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The prominent attorney is under investigation for allegedly violating campaign limit laws by getting his law firm's employees to contribute $20,000 to Mayor Jim Hahn, then reimbursing them. The Times' Matt Lait reports that the city Ethics Commission and the DA are jointly investigating, and says that a criminal complaint may have been filed and temporarily sealed last week. O'Donnell represented Art Buchwald in his celebrated lawsuit over studio accounting practices, and later wrote a book about the case with Dennis McDougal. Most recently he has represented Nikki Finke in her lawsuit against Disney and the New York Post.
* Also: The Breeze has more on embattled former Hahn commissioner Leland Wong. David Zahniser reported Monday that Wong quietly represented Evergreen Marine for payment just a few months before he, acting as a city official, accompanied the mayor on a trip to Asia to sign new deals with the shipping company.