Wildfire litigation prompts law firms to bolster teams

Kabateck LLP announced this week it hired two attorneys to beef up its wildfire litigation practice.

The addition of Jesse A. Schram and Matthew P. French will help the firm manage its caseload stemming from the Eaton Fire while maintaining client service, according to the firm's founder, Brian S. Kabateck. But their hiring also shows how plaintiffs' firms are shifting their resources in pursuit of big-ticket settlements associated with wildfires and other disasters.

"A lot of lawyers are competing for the same cases," Kabateck said in an interview Tuesday. "Having people that are knowledgeable about the handling of mass actions and know how to deal with clients is our calling card. We're making sure we have enough people in the office."

Matthew P. French

Schram, a seasoned mass tort attorney, "brings deep experience in wildfire and disaster litigation, leading efforts to recover compensation for victims across California, Maui, Texas, and beyond," Kabateck LLP said in a news release about its new of counsel. He was a lead attorney for the Maui (Lahaina), Texas (Panhandle), and Orange and Riverside County (Airport Fire) wildfire recovery cases.

French, a new associate, brings five years of litigation experience "and a compassionate approach to complex personal injury cases," as well as passionate advocacy for wildfire victims, the firm said.

The January 7 fires destroyed large tracts of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Plaintiffs' attorneys claim Southern California Edison is responsible for the Eaton Fire and have rushed to sign up clients.

The game is somewhat familiar now: Southern California Edison was implicated in the 2017 Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Many of the attorneys that sued Edison then have sued Edison over the Eaton Fire. Hueston Hennigan LLP is again representing Edison. Anybody who questions the stakes needs only to observe the proceedings in Judge Laura A. Seigle's downtown LA courtroom: The gallery is full of attorneys taking notes.

The conflagration has enticed less experienced attorneys to get involved, lawyers say. But there is a huge learning curve for attorneys who are new to wildfire litigation, Kabateck noted. Experts are not cheap, and it can cost $25,000 to $50,000 to work up a case for mediation, he said.

"Edison doesn't roll over. I've had other cases negotiated with Edison. They think I've taken extreme positions. I think they've taken extreme positions," Kabateck said.

"Somebody like [Gerald] Singleton, our firm, Pat McNicholas - we know what they want, what Doug Dixon wants and what they want to see, what they want to work up," he continued. "You have to have the work-up done because that's what's going to get Edison to pay you," he continued. Hueston Hennigan partner Douglas J. Dixon is leading Edison's defense.

Law firms have historically adapted their practices as new areas of the law opened, such as insurance bad faith or utility-caused wildfires, veteran Santa ana-based litigator Wylie A. Aitken said.

The head of Aitken Aitken & Cohn said he noticed that law firms began to reallocate their resources when wildfires broke out north of San Francisco a few years ago.

"Those were some of the first fires they figured out were brought about by the power lines and power companies," Aitken said. "So, you partner up, you allocate or you add people to your strong team."

Singleton Schreiber expanded.

Gerald B. Singleton started as a sole practitioner. Singleton Schreiber's first wildfire case was in 2007 with the San Francisco wildfires. That was followed by the Los Angeles County Powerhouse Fire of 2013; the Butte Fire in Calaveras County in 2015; the North Bay, Camp and Thomas fires in 2017; and the Woolsey Fire in 2018. Singleton is one of the liaison counsel for the individual plaintiffs in the Eaton Fire cases.

The firm now has 90 lawyers, more than 300 support staff, and cases in eight states. Wildfires make up about 50% of its business, Singleton said.

Bradley Grombacher LLP, based in Westlake Village, partnered with Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC in the California Fire Victims Law Center. Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz is based in Pensacola, Florida.

The partnership combines the former's knowledge of the L.A. area with the latter's resources and expertise in mass torts and disaster litigation.

Kylie L. Grombacher said she and her two children evacuated their home in the Pacific Palisades. Her firm did not plan to get involved in litigation stemming from the fires. But many of her friends reached out to her, and she reconsidered.

"I realized we need to do this, but we haven't done a lot of fire and complex. So, we partnered with Bryan's firm. They've done hurricanes, catastrophes and mass torts. They know how to manage cases," she said.

Bryan F. Aylstock and his colleagues have litigated matters stemming from Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Michael and Sally. The California Fire Victims Law Center has accused the California FAIR Plan Association of bad faith and breach of contract, claiming it delayed or underpaid claims from the Eaton and Palisades fires. And they're following the proceedings in Seigle's courtroom.

"This is not a situation where client needs should be put on hold," Aylstock said. "You can't under-resource these cases. We have lots of litigators. We have adjustors on staff. We have the blend to handle the large volume."

Aylstock expects disasters to become more frequent and more catastrophic due to climate change.

"There is a constant need for lawyers who will step up," he said. "With a lot of the climate change litigation, if you don't have insurance and you have a hurricane, it's called an act of God for a reason. With fire usually there's a cause. If there's a company and there's negligence, there's a way to recover for your client. Insurance companies are failing. One way to hold them accountable is through litigation."