The dark side of L.A. law: Who is watching for legal schemers?

Reporters dug deep to expose stolen funds, lax oversight, dubious suits

- By SHELBY GRAD

An out-of-town friend recently visited L.A. and made an observation about braving our freeway system that had nothing to do with gridlock.

Why are there so many billboard ads for lawyers?

I got curious too, counting at least a dozen while driving up the 710 Freeway recently from Long Beach to Los Angeles. My colleague Caroline Petrow-Cohen explained the business reasons, including growing market demand, for the bonanza, quoting one expert as saying “there’s probably more ads for lawyers now than ever.”

But do all these billboards say something larger about L.A. and our civil courts?

Over the last few years, The Times has devoted quite a bit of investigative reporting muscle to the dark side of the civil barand those who exploit it for gain.

Everybody hates lawyers until they need them. Lawyers can meaningfully bring about justice especially in a socially and economically stratified place like Los Angeles.

But a string of bad headlines does little to advance fairness for the little guy.

Recruiting fake ‘sex abuse’ victims

Times reporter Rebecca Ellis spent two weeks outside a county social services office and found people who said they were paid to joina massive sex abuse settlement. Four now say they were told to make up their claims. The stories are wild. Just consider this one: