff Well, president of the group, in a letter addressed to the State Bar and Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n \u201cThe alleged misconduct, if true, undermines the integrity of our justice system and the voices of survivors who depend on it,\u201d Well wrote. \u201cIt is vital that the Bar and the Administration take strong action to show the public that the legal profession will not tolerate bad actors.\u201d<\/p>\n The group also called for Newsom to sign recent legislation passed by Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) to beef up the laws against capping. The bill<\/a>, which is currently on the governor\u2019s desk, allows people to sue individuals or firms who they believe have directly solicited or procured clients. <\/p>\n \u201cIt made me sick to my stomach,\u201d said Umberg, who is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. \u201cThe ball is now in the State Bar\u2019s court to vigorously investigate the allegations that are contained in that article.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), who is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wants to see the State Bar \u201cvigorously investigate\u201d the allegations that plaintiffs were paid to sue LA County for sex abuse.<\/p>\n (Rich Pedroncelli\/AP)<\/p>\n Rick Coca, a spokesperson for the bar, said he can\u2019t comment on whether it will launch an investigation. He said, generally, the office can investigate when attorney misconduct is brought to its attention, and that California law prohibits attorneys from making payments, or causing others to make payments, to solicit clients.<\/p>\n DTLA said in a statement they welcome a State Bar investigation and noted they have \u201csystems in place to help weed out false or exaggerated allegations.\u201d The firm said it only accepted a small fraction of the 13,000 people who had reached out in the hopes of filing a lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that if the bar were to investigate the matter, they would conclude what we already know, we acted appropriately,\u201d the firm said. \u201cAdditionally, we continue to be deeply concerned that victims of sexual abuse who filed lawsuits under the guarantee of anonymity have been identified and re-victimized\u201d by The Times\u2019 reporting. <\/p>\n Outrage spread quickly through the Hall of Administration Thursday as supervisors began to question the validity of some of the claims the government was poised to pay out.<\/p>\n Supervisor Janice Hahn called the practice of paying for plaintiffs \u201cdespicable\u201d and said any attorney guilty of the practice \u201cshould be disbarred, and their share of the settlement should go to the victims of abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n The flood of lawsuits follows a 2020 state<\/a> law change that allowed survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue the perpetrator even though the statute of limitations had passed on their cases. The county has since been sued by more than 11,000 people alleging abuse inside county-run juvenile halls and foster homes with some claims dating back to the 1950s.<\/p>\n Supervisor Holly Mitchell\u2019s district includes the county services office where people said they were paid to sue. <\/p>\n (Irfan Khan\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Some supervisors say they want survivors to be compensated for abuse, but the law has left them legally defenseless against fraudulent cases. The county was required to throw out many relevant juvenile records \u2014 including who was in their facilities \u2014 long ago. The overall system, they say, is too vulnerable to exploitation.<\/p>\n Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose district includes the social services office where some plaintiffs said they were paid to sue, expressed concern that vulnerable South LA residents were \u201ctargeted\u201d and preyed upon based on \u201crace and class.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that allegations of sexual assault should be treated seriously and that survivors deserved emotional and financial support. However, she added, lawsuits need to be vetted and she had asked county lawyers to verify the name of plaintiffs before approving the settlement.<\/p>\n County lawyers said they did what they could to weed out fraud, reviewing statements from plaintiffs and searching for whatever records and witnesses they could find. But the bottom line, lawyers said, is they simply don\u2019t have much evidence, if any, for most of the decades-old claims.<\/p>\n Dawyn Harrison, the county\u2019s top lawyer, put the blame squarely on the law change, known as AB 218.<\/p>\n \u201cFraud is illegal. Exploitation is illegal. And yet too many plaintiff attorneys are actively drumming up these cases in the hope of a big payday. AB 218 allowed that,\u201d read a statement from Harrison. \u201cUnder AB 218, the liability exposure of public entities will only continue to grow. And survivors who deserve justice will continue to be subjected to a legal system hijacked by attorneys acting in their own self-interest who should be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Lorena Gonzalez, the former lawmaker who wrote the bill, said she\u2019s been trying to find a lawmaker to do \u201ccleanup legislation\u201d that would make it easier for jurisdictions to defend themselves. But she also believes the county shares the blame for settling the cases prematurely.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a county or an institution settles massively and doesn\u2019t do any kind of due diligence on the individuals in the class, I can\u2019t change that,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s possibly bad lawyering. That\u2019s bad oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n Gonzalez, now the president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, said she believed lawmakers should see if they could \u201copen up\u201d the settlement to examine for fraud.<\/p>\n While the settlement is nearly finalized, the agreement includes a provision that gives the county the right to back out unless all but 120 of the plaintiffs agree to the terms, a number that is unlikely to be reached with more than 11,000 plaintiffs. The money is set to start being distributed in January.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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