In the middle of the high stakes Elizabeth Taylor v. Alki David trial, the TV lawyer fought to hide a recent ethical breakdown in a similar case, and her enormous contingency fees; She also hilariously claimed Alki David was giving her a Greek “Evil Eye”
In Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Lisa Bloom, the plaintiff’s attorney in Elizabeth Taylor v. Alki David, stammered and shook as she begged the judge to deny any reference to her recent removal from the Tony Cardenas trial for ethics reasons. Alki David, representing himself, brought up the ruling during jury selection several times. Each time it was mentioned, Bloom was apoplectic, objecting and pounding the table. Worse for former-Harvey Weinstein attorney Bloom, was when David pointed out that she was working with Elizabeth Taylor on contingency, and stood to make as much as 45% of any award if the jury finds in favor of the plaintiff.
Bloom was so undone she resorted to accusing Alki David of giving her an “Evil Eye.” (A not very well concealed bit of prejudice based on his Greek heritage).
The situation has to sting deeply for Bloom, who was under tremendous heat for her unethical and aggressive recruitment of clients in the closing days of the 2016 Presidential election. As detailed in a massive investigative report in The Hill, Bloom fished for woman to come forward against Donald Trump over past encounters, and even worked to divert campaign donations to potential witnesses. “She offered to sell alleged victims’ stories to TV outlets in return for a commission for herself, arranging a donor to pay off one Trump accuser’s mortgage and attempting to secure a six-figure payment for another woman who ultimately declined to come forward after being offered as much as $750,000”, the clients told The Hill. When one woman changed her mind about coming forward, on the basis that she didn’t feel her experience merited a claim, Bloom appeared in her home town repeatedly, berated her, upped the ante on the potential payoff money, and promised lavish trips to her family.
One very damning exchange The Hill reported goes like this:
“Give us a clear sense of what you need and we will see if it we can get it,” Bloom texted the woman a week before Election Day.
“I’m scared Lisa. I can’t relocate. I don’t like taking other people’s money,” the woman wrote to Bloom.
“Ok let’s not do this then,” Bloom responded. “We are just about out of time anyway.”
The woman then texted back demanding to know why there was a deadline. “What does time have to do with this? Time to bury Trump??? You want my story to bury trump for what? Personal gain? See that ‘s why I have trust issues!!”
The woman told The Hill in an interview that Bloom initially approached her in early October through Harth. She said she considered coming forward with her account of an unsolicited advance by Trump solely to support her friend Harth, and not because she had any consternation with Trump, who ended the advance when she asked him to stop, she said.
The woman said Bloom initially offered a $10,000 donation to the woman’s favorite church, an account backed up by text messages the two exchanged.
“Please keep the donation offer confidential except to your pastor,” Bloom wrote the woman on Oct. 14, 2016.
Taylor v. David has its origins in similar pressure cooker tactics. Texts between several former employees show that the Bloom Firm directed Taylor to find another employee to concoct claims against David before they would agree to take her case. “You will get $,” Taylor texts. “Please do this for me or they won’t take my case.” This is the same tactic Bloom used with Harth in the Trump matters.
Of the $11 million awarded Chasity Jones in Bloom’s previous trial against Alki David, Bloom will claim $4,850,000. No wonder, Bloom keeps Jones’ photo pinned to the top of her Twitter feed thanking her profusely. (Alki David is appealing that ruling and is expected to over turn it). 
According to the American Bar Association’s Rule 7.3 on the Solicitaton of Clients, A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact when a significant motive for the lawyer’s doing so is the lawyer’s or law firm’s pecuniary gain. (Except under certain circumstances which don’t apply in these cases). The rule also prohibits the kind of harassing behavior Bloom and her firm have engaged in.
In court on Friday, when Alki David brought up the subject of Bloom working for Taylor on contingency, Bloom went ape shit, at first claiming, guiltily, “There’s no evidence of this.”
Alki David, for his part, did say on the record that Lisa Bloom and her firm were “fucking disgusting” and also asked the judge to order Bloom to keep his name “out of her dirty mouth.”
UPDATE: Shortly after this post went live Lisa Bloom unpinned the Tweet where she hugs Chasity Jones and thanks her for the millions of dollars she thinks she’s going to make from her. (Though the decision is being appealed and experts say it’s very likely it will be overturned in Alki David’s favor).