Monday, August 18, 2025

Judge Could Announce Trial Date for Eaton Fire Litigation

Attorneys anticipate an imminent announcement

A Los Angeles County judge could announce the trial date Tuesday for the Eaton Fire litigation, a case involving hundreds of plaintiffs — including the County of Los Angeles, the city of Pasadena and scores of homeowners — seeking compensation from Southern California Edison for damages caused by the devastating wildfire.

The announcement would come more than seven months into the legal process, with attorneys representing the plaintiffs suggesting that the setting of a trial date could accelerate settlement negotiations.

“A trial date is one thing that actually holds their feet to the fire and motivates them to resolve the case,” said Allan Bridgford, an attorney with Bridgford Gleason and Artinian, referring to Southern California Edison.

Bridgford’s firm represents about 1,000 individual plaintiffs affected by the Eaton Fire.

Judge Laura A. Seigle, who is presiding over the consolidated litigation in Department 17 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, will make the announcement in the lead case “Gursey v. Southern California Edison,” Case No. 25STCV00731, according to court records.

According to Bridgford, the plaintiffs’ legal team will advocate for a mid-2026 trial date, while Southern California Edison is expected to push for a late 2027 date. The utility company’s approach, Bridgford said, highlights what he calls an “unreasonable” position.

“SCE is notoriously unreasonable and tries to delay as long as they can,” Bridgford said. “They think that they need until the end of 2027 to conduct discovery. That’s what they’re saying out of one side of their mouth, but out of the other side of their mouth, they’re saying that they want to pay out through a fund that is woefully inadequate to compensate anybody remotely close to the actual damages they have.”

In July, Edison’s CEO Pedro Pizarro announced a compensation program for fire victims, with Pizarro stating, “Community members shouldn’t have to wait for the final conclusions in the Eaton Fire investigation to get the financial support they need to begin rebuilding.”

The Eaton Fire burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed approximately 9,400 structures, according to Los Angeles County records. The county estimates costs and damages will total at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

Southern California Edison reported a fault on its transmission line around the time the Eaton Fire started, according to documents filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. In a February 6 letter to the CPUC, the utility stated that photographic evidence shows potential arcing and damage on grounding equipment. Tower 208, which had reportedly been abandoned and unused for over 70 years, is suspected to be the fire’s ignition point.

Despite these challenges, Bridgford noted that the legal process for the Eaton Fire case is moving faster than previous wildfire litigation, attributing this partly to experienced attorneys guiding the court.

Bridgford explained “the Judge is very experienced and is doing a great job moving the defendant along despite their attempts to delay.”

The affected communities in Altadena and parts of Pasadena are described by Bridgford as “tight-knit” and “resilient” in the face of devastating losses.

“While they are dealing with something that, next to losing a family member, is probably the worst thing you can probably have happen to you, losing all your worldly possessions in your home, which is supposed to be your castle, your safe place, they’re doing well, all things considered,” Bridgford said. “These people are not victims. They’re survivors and they are fighting to hold SCE accountable for their conduct so that SCE changes their corporate calculus and finally makes their community safer.”

In addition to individual plaintiffs, government entities including Los Angeles County, the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre, and the Pasadena Unified School District, have filed lawsuits against SCE. Los Angeles County is seeking compensation for destroyed infrastructure, recreational areas, parks, road damage, and cleanup efforts.

“We are committed to seeking justice for the Altadena community and the taxpayers of Los Angeles County,” said Dawyn R. Harrison, LA County Counsel, in a statement released when the county filed its lawsuit in March.

Settlement talks are expected to intensify once the trial date is established. Bridgford anticipates that “the defendants are going to want to talk settlement in terms of implementing a settlement protocol where certain rules will be in place about going to mediation and binding mediations and damages only trials.”

Bridgford’s team is already working with experts to prepare evidence and build cases for their clients.

“We are already well underway on doing the expert work for our clients with our consultants to build up and maximize their damages,” Bridgford said. “We have our team and our experts in place already working day and night.”

Bridgford also noted that while “things have been moving somewhat slowly while tons of work has been going on behind the scenes,” he expects that “once this trial date gets set, that is when settlement talks actually pick up and things start to move very quickly.”

Edison’s Pizarro has previously acknowledged the possibility of the utility’s involvement, stating in April, “We still don’t know whether Edison equipment caused the Eaton fire. It’s certainly possible it did.” Pizarro added, “I’ve pledged to be transparent with the public as we continue to investigate.”

For residents affected by the fire who have not yet retained legal counsel, Bridgford emphasized the importance of doing so promptly. He predicted that many cases could be resolved before the two-year statute of limitations expires.

“I anticipate that many of our plaintiffs will have their cases resolved and settled for fair amounts that make them whole prior to that statute of limitation running,” Bridgford said. “Things are going to pick up very quickly here at the end of this year. Those clients who have already decided to work with us… will be first in line when a settlement protocol goes into place.”

Other attorneys involved in the litigation have expressed similar sentiments about the case’s significance.

“In my decades of experience handling wildfire litigation, the Eaton Fire is among the most devastating and heart-wrenching cases I’ve seen,” said Patrick McNicholas, an attorney representing several plaintiffs.

“It’s no mystery that this litigation and the proceeds that they will receive from it is what’s going to actually make them whole and allow them to rebuild the community,” Bridgford said.