Civil Procedure
Oct. 27, 2026
Judge shields 13,000 Dominguez Channel plaintiffs from five-year trial deadline
A Los Angeles judge ruled that the complexity of litigation involving 13,000 Dominguez Channel odor crisis plaintiffs warrants an ongoing exception to California's five-year trial deadline, provided their attorneys remain diligent.
A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that litigation involving some 13,000 plaintiffs over the 2021 Dominguez Channel odor crisis qualifies for an ongoing exception to California's five-year trial deadline because the cases are too complex to be tried within that period.
Rather than specifying a tolling period, Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff found that the exception would continue to apply unless the plaintiffs' attorneys failed to diligently prosecute their cases.
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