SAN FRANCISCO Initiative Legal Group, a Century City class action boutique that earlier this year had 40 lawyers, is accused of unethical conduct from judges in two different cases, including one who launched an order by promising to describe the "sordid details" of ILG’s misconduct.
First, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn froze a $5.5 million fee award the firm had negotiated as part of a $6 million settlement, calling it "grossly excessive," unconscionable and unethical at a Sept. 13 hearing. Then on Nov. 2, U.S. District Judge Gary Feess of Los Angeles dismissed one of the firm’s cases because ILG, as it’s known informally, misused confidential information in a protective order to obtain its clients.
