{"id":85864,"date":"2025-07-23T12:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T12:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85864\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T12:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T12:10:09","slug":"should-la-fire-survivors-join-a-lawsuit-heres-a-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85864\/","title":{"rendered":"Should LA fire survivors join a lawsuit? Here\u2019s a guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Maybe you\u2019ve been inundated with the ads on social media. You\u2019ve probably seen the billboards. On top of everything else fire survivors are dealing with, a question arises \u2014 should you also join a lawsuit?<\/p>\n

Should fire survivors join a lawsuit? Here\u2019s a guide<\/p>\n

Survivors have two years to sue for emotional distress and physical injury; three years to sue for property damage.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to consider.<\/p>\n

The lead cases<\/p>\n

Eaton Fire:<\/b> Because there are so many affected households and businesses, there is a designated \u201cmaster complaint\u201d<\/a> that all are filed under and consolidated in front of a single judge. The court has appointed a \u201cliaison counsel\u201d for individual plaintiffs, which serve as neutral parties between the opposing legal firms and the court. All the Eaton Fire suits will be litigated individually in front of Judge Laura A. Seigle in downtown L.A.\u2019s Spring Street courthouse. Amanda Riddle, managing partner with Bay Area firm Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle; Rahul Ravipudi of Panish, Shea, Ravipudi; and Gerald Singleton of Singleton Schreiber have been appointed as co-liaisons.<\/p>\n

Palisades Fire: <\/b>Westlake Village-based Robertson and Associates filed the first lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles\u2019 Department of Water and Power \u2014 that case has been designated the lead case<\/a> by the court in the Palisades Fire litigation. That firm\u2019s founder, Alexander \u201cTrey\u201d Robertson IV, has been appointed as co-liaison, along with attorneys from the firms Foley, Bezek, Behle & Curtis; Boyle Law PC; and McNulty Law Firm.<\/p>\n

Consider how you were affected<\/p>\n

The death of a loved one, losing your home, emotional trauma, smoke damage in your surviving home, being displaced \u2014 there are a wide variety of ways people were affected by January\u2019s fires that would make them eligible to join a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Money from a lawsuit can help close some gaps in insurance coverage, but don\u2019t get your hopes up too high. That money will likely take at least two years to end up in survivors\u2019 pockets, and it\u2019s usually not enough to make everyone whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ended up getting 20 cents on the dollar of what we needed,\u201d said Scott Tallal<\/a>, a Woolsey Fire survivor who sued Southern California Edison after that fire was sparked by the utility\u2019s equipment.<\/p>\n

Choose a lawyer carefully<\/p>\n

Most of the fire litigation is \u201cmass tort,\u201d not \u201cclass action,\u201d (though there is a class action suit, too<\/a>). That means there are thousands of lawsuits being filed at the same time, but they\u2019re all individual cases, so each plaintiff has to get their own lawyer and file their own suit, said Riddle, the co-liaison attorney for the Eaton Fire cases.<\/p>\n

But with all the social media ads and billboards, it can be tough to vet who is legitimate. So treat it like a job interview. <\/p>\n

Here are some of the most important things to consider when vetting an attorney, according to Riddle:<\/p>\n