Audit, State Bar investigation of county sex abuse settlement urged

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.

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SUPERVISOR Holly Mitchell worried that vulnerable residents were "targeted."

(IRFAN KHAN Los Angeles Times)

"This is not a matter that can wait. Illegal 'capping' and 'running' — generating lawsuits by paying intermediaries to drive claimants to a particular attorney or firm — are corrosive practices explicitly prohibited under California Law," Geoff Well, president of the group, wrote in a letter addressed to the State Bar and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"The alleged misconduct, if true, undermines the integrity of our justice system and the voices of survivors who depend on it," Well wrote.

The group also called for Newsom to sign recent legislation passed by state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) to beef up the laws against capping. The bill, which is on the governor's desk, allows people to sue individuals or firms that they believe have directly solicited or procured clients.

"It made me sick to my stomach," said Umberg, who is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The ball is now in the State Bar's court to vigorously investigate the allegations that are contained in that article."

Rick Coca, a spokesperson for the bar, said he can’t 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.

DTLA said in a statement that it welcomes a State Bar investigation and that it has "systems in place to help weed out false or exaggerated allegations." The firm said it accepted only a small fraction of the 13,000 people who had reached out in the hopes of filing a lawsuit.

"We believe that if the bar were to investigate the matter, they would conclude what we already know, we acted appropriately," the firm said.