According to a new investigation published by the Los Angeles Times, Downtown LA Law Group (DTLA) has become one of the most prominent personal injury firms in Los Angeles County. New allegations are surfacing from former clients and employees involving paid recruitment, aggressive intake practices, and financial outcomes that left some clients worse off than before they filed suit.

The investigation, published last week, examines how the firm rapidly expanded from a personal injury practice into a central player in the county’s $4-billion settlement involving alleged sexual abuse in government facilities — the largest settlement of its kind in U.S. history.

Allegations of Paid Recruitment

According to the Times, multiple former clients and former employees alleged that individuals were paid to join lawsuits filed by DTLA — a practice prohibited under California law.

The Times reported that nine DTLA clients who filed sex abuse claims against Los Angeles County said recruiters paid them to file lawsuits. Four of those individuals told reporters they were instructed to fabricate claims.

“Nine of the firm’s clients who sued over sex abuse in L.A. County facilities said recruiters paid them to file a lawsuit, including four who said they were told to fabricate claims.”

Former Employees Describe Intake Practices

Further, reporters allege that former DTLA employees described aggressive recruitment tactics that they said were designed to rapidly grow the firm’s client base.

According to the Times, former paralegal Sereen Banna filed a lawsuit against DTLA on Dec. 16, alleging the firm failed to address her internal complaints about solicitation practices.

In her lawsuit, Banna alleged DTLA engaged in:

“Illegal solicitation, as well as deceptive and unethical practices aimed at persuading individuals to become clients through misrepresentations.”

She further alleged that the firm amassed plaintiffs through:

“Practices that appeared designed to exploit vulnerable individuals.”

Allegations Involving Surgeries and Medical Costs

According to the Times investigation, more than a dozen former DTLA clients alleged they were pressured into undergoing expensive medical procedures after being told such treatments would increase the value of their cases.

Former case managers told the Times that they were encouraged to persuade clients to agree to surgeries and were sometimes rewarded financially when clients did so.

One internal message reviewed by the Times quoted a DTLA partner telling staff:

“Our sx numbers for the month of May were very low… Many were unable to produce even a single procedure… this is not acceptable.”

Former clients interviewed by the Times said they were promised large settlements if they followed the firm’s medical recommendations.

Jacqueline McClelland, a former client, told the Times she was promised “lottery money” after a slip-and-fall injury but ended up with a settlement far smaller than the medical costs she incurred.

“The insurer for the plaza called her up and offered her $1 million if she didn’t lawyer up, she said. But she said her DTLA attorney promised they could get her far more — as long as she went to all the doctors they recommended. She turned the insurer down.

“Her case settled for $350,000.

“It was not even close to enough to pay for the half-million in fees she said she’d racked up, primarily from going to doctors. She said she is still in excruciating back pain from her surgery.

“DTLA took 46% of the settlement and sent the rest of the money to a judge to decide how to divvy between her and the 31 doctors, clinics and loan companies she owes, according to a court record filed on behalf of DTLA to determine the distribution. A volunteer at a Watts high school, McClelland has spent a year lawyerless in court fighting for any bit of it she can get.”

In court, McClelland told a judge:

“Downtown LA Law just gave me to the wolves.”

Financial Outcomes for Clients

According to court records reviewed by the Times, more than 60 DTLA clients had medical bills that exceeded their settlement amounts, requiring judges to determine how remaining funds would be distributed after attorneys’ fees were paid.

“But the lawyers get their cut — in some cases, more than three-quarters of the settlement, according to lawsuits filed on the firm’s behalf to determine who gets the remaining money.”

Taken together, the allegations documented by the Los Angeles Times raise troubling questions about how mass litigation is marketed, financed, and managed — particularly when it involves vulnerable populations and high-volume settlements measured in the billions of dollars.