Ex LA special counsel tells bar city attorney aided extortion

A New York attorney, who was special counsel for the city of Los Angeles in its now dismissed lawsuit against PricewaterhouseCoopers over a faulty water billing system, has filed a complaint with the State Bar accusing City Attorney Michael N. Feuer of having "personal and direct knowledge of" and "aided and abetted" an extortion scheme that a former high-ranking member of Feuer's staff admitted to conducting.

The New York attorney, Paul O. Paradis, pleaded guilty in January to accepting a nearly $2.2 million bribe in connection with the cover-up of the city's litigation fiasco. In a Feb. 7 complaint to the State Bar, made public in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing on Feb. 24, Paradis stated that Feuer knew of and aided a threat by the former senior city attorney official Thomas H. Peters. Peters pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to threatening to fire a different plaintiffs' attorney, Paul Kiesel of Beverly Hills, from a lucrative special counsel job unless the attorney paid a substantial extortion demand to expose the city's collusive litigation.

Feuer, who is running for mayor in Los Angeles, said in a statement Jan. 10, "At no time until today was I aware of Mr. Peters' illegal actions. With his admission of wrongdoing we finally know the truth of what happened."

Paradis said Feuer told a "patently false and boldfaced lie," accusing him of directing Peters to aid and abet the extortion and committing perjury.

On Aug. 13, 2019, Feuer said under oath in a deposition, "I knew nothing about that conduct. ... The first time I was aware the Mr. Kiesel or Mr. Paradis, or both of them, engaged in conduct that included in any manner assisting in the filing of the Jones versus DWP case was when the documents that we've already made reference to were transmitted to me by -- described to me ... and then transmitted to me for review."

The extortion in question stemmed from a terminated employee dubbed "Person A," formerly of Kiesel Law LLP, according to the Department of Justice. Person A threatened to appear at a hearing for the City of Los Angeles v. PricewaterhouseCoopers case and, unless Kiesel agreed to pay Person A a large sum of money, release sensitive documents showing the city attorney's office had colluded with plaintiffs' counsel in another case, Jones v. City of Los Angeles, a class action over the water billing.

According to Paradis' bar complaint, in a Nov. 17, 2017 meeting between Peters, Paradis and Kiesel, Peters stated that he had already informed Feuer about the dispute involving Person A and Kiesel. According to Paradis, Peters also allegedly said, "Feuer was extremely unhappy about this situation and that, if it was not immediately cleaned up, Kiesel's firm, and possibly both of our firms, would be terminated as Special Counsel to the City in the PwC action." City of Los Angeles v. Paradis, 2:21-ap-00171 (AZ Bank. Ct., filed June 24, 2021). The bankruptcy case involves the city's attempt to recover money paid to Paradis for a no-bid contract to repair the billing system.

Paradis said Peters, under the direction of Feuer, told Kiesel to work out a deal with Person A to prevent the collusive settlement in Jones v. City of Los Angeles from going public.

Paradis said Peters' sworn admissions reveal Peters met with Feuer Dec. 1, 2017 to discuss Person A's threats. He drew this conclusion by pointing to a passage from Peters' plea agreement: "Late in the afternoon on Friday, December 1, 2017, defendant Peters met with other senior members of the city attorney's office and provided an update on the status of the Person A situation. ... Peters was directed to take care of the situation, and he stated he would do so," and cross-referencing it to a text Peters sent Paradis the same day: "Mike [Feuer] is not firing anyone at this point. But he is far from happy about the prospect of a sideshow."

Paradis asserts in the bar complaint, "The plain language of Peters' December 1, 2017 text to [Paradis] makes clear that one of the 'senior members of the city attorney's office' that Peters met with earlier ... to discuss the extortion scheme being perpetrated by Person A against Kiesel was, in fact, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, himself."

Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for Feuer, did not respond to calls requesting comment.