DTLA Law Group moves to block State Bar record review in sex abuse probe

A State Bar of California probe into Downtown LA Law Group, the firm at the center of the scandal that has engulfed Los Angeles County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement, is in limbo as the firm fights to keep thousands of legal filings out of the hands of investigators.

The bar subpoenaed the records four months ago as it began an investigation into the firm, also known as DTLA, after The Times reported that nine clients said they’d been paid by recruiters to sue the county over alleged sex abuse. Some said they were instructed to make up the claims.

At a Thursday court hearing, Andrew Morrow, an attorney with DTLA, argued he didn’t trust the bar to keep private the “very, very sensitive” records, which detail accounts from thousands of alleged sex abuse victims. The bar’s investigation into his firm, he noted, was supposed to be kept confidential as well.

“This is why the state bar can’t be trusted,” Morrow said. “They have placed a confidential investigation in the public domain.”

Morrow said he had filed a Feb. 20 motion with the bar to invalidate the subpoena, arguing that turning over reams of documents would violate the privacy of the roughly 2,700 sex abuse victims DTLA represents. The firm, which is also the subject of a criminal probe, has denied all wrongdoing.

The court hearing provided an unusual peek into hidden state bar proceedings, which are highly confidential and typically only burst into public view if an attorney is disciplined.

But this probe is unusual as state bar investigators are seeking documents under a sweeping protective order meant to shield the identity of thousands of victims who said they were sexually abused decades ago inside L.A. County-run juvenile halls and foster homes.

County officials say they need a judge’s permission to comply with the subpoena and turn over the firm’s records to the bar, giving the typically opaque proceedings a spotlight in open court.

Judge Lawrence P. Riff holds a hearing regarding State Bar record review in the Los Angeles County sex abuse case at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles on Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff, who approved the protective order, said Thursday that he wasn’t ready to give the county the green light.

Instead, he said he wanted to wait to see if the DTLA subpoena survives the firm’s Feb. 20 challenge with the state bar, which he acknowledged may delay the probe. The bar had initially requested the county provide the documents by the end of November.

“That’s on the state bar,” Riff said. “If they want to make things move faster, they should make things move faster, if they can.”

The bar has asked for three batches of records from the county — lawsuits, detailed descriptions of the abuse and certificates from mental health professionals. The bar is looking into allegations surfaced by The Times that DTLA “may have engaged in fraudulent and unlawful practices” representing sex abuse clients, “including potential misuse of third-party recruiters, misleading filings, and conduct that may constitute moral turpitude,” according to a Jan. 20 motion in the case.

DTLA has said it “categorically does not engage in, nor has it ever condoned, the exchange of money for client retention”

The bar investigation is one of several probes underway related to the $4-billion settlement — the largest sex abuse payout in U.S. history.

L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman is investigating the lawyers involved in the historic payout and claimed last week that he anticipated the probe could save the county “hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.” A former presiding judge of the county’s Superior Court, Daniel Buckley, was also brought on to vet DTLA’s cases following the allegations of fraud.