Judge orders attorney working on lawsuit against LADWP to pay back $1.65M in fees

The Department of Water and Power building in downtown Los Angeles is seen in an undated photo. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Mar 5, 2021 / 05:46 PM PST

Updated: Mar 5, 2021 / 05:46 PM PST

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A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered an attorney who worked on a lawsuit against the Department of Water and Power over faulty bills to pay back $1.65 million in fees that he earned in the case.

The attorney, Michael Libman, was also ordered to pay more than $116,000 in sanctions, cited for contempt of court and fined $44,000 by Judge Elihu M. Berle.

Berle’s ruling marks another significant disciplinary action in litigation stemming from the DWP overbilling debacle. Berle last year fined the city of Los Angeles $2.5 million in sanctions after finding that the city and its attorneys abused the discovery process during a related case over the billing errors.

At a court hearing Thursday, Libman denied wrongdoing and told Berle he was the target of a “medieval persecution.”

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