Public Integrity Prosecutor Accused Of Using Conflicts Case To Pressure Firm To Hire Family Member

Deputy Dist. Atty. Juliet Schmidt, a member of the L.A. district attorney’s Public Integrity Division, is under fire after sending a letter to a law firm in a conflict-of-interest case that first suggested that its client “might” be exonerated and then asked if the firm would give her nephew of job. That is, of course, a conflict of interest itself.

Schmidt sent an email to the firm of Orbach, Huff and Suarez stating that her office “might exonerate” its clients and then followed with a request to hire her family member: “I spoke to him and he is very interested in legal malpractice and would love the opportunity to join your firm. Please let me know if there is a possibility that he could get hired by your firm.”

Schmidt is one of only two prosecutors in the case against Karen Christiansen, a former Beverly Hills Unified School District contractor. She is facing several conflict-of-interest charges, including the allegation that she pushed for the district to borrow millions of dollars for construction while arranging to receive a percentage of that money to oversee the construction.

Source: LA Times