The State Bar of California filed disciplinary charges Thursday against a former high-ranking official in the Los Angeles city attorney's office for his alleged role in a scandal at the Department of Water and Power.
Jim Clark, a top deputy to then-City Attorney Mike Feuer, secretly directed other attorneys to organize a class-action lawsuit so that claims over a failed DWP billing system could be resolved on terms favorable to the city, state bar prosecutors allege.
Clark “directed and authorized a scheme of collusion and deception that constituted a flagrant betrayal of his duties as a lawyer and public official,” George Cardona, the bar’s chief trial attorney, said in a statement.
Clark's attorney, Erin Joyce, said the Bar Association was attempting to “smear Mr. Clark's record and good name” based on unfounded allegations.
“Mr. Clark is a highly respected attorney who has enjoyed a distinguished legal career over the past 49 years, untainted thus far by a single complaint to the State Bar or allegation of ethical misconduct,” Joyce said.
If the State Bar Court upholds the charges, Clark faces disbarment, suspension or probation.
Clark, a 30-year partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, joined the city in 2013. He left to pursue a career in mediation in 2020, a year after the FBI raided his office and others as part of a criminal investigation into the fake lawsuit.
Clark, who was not charged in the criminal investigation, collects a city pension of nearly $4,000 a month.
The State Bar complaint alleges that Clark “directed” three attorneys working under contract with the city to find “friendly counsel” to file a class-action lawsuit against the city over the DWP’s faulty billing system, which had issued erroneous bills to thousands of customers. One Van Nuys couple was billed nearly $52,000.
With a plaintiffs' attorney colluding with the city team, the claims could be resolved on terms favorable to the DWP.
Bar prosecutors also allege Clark made “false and misleading statements” in another lawsuit by denying his role in the sham lawsuit in a signed statement. Clark also withheld information from the civil court that oversees DWP lawsuits, prosecutors said.
Clark knowingly committed “acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption” in violation of the California Business and Professions Code, which is part of the State Bar Law, prosecutors said.
Clark faces additional charges from the State Bar Association for accepting $640 worth of tickets to a 2016 Who concert from an attorney involved in the collusive lawsuit and failing to report the gift as required by city law.
The State Bar also filed charges against a former DWP commissioner and an outside attorney and proposed a temporary suspension for a city attorney working at the DWP, all in connection with the massive scandal.
Clark's name appeared extensively in FBI search warrant affidavits that were made public in May after The Times requested their release in federal court.
Former DWP general manager David Wright accused Clark of lying about his role in the collusive lawsuit, according to an affidavit.
Marisol Mork, another attorney for Clark, told The Times in May that Wright’s “allegations are riddled with inaccuracies” and denied that Clark had done anything wrong.
Several witnesses told FBI agents that Clark suffered from an unknown condition in 2017 and 2018 that affected his “functionality” at work and led him to take medical leave, one of the affidavits said, with partial redactions to protect Clark’s privacy.
In the affidavits, an FBI agent also said he believed Feuer, who served as city attorney from 2013 to 2022, had lied to government investigators and likely obstructed justice. Feuer denies the agent's allegations and maintains his innocence.
Four people, including former DWP general manager Wright and senior officials in the city attorney's office, have pleaded guilty to various federal crimes, including bribery.
