{"id":2331444,"date":"2024-08-27T03:30:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T07:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-house-candidate-overbilled-taxpayers-for-imaginary-fees-as-lawyer-court-records-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-27T03:37:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T07:37:46","slug":"democratic-house-candidate-overbilled-taxpayers-for-imaginary-fees-as-lawyer-court-records-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-house-candidate-overbilled-taxpayers-for-imaginary-fees-as-lawyer-court-records-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic House candidate overbilled taxpayers for \u2018imaginary\u2019 fees as lawyer: Court records &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocratic-house-candidate-overbilled-taxpayers-for-imaginary-fees-as-lawyer-court-records-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2331444&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Democratic congressional \u2063candidate, Kirsten Engel, is facing scrutiny for past legal practices while serving as an environmental\u200c attorney. Court \u2062records from 1993, recently \u2063obtained by the Washington Examiner, reveal that\u2062 Engel was criticized by a U.S. Court of Appeals panel for\u2062 overbilling the federal government, deeming her actions a &#8220;serious transgression.&#8221; This incident may undermine Engel&#8217;s current campaign\u2064 messages emphasizing the importance of the rule of law, as she prepares to challenge incumbent Rep. Juan\u2063 Ciscomani in Arizona&#8217;s 6th Congressional District. Engel, who worked for the Sierra Club Legal\u200d Defense Fund, was found to have\u2062 submitted \u200b&#8221;intolerably excessive&#8221; fees\u2062 for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-offer-plea-deal-to-nyc-lawyers-who-firebombed-police-vehicle\/\" title=\"Prosecutors Offer Plea Deal to NYC Lawyers Who Firebombed Police Vehicle\">legal services<\/a>, which were ultimately deemed inappropriate by the court. Her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-knows-he-messed-up-on-fracking-at-debate-and-is-now-doing-damage-control-the-daily-wire\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Knows He Messed Up On Fracking At Debate And Is Now Doing Damage Control | The Daily Wire\">campaign manager<\/a> defended\u2064 Engel, attributing the billing practices to her role\u2063 as a\u2064 junior employee under a demanding supervisor.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democratic House candidate overbilled taxpayers for &lsquo;imaginary&rsquo; fees as lawyer: Court records<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1737040\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A Democratic congressional candidate running in a competitive swing state race was once excoriated in court as an environmental lawyer for overbilling the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/federal-government\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal government<\/a>&nbsp;for &ldquo;imaginary&rdquo; legal services, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/capitol-breach-suspect-asks-judge-for-permission-to-travel-to-peru-to-get-married\/\" title=\"Capitol Breach Suspect Asks Judge for Permission To Travel to Peru to Get Married\">court records show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Court records obtained by the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>&nbsp;show Kirsten Engel, as a then-staff attorney for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, now known as Earthjustice, faced condemnation in 1993 from a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cadc.uscourts.gov\/internet\/home.nsf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">panel<\/a>&nbsp;on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for the apparent overbilling of attorneys&rsquo; fees. Engel&rsquo;s behavior, judges found, was a &ldquo;serious transgression&rdquo; and &ldquo;aberration,&rdquo; according to the written opinion.<\/p>\n<p>While the records date back to 1993, news of them could undercut Engel&rsquo;s touted message of stressing the importance of the rule of law as she prepares to face off against Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/live-blog-posts\/juan-ciscomani-survives-primary-challenge-arizona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to represent<\/a>&nbsp;Arizona&rsquo;s 6th Congressional District. On the 2024 campaign trail, Engel declared in May, upon former President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>&nbsp;being found guilty of 34 felony counts in a hush money trial, that nobody &ldquo;is above the law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Engel worked as an environmental attorney for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund after a three-year stint in the Environmental Protection Agency&rsquo;s office of general counsel from 1987 to 1990, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2024.05.06-Kirsten-Engel-Curriculum-Vitae-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>copy<\/a> of Engel&rsquo;s resume. During Engel&rsquo;s time at the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the group coordinated on lawsuits against the federal government with the Environmental Defense Fund &mdash; including for a 1993 EPA case over a hazardous waste management regulation. <\/p>\n<p>In that case, a three-judge panel that included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ruth-bader-ginsburg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Ruth Bader Ginsburg<\/a> before her confirmation to the Supreme Court described being appalled at Engel&rsquo;s &ldquo;intolerably excessive&rdquo; submissions for attorneys&rsquo; fees. Even a &ldquo;perfunctory examination of Engel&rsquo;s time entries would show that she billed on a Brobdingnagian scale,&rdquo; the opinion read, adding that other Environmental Defense Fund lawyers &ldquo;all submitted reasonable time sheets.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It appears that Engel&rsquo;s flagrant overbilling was an aberration and that the EDF and its other outside attorneys have been conscientious in submitting their record keeping and fee request to this court,&rdquo; the opinion read. &ldquo;We regard overbilling the government as a serious transgression, damaging to the public fisc and violative of the trust reposed in each member of the bar.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is simply no excuse,&rdquo; the July 1993 opinion read, &ldquo;for a private attorney billing the government for imaginary or unnecessary legal services. Therefore the petition for fees totaling $32,542.75 is granted to the extent of $14,069.25 and otherwise denied.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, Engel&rsquo;s campaign manager, Alia Kapasi, said Engel &ldquo;was a junior employee working for a notoriously tough and demanding boss on this case.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center after a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;She completed her work as assigned by her supervisor and filed her time sheets accurately to her organization,&rdquo; Kapasi said. &ldquo;She played no role in the decision about what would be billed, and indeed the organization billed only a fraction of her total hours &mdash; all facts noted and established by the court. This opinion was written by an extreme, far-right judge aiming to embarrass the organization for which Kirsten worked for political purposes.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>In the 1993 opinion, there was an entire section titled &ldquo;Time entries of Kirsten Engel.&rdquo; It was filed by D.C. Circuit Court Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n<p>The order slammed Engel for saying she spent over 72 hours, or &ldquo;nearly two work weeks,&rdquo; preparing two letters to the EPA about attorneys&rsquo; fees. Engel claimed she spent 37.5 hours researching the issue.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We do not understand why any attorney &mdash; much less one who, according to the EDF, has &lsquo;extensive research practicing under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,&rsquo; and was asked to teach at a major law school &mdash; would need almost a full week in order to research that issue,&rdquo; the opinion read.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, after the debacle, the EDF asked the court to &ldquo;delete all references&rdquo; to Engel in its prior opinion. The court declined to do so, records show. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1737040\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1737040\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Democratic congressional candidate in a closely contested swing state has faced severe criticism in court for allegedly overcharging the federal government for &#8220;imaginary&#8221; legal services during her time as an environmental lawyer. According to court documents reviewed by the Washington Examiner, Kirsten Engel, who worked as a staff attorney for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (now known as Earthjustice), was condemned by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1993 for excessive billing practices. The judges described Engel&#8217;s actions as a &#8220;serious transgression&#8221; and an &#8220;aberration.&#8221; Although these records are from 1993, they could undermine Engel&#8217;s campaign message emphasizing adherence to the rule of law as she prepares to challenge Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) for Arizona\u2019s 6th Congressional District seat.<\/p>\n<p>On her campaign trail in 2024, Engel asserted that no one is above the law following former President Donald Trump&#8217;s conviction on felony charges related to hush money payments. Engel&#8217;s background includes working at the Environmental Protection Agency from 1987 to 1990 before joining the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, where she collaborated on lawsuits against federal agencies.<\/p>\n<p>In one notable case involving hazardous waste management regulations, a three-judge panel\u2014including Ruth Bader Ginsburg prior to her Supreme Court appointment\u2014expressed shock at Engel\u2019s \u201cintolerably excessive\u201d fee submissions. The opinion noted that even a cursory review of her billing would reveal that it was disproportionately high compared to other attorneys involved in similar cases.<\/p>\n<p>The judges criticized Engel\u2019s claim that she spent over 72 hours preparing two letters regarding attorney fees and questioned why someone with her experience would require nearly an entire week just for research on this matter. Following this incident, the Environmental Defense Fund requested that all mentions of Engel be removed from previous court opinions; however, their request was denied.<\/p>\n<p>In response to these allegations, Alia Kapasi, Engel\u2019s campaign manager, defended her by stating that she was merely following orders from her supervisor and accurately reporting her hours worked. Kapasi claimed that only a small portion of those hours were billed and suggested that political motivations influenced how this case was portrayed by certain judges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2331445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Kirsten-Engel-Arizona-Congress-overbilled-scaled-1024x682.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39371,33943,39370,8956,32076],"class_list":["post-2331444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-court-records","tag-democratic-candidate","tag-overbilling","tag-taxpayers","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Kirsten-Engel-Arizona-Congress-overbilled-scaled-1024x682.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2331444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2331444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2331444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2331445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2331444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2331444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2331444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}