Veteran plaintiffs attorney Paul Kiesel faces possible suspension or disbarment for his alleged role in a scheme to divert litigation against the city of Los Angeles over a botched utility billing system rollout. California state bar prosecutors on Wednesday filed misconduct charges against Kiesel. The four counts cited in the 18-page notice include moral turpitude and making “false and misleading” statements during a deposition. “Attorneys hold a position of public trust that requires that they not conceal conflicts, mislead courts, or participate in coordinated efforts that compromise the fairness of legal proceedings,” George Cardona, the bar’s chief trial counsel, said in a prepared statement. “The disciplinary charges against Mr. Kiesel allege that he engaged in misconduct that threatened the integrity of the legal system and risked significant harm to the public.” Kiesel called the charges against him “unfounded, misguided, and fundamentally wrong.” In a statement, Kiesel noted he has never been criminally charged and has served as a cooperating witness in prosecutions of others involved with the utility litigation. “For the bar to pursue charges in spite of these facts is shameful and disappointing,” Kiesel said. Kiesel is just the latest attorney investigated and charged with professional wrongdoing tied to decade-old events at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Last week, a State Bar Court judge recommended former Los Angeles chief deputy city attorney James Clark be suspended from practice for at least two years for authorizing plans to create a city-“friendly” lawsuit against a vendor. James is among six California-barred attorneys who have been charged with misconduct in connection with the litigation. The charges stem from Los Angeles’s launch of a 2013 utility billing system that ultimately failed, overbilling thousands of residents for electricity and water. The debacle led customers to file multiple class-action lawsuits against the city. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office retained private attorneys to respond to that litigation. State bar prosecutors say Kiesel worked with some of those attorneys as well as counsel in the city attorney’s office to craft a litigation strategy that would shift public blame from the city to its billing system consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC The complaint against Kiesel stated that he and others, while working for the city, worked behind the scenes on a private resident’s utility-billing suit against Los Angeles that ultimately settled. The ratepayer-plaintiff did not know the attorneys steering the settlement were also working on the city’s litigation against PwC, state bar prosecutors said. Nor did Kiesel alert the judge overseeing settlement talks about the dual roles, the complaint stated. “By doing so, respondent intentionally committed acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption, in violation of Business and Professions Code section 6106,” the notice of disciplinary charges stated. Kiesel’s license remains active. He and his firm, Kiesel Law, are involved in a high-profile product liability and wrongful-death lawsuit against OpenAI. No dates have been set yet in the disciplinary proceedings against Kiesel.