State senator distances himself from firm representing accused harassers

SACRAMENTO — Democrats have been scrambling to distance themselves from Assemblyman Matt Debabneh, D-Encino, after two women gave detailed accounts of alleged sexual harassment against him.

This included Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, who announced hours later that he was “suspending” ties with the Los Angeles law firm representing Debabneh, Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP. Dababneh has denied the allegations.

Hertzberg’s exit illustrates the difficulties attorneys serving in elected office can have in maintaining a legal career. In fact, Hertzberg switched law firms after being elected in 2014 to avoid conflicts. He is eligible to be elected to one more four-year term in the Senate next fall.

The charges against Dababneh hit close to home for Hertzberg, literally. His senate district partially overlaps with Dababneh’s Assembly district.

One of Dababneh’s accusers is Jessica Yas Barker, president of the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats. The group is in Van Nuys, close to Hertzberg’s district office.

Hertzberg was of counsel at Glaser Weil, although neither he nor firm partner Patricia L. Glaser have said what matters he worked on or how often he was in the office.

At a news conference Monday, Levy Vinick Burrell Hyams LLP partners Leslie F. Levy and Jean K. Hyams shared a Dec. 1 cease and desist letter from Glaser warning the accusers, led by Sacramento lobbyist Pamela Lopez, not to go public with their claims.

The attorneys distributed copies of their reply, which warned that their response to a defamation lawsuit would be to “conduct discovery into the nature of Mr. Dababneh’s existing reputation.”

Reached on Tuesday, Hertzberg’s office said it was unable to comment on his work for Glaser Weil. The senator’s district office was closed because of rapidly-growing wildfires in Southern California, and Hertzberg was attending briefings on the fire response.

“Minutes ago, I learned through press accounts for the first time that the Glaser Weil Firm now represents Mr. Dababneh,” Hertzberg said in his initial news release. “While I have a professional relationship with the firm, we maintain a strict ethical wall which limits my knowledge regarding matters the firm is working on.”

Glaser issued a statement of her own late Monday.

“When Mr. Hertzberg joined the firm, we carefully established a strict ethical wall which limited Bob’s knowledge and involvement in certain matters, which includes the Matt Dababneh representation,” she wrote.

Reached Tuesday, Glaser declined to say what work Hertzberg did, citing attorney-client privilege. She wouldn’t speculate on how often he was in the office.

“It wasn’t remotely consistent and I would have no way of gauging that,” Glaser said. “He was around when we needed him, that was for sure.”

Hertzberg was a partner at Mayer Brown LLP from 2002 to 2014. In a 2014 Daily Journal story, Mayer partner Philip R. Recht said the firm’s “active regulatory and legislative practice … would have created endless conflicts for Bob.”

In recent months, Glaser Weil has become known for its work on behalf of powerful men charged with sexual harassment — perhaps most notably movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

Toni Jaramilla, a Los Angeles plaintiffs’ lawyer active in sexual harassment cases, opposed Glaser in an earlier case involving American Apparel Inc. founder Dov Charney. She praised Glaser Weil as a “competent, aggressive firm” but said Hertzberg’s move there seemed like “an odd match” given his policy interests.

Hertzberg serves on the state Senate Judiciary Committee and has been a vocal progressive calling for changes to the money bail system in California.