A Los Angeles County judge has pushed the Eaton wildfire trial from late January to early March, rejecting a delay of at least six months sought by Southern California Edison.
Instead of starting Jan. 25, the bellwether trial for the first set of Eaton fire victims is now scheduled to begin March 8, according to a ruling last week by Judge Laura Seigle.
An attorney for the plaintiffs accused SCE of trying to delay the trial to give the utility more time to pressure survivors to use its own compensation program.
Attorney Gerry Singleton said SCE’s program pays victims about half of what they could collect through litigation.
Attorneys for survivors suing SCE estimate that damages in the lawsuits will range from $10 billion to $15 billion.
“What they’re trying to do is push out the trial date and tell the victims, ‘You see, litigation takes a long time. You should take our pennies-on-the-dollar program,’ ” Singleton said. “It’s despicable.”
Singleton said SCE attorneys in court announced the two sides had reached an impasse in settlement proceedings, to the surprise of lawyers for the plaintiffs.
Richard Bridgford, another lawyer for the Eaton fire victims, said the legal maneuvering isn’t accomplishing much.
“They’re still going to trial in the very near future,” Bridgford said.
SCE spokesman David Eisenhauer said the utility is just trying to have enough time to go through all the discovery evidence in the case. He said the short continuance doesn’t help much.
“A case of this importance should be tried on a complete record, not a rushed one,” Eisenhauer said.
About 150 expert witnesses from both sides combined have been identified in the massive case, he said.
The clock is ticking on the two-year statute of limitations for filing lawsuits in the Jan. 7, 2025, fire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 19 people in Altadena. An investigation by the state and Los Angeles County concluded that the fire was caused by a long-dormant transmission tower that was reenergized in a fierce windstorm.
Also winding down is SCE’s wildfire compensation program for victims who forfeit their right to sue in exchange for what the utility says is “fair and fast” payment. The program will stop accepting applications after Nov. 30.
Eisenhauer said more than 3,200 offers have been extended to some 8,000 claimants, totaling $1.1 billion. Nearly 80% of offers have been accepted, with more pending. About 2% of the offers have been declined, while more than 4,450 claimants have been paid, totaling about $625 million.
In the final weeks of the program, SCE is out pitching the plan at community town hall meetings, saying survivors don’t have anything to lose by applying. If they don’t like the offer, they can walk away.
Registration for a virtual session can be made at sce.com/directclaims for a Nov.19 meeting.
An in-person town hall will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1757 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena.