The State Bar of California filed disciplinary charges Thursday against a former top official in the Los Angeles city attorney’s office for his alleged role in a Department of Water and Power scandal.
Jim Clark, a top deputy under former City Attorney Mike Feuer, secretly asked other attorneys to orchestrate a class action lawsuit so that claims over a botched DWP billing system could be settled on terms favorable to the city, State Bar attorneys 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 lead attorney, said in a statement.
Clark’s lawyer Erin Joyce said the law society was trying to “tarnish Mr. Clark’s record and reputation” based on baseless allegations.
“Mr. Clark is a highly respected attorney who has enjoyed a distinguished legal career spanning the past 49 years, thus far free of a single State Bar complaint or any allegation of ethical impropriety,” Joyce said.
If the charges are upheld by the State Bar, Clark faces disbarment, suspension or probation.
A partner for 30 years at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Clark joined the city in 2013. He left to pursue mediation work in 2020, a year after the FBI raided his office and others as part of a criminal investigation into the sham trial.
Clark, who has not been charged in the criminal investigation, receives a city pension worth nearly $4,000 a month.
The complaint filed with the State Bar alleges that Clark “directed” three attorneys contracted by the city to find a “friendly attorney” to file a class action lawsuit against the city over the DWP’s flawed billing system, which issued erroneous bills to thousands of customers. One Van Nuys couple was billed nearly $52,000.
With a lawyer on the plaintiffs’ side in the lawsuit colluding with the city team, the claims could be settled on terms favorable to the DWP.
Law Society prosecutors also accuse Clark of making “false and misleading statements” in another trial by denying his role in the sham trial in a signed statement. Clark also withheld information from the civil court overseeing the DWP prosecution, prosecutors said.
Clark knowingly committed “acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption” in violation of the California Business and Professions Code, part of the state bar law, prosecutors said.
Clark faces additional charges before the State Bar for accepting $640 in tickets to a 2016 Who concert from a lawyer involved in the collusion 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 who works at the DWP — all in connection with this massive scandal.
Clark’s name appears prominently in FBI search warrant affidavits made public in May after the Times requested their release in federal court.
Former DWP chief executive David Wright accused Clark of lying about his role in the collusion trial, according to an affidavit.
Marisol Mork, another lawyer for Clark, told the Times in May that Wright’s “allegations are riddled with inaccuracies” and denied that Clark did anything wrong.
Multiple witnesses told FBI agents that Clark suffered from an unknown illness in 2017 and 2018 that affected his “functionality” at work and prompted him to take medical leave, according to one of the affidavits, with partial redactions to protect Clark’s privacy.
In affidavits, an FBI agent also said he believed Feuer, who served as city attorney from 2013 to 2022, lied to government investigators and likely obstructed justice. Feuer disputes the agent’s allegations and maintains his innocence.
Four people, including former DWP CEO Wright and senior officials in the city attorney’s office, have pleaded guilty to various federal crimes, including bribery.
