Disclosures by Ex-Toyota Lawyer Spur Ethics Referral

A former lawyer for Toyota who claimed in a lawsuit that the automaker destroyed evidence is at the center of controversy over disclosures about his former employer.

A Los Angeles judge has asked the State Bar of California to look into the propriety of disclosures by the lawyer, Dimitrios Biller, that were made apart from the lawsuit, the National Law Journal reports. At a hearing on Friday, Judge John Segal referred the matter to the bar and offered his views.

"My opinion is that Mr. Biller violated the rules of professional conduct," Segal said, according to the NLJ story. He also granted an injunction to stop Biller’s litigation consulting firm from publicizing privileged information about Toyota lawsuits.

Segal ruled in a suit alleging Biller used Toyota's privileged work product for personal gain in running his business, the story says.

Biller filed a racketeering lawsuit in July claiming his former employer destroyed evidence in hundreds of rollover suits, leading to his mental breakdown and firing. A federal judge refused to seal documents in the case.

Segal said he didn't believe Biller's disclosures in the federal suit violated ethics rules because the action dealt with "protecting the public from danger."