All posts tagged: DTLA

DTLA law firm partners face State Bar charges in California

DTLA law firm partners face State Bar charges in California

Published by Sam Flores

The State Bar of California has charged the partners of Downtown LA Law Group, a law firm at the center of a scandal that has consumed Los Angeles County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement, with signing up clients in states where they had no license to practice. The bar charged Farid Yaghoubtil and Daniel Azizi, two founding partners of the personal injury firm, and Igor Fradkin, a litigation attorney, on Monday with signing up accident victims across the U.S., despite having no attorneys who could litigate the cases outside California. The firm took on clients in Texas, Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia, according to the complaint. Downtown LA Law Group, or DTLA, said in a statement that the cases highlighted by the bar “are multi-jurisdiction with California defendants.” “DTLA is confident they will be able to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of both the State Bar and our law firm,” the firm said. Yaghoubtil faces 16 counts, including practicing law without a license, charging illegal fees, and continuing to represent a client …

Why trailblazing DTLA Cheese is closing in downtown Los Angeles

Why trailblazing DTLA Cheese is closing in downtown Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

When Lydia Clarke and Reed Herrick opened their cheese shop in 2013, it was the realization of a years-long dream and part of an early wave of restaurants and stores underpinning what many called downtown’s renaissance. But after more than 12 years in business, Clarke and Herrick are shuttering DTLA Cheese Superette. Friday will be its last day. Their next-door wine bar, Kippered, remains open. “It was a tidal wave of factors that bear down on you,” Herrick said earlier this week about the closure. “This is a process that has been happening for years. Nobody is spending, there are protests, strikes, war, all of it comes to bear here.” A selection of cheeses in the central refrigerated case at DTLA Cheese Superette, which first opened more than 12 years ago in Grand Central Market downtown. (Jennelle Fong) Clarke and her sister, Marnie, who is also a partner, are third-generation dairy purveyors whose family founded Alta Dena Dairy. Cheese was more than a calling; it seemed like a birthright. They opened DTLA Cheese in Grand …

Smoke a joint and get deep with flowers at this guided floral design workshop in DTLA

Smoke a joint and get deep with flowers at this guided floral design workshop in DTLA

Published by Sam Flores

Abriana Vicioso is the host of the Flower Hour, which takes place monthly. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times) Each flower carries a personal history. For Abriana Vicioso, the calla lily was her parents’ wedding flower — a symbol of her mother’s beauty. “She had this big, beautiful white calla lily in her hair,” Vicioso says. “I love my parents. They’re the reason I’m here. I’ll never forget where I came from.” The Flower Hour begins with Vicioso announcing, with a warm smile: “Today is about touching grass.” The florist-by-trade gestures behind her to hundreds of flowers contained in buckets — blue thistles, ivory anemones and calla lilies painted silver — all twisted and unfurling into the air. “Tonight is going to be so sweet and intimate,” Vicioso says, eyeing the beautiful chaos at her feet. A grin buds across her face. Moments before the workshop, participants sit at candlelit tables exchanging horoscopes and comparing their favorite flowers. A mention of the illustrious bird-of-paradise flower elicits coos and awe from the women. Izamar Vazquez, who …

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

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

Published by Sam Flores

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 …

The rise of DTLA: Car crashes, surgeries and a -billion settlement

The rise of DTLA: Car crashes, surgeries and a $4-billion settlement

Published by Sam Flores

Sereen Banna said the partners of Downtown LA Law Group called her “Erin Brockovich” for her work helping hundreds sue over noxious fumes spewing out of a landfill in northern Los Angeles County. An ambitious paralegal, Banna said she embraced the role she had in empowering residents to take on companies suspected of polluting their neighborhoods. Her bosses were proud too, she said. Banna, 28, recalled them saying she would make them all billionaires someday. But in early 2024, Banna said, she discovered a troubling trend in some of the firm’s most lucrative cases: Clients who claimed they were paid before joining lawsuits. On Dec. 16, Banna sued Downtown LA Law Group, also known as DTLA, stating the firm failed to address her complaints about “illegal solicitation, as well as deceptive and unethical practices aimed at persuading individuals to become clients through misrepresentations.” She accused the firm, which she left in the fall of 2024, of amassing plaintiffs through “practices that appeared designed to exploit vulnerable individuals.” DTLA called the allegations “baseless,” saying they came …