By Erik Cooper
Victims of the Woolsey Fire can no longer rely upon the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP for legal representation of damages suffered from the Woolsey Fire. The November 8th blaze devastated millions of dollars in properties and impacted every Malibu resident. Origination of the fire was sourced to the Santa Susana Field Research Laboratory in Simi Valley and, though official reports have still not yet confirmed, the cause is believed to be due the negligence of SoCal Edison’s electric service equipment.
Shortly after the smoke cleared, victims of the Woolsey Fire filed their insurance claims and began looking for legal representation to help them recover from their staggering losses. Malibu resident Kenneth R. Chiate, whose home reportedly survived the catastrophe, attended informational meetings hosted by a local newspaper and its recovery team, shared legal advice with attendees and suggested that he and his law firm, Quinn Emanuel, were not planning to represent any victims of the Woolsey Fire since Chiate and his firm had defended utility companies in lawsuits stemming from earlier wildfire events.
In a motion to disqualify Quinn Emanuel filed in early May, SoCal Edison argued Chiate had participated in a December 2017 meeting and learned material confidential information about SoCal Edison and their strategy to defend claims filed by victims of the 2017 Thomas Fire. SoCal’s motion implicated Chiate as a participant in strategy discussions and defense arguments during post-meeting follow-up calls, and though SoCal Edison did not hire Chiate or Quinn Emanuel as defense counsel, the confidential information disclosed to Chiate and his firm created substantial concerns for SoCal Edison’s defense of Woolsey Fire claims.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William F. Highberger agreed, issuing an order Thursday disqualifying Quinn Emanuel from representing Woolsey Fire victims after finding SoCal Edision had made a “persuasive showing” of concern.
Shortly after lawsuits began filling the clerk’s desk at the courthouse, the court sought to coordinate all lawsuits to avoid clogging the court system with numerous lawsuits heard and tried in various courtrooms before various judges at various times and with various outcomes. The coordination of all related Woolsey Fire lawsuits reduced the logjam through the court system and the varying possibilities of win-some / lose-some outcomes in the trials of numerous cases. Once coordinated, attorneys representing Woolsey Fire victims have appeared before Judge Highberger in numerous pretrial matters — the most significant, the matter of Chiate’s and Quinn Emanuel’s conflicts of interest representing Woolsey Fire victims after having “abruptly switched sides,” as alleged by SoCal Edison. Judge Highberger agreed.
In objection to SoCal Edison’s motion, Quinn Emanuel argued the firm should not be disqualified because its meeting with the utility lasted less than one hour and nothing confidential was disclosed. Quinn Emanuel also claimed SoCal Edison waited too long to seek disqualification, and that the firm had already partnered with Engstrom Lipscomb & Lack and had worked on the Woolsey Fire case for five months. In his order, Judge Highberger found Quinn Emanuel’s witnesses opposing disqualification of the firm to be unpersuasive.
Following disqualification of Quinn Emanuel from representation of Woolsey Fire victims, the question now remains whether the firm’s partner, Engstrom Lipscomb & Lack, will also be disqualified. If confidential information may have been shared, as the court suspected, from SoCal Edison to Ken Chiate and staff at Quinn Emanuel, such confidential information was also likely shared from Chiate and his Quinn Emanuel team to key lawyers and staff at Engstrom Lipscomb & Lack. The likelihood of SoCal Edison pursuing such disqualification seems inevitable.
Continue to follow our FireWire coverage of up to the minute news and information to help Woolsey Fire victims recover from this tragic event.
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