Our thoughts and our hearts go out to our friends, family members, colleagues and all those affected by the devastating January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles. We recognize with unceasing gratitude the first responders and community members working tirelessly to provide aid and comfort in the affected areas during this extremely difficult time.

A great resource is United Policyholders (UP), a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization whose mission is to be a trustworthy and useful information resource on insurance issues. They have additional resources available specifically for fire victims: https://uphelp.org/. The State of California has also set up a 2025 Los Angeles Fires resources page at www.ca.gov/LAfires/ with essential information for fire victims.

The Lieff Cabraser law firm has successfully litigated wildfire and other environmental cases on behalf of devastated California homeowners and businesses for over 30 years. We are helping clients investigate the current Eaton Fire and related potential claims against Southern California Edison, the electrical utility for Los Angeles.

The Eaton Fire, in east Los Angeles, started on January 7, 2025, tore through the diverse community of Altadena, and is still burning over a week later with 35% containment. The Fire has burned over over 14,000 acres and CalFire estimates over 7,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Tragically, the Eaton Fire is also now one of California’s deadliest fires, with at least 16 people losing their lives, including some elderly and disabled residents who were unable to escape (and their family members who would not leave their sides).

Officials are investigating the cause of the Eaton Fire, including a Southern California Edison electrical transmission tower in Eaton Canyon. The tower was not deenergized before the Fire and photo and video from eyewitnesses indicate the Fire may have ignited underneath it.

Lieff Cabraser attorney Lexi Hazam serves as Co-Lead Counsel for Individual Plaintiffs in JCCP litigation involving thousands of Plaintiffs against Southern California Edison over the role of the utility’s equipment in starting the devastating Thomas Fire that destroyed over a thousand homes in Southern California in December 2017, and the resulting mudslides in Montecito that destroyed additional homes and killed 23 people. Shortly before multiplaintiff bellwether trials were to occur in 2021, the litigation entered into a settlement protocol, which has resolved over 1,600 cases to date. Together with the individual plaintiffs in the Woolsey Fire, below, these plaintiffs have recovered well over $1 billion to date.

Lieff Cabraser counsel Lexi Hazam serves as Co-Lead Counsel for Individual Plaintiffs in the coordinated Woolsey Fire Case JCCP litigation against Southern California Edison relating to the devastating 2018 fire that burned more than 1,600 homes and 96,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. In 2022, the litigation entered into a settlement protocol alongside the Thomas Fire cases, which has resolved over 2,000 Woolsey cases to date, with a recovery of over $1 billion.

Lieff Cabraser lawyers Elizabeth Cabraser and Lexi Hazam served on the Individual Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the consolidated lawsuits against PG&E over 2017 North Bay fire losses. After PG&E and its parent filed for bankruptcy, the appointed Torts Claimants’ Committee (including our firm, with a client who lost her father in the Camp Fire) represented persons with tort claims, largely wildfire victims, in the bankruptcy, helping to negotiate a settlement of $13.5 billion to compensate fire victims for their losses. Elizabeth Cabraser also served on the Trust Oversight Committee that has monitored and assisted the Trustee in administering the gargantuan and complex claims process.

In collaboration with local Hawai‘i attorneys, our firm represents Maui residents and businesses affected by the devastating August 2023 Lahaina Fire. The deadliest fire in Hawai‘i’s history, it consumed thousands of acres and destroyed over 2,200 structures, most of them residential, causing widespread losses. Investigations indicate that equipment owned by Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) sparked the fire, with utility lines contacting vegetation during high winds. Despite Red Flag conditions, HECO failed to implement a power safety shut-off program, contributing to this catastrophic event. There is a proposed global settlement for the Fire of over $4 billion pending.

Possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation, Elizabeth has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings, including multiple California fire cases, multi-state tobacco, the Exxon Valdez disaster, Breast Implants, Fen-Phen (Diet Drugs), Vioxx, Toyota sudden acceleration, numerous securities/investment fraud cases, and historic Holocaust litigation.

The Chair of Lieff Cabraser’s Personal Injury/Mass Tort practice group, Lexi J. Hazam represents clients in mass tort cases and environmental class actions, as well as whistleblower/false claims act actions. Lexi is also Court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the thousands of Individual Plaintiffs in the Thomas Fire (No. 4965) and Woolsey Fire JCCPs (No. 5000), litigations against Southern California Edison arising from the colossal wildfires and ensuing mudslide Edison’s faulty equipment caused in recent years.

A rare two-time winner of the Daily Journal’s California Attorney of the Year award, Lieff Cabraser partner Robert J. Nelson has played a leading role in the firm’s environmental, mass tort, and tobacco cases, among many others, taking on many of the world’s largest corporations and successfully holding them accountable. He has served as court-appointed lead or co-lead counsel in numerous state and federal coordinated proceedings, as well as in close to 40 class actions.

Fabrice Vincent is a tireless and principled advocate for the injured and the families of loved ones who died in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Fabrice’s cases include various California fire cases, JUUL vaping injury claims, baby formula injury and death claims, hair relaxer cancer claims, aviation accidents, auto and recreational vehicle accidents, and faulty medical devices.

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office and a five-year Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch” awardee as well as a two-time winner of Lawdragon’s “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” award, Tiseme Zegeye specializes in environmental justice cases, women’s health, and civil rights cases, including representing women and families in fertility and gynecologic cancer matters and representing the injured in water contamination and wildfire cases.