LOS ANGELES, Dec 22, 2017 (BUSINESS WIRE) —
California Fire Lawyers and the Ventura-based law firm of Myers,
Widders, Gibson, Jones & Feingold, LLP today announced the firms will
collaborate to provide legal representation and help for victims of the
Thomas Fire. The fire, which has raged through Ventura and Santa Barbara
Counties, is the second largest fire in California history. Many Myers
Widders clients, as well as a named partner in the firm, Erik Feingold,
tragically lost their homes due to the destructive blaze.
“I lost my own home in the Thomas Fire. My family and friends are
personally aware of the devastation that our community is feeling,” said
Erik Feingold, a partner with Myers Widders. “To think that this tragedy
could be chalked up to another case of corporate negligence from
Southern California Edison is infuriating for those of us who lost
everything in the flames. At Myers Widders, we will stop at nothing to
ensure our Ventura and Santa Barbara County clients have the very best
representation possible, which is why we are calling on the California
Fire Lawyers who bring some of the most experienced lawyers in this type
of litigation to help us and our community recover our losses from the
fire.”
So far, the fire has sadly claimed two lives and destroyed more than
1,000 structures. State officials are currently investigating the
utility company Southern California Edison for its potential role in
causing the fire.
The California Fire Lawyers team are veterans of fire litigation, having
successfully litigated against utility companies for the 2007 San Diego
Fires, the 2010 San Bruno Explosion, and the 2015 Butte Fire, among
others. Together, the group has recovered more than $650 million for
more than 4,000 people affected by prior California fires. The
California Fire Lawyers group includes attorneys, all of whom are
accomplished environmental attorneys independent of the others, with the
law firms of Baron & Budd, Singleton Law Firm, Dixon Diab & Chambers
LLP, Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire, and Terry Singleton, Esq. The group is
currently representing more than 500 Northern California fire victims
against PG&E arising out of the historic fires that ravaged Napa, Sonoma
and other counties just two months ago.
“We are proud to work with a firm like Myers Widders to provide legal
representation to as many victims of the Thomas Fire as we can,” said Ed
Diab, a partner with Dixon Diab & Chambers LLP and an attorney with the
California Fire Lawyers group. “We have taken on this kind of fight
before, and the tragedy is far reaching. We will continue to go to bat
for everyone who have lost their lives, their homes, or both in fires
that could have been prevented.”
The cause of the Thomas Fire, along with several other wildfires in
Southern California, is still being investigated. If you were impacted
and have questions about your legal options, please call us at (805)
491-9947. Additional information can be found at our website at www.CaliforniaFireLawyers.com.
ABOUT MYERS, WIDDERS, GIBSON, JONES & FEINGOLD, LLP
Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones & Feingold, LLP is one of the oldest,
largest and most respected law firms in Ventura county. The firm
represented hundreds of property owners damaged by the 2003 Simi Valley
and the 2008 San Diego wildfires in obtaining their insurance policy
benefits. Name partner Dennis Neil Jones has been named a California
Super Lawyer in the field of Insurance Coverage eleven out of the last
twelve years, signifying that he is in the top 5% of all California
lawyers practicing in that field. Jones was also the 2008 President of
the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association. Partner Erik B. Feingold
was the 2017 President of the Ventura County Bar Association. He
co-tried and obtained a $38.5 million jury verdict on behalf of a
paralyzed CHP officer. The firm handles inverse condemnation cases
against public entities, insurance bad faith cases and cases against
insurance agents and brokers for underestimating replacement cost
coverage. The firm is assisting fire victims in understanding their
insurance coverage benefits, on a pro bono basis. The firm is joining
this joint venture to assist fire victims in recovering uninsured or
underinsured losses.
ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C.
Baron & Budd, P.C., is one of the largest and most accomplished
plaintiffs’ law firms in the country. Lead attorneys Russell Budd, Scott
Summy and Roland Tellis were selected to the 2017 edition of The
Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Budd has been selected to Best
Lawyers every year since 2014 and Mr. Summy has been selected to Best
Lawyers every year since 2006. Baron & Budd lawyers have
served in leadership positions on the majority of the major, mass tort
litigations in the past two decades. Mr. Summy was one of four attorneys
to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the 2010 BP Oil Spill
case, and he was instrumental in negotiating the more than $15 billion
settlement obtained on behalf of the individual plaintiffs. In 2014
Baron & Budd was named to the list of America’s Elite Trial Lawyers by The
National Law Journal. This illustrious list is comprised of 50 law
firms that have achieved significant results on behalf of plaintiffs
within the previous year and have an established track record of
delivering impressive results. Baron & Budd has been repeatedly selected
by The Legal 500 as one of the country’s premier law firms
in mass tort claims and class action litigation. In its 40 year history,
Baron & Budd has handled over 10,000 wrongful death cases and has
pioneered numerous areas of litigation.
ABOUT SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC
Singleton Law Firm, based in San Diego, is one of the top fire
litigation firms in the state of California. Over the past decade, SLF
has represented thousands of individuals in major fires all over the
state of California, and has recovered over $650 million for its clients
in fire cases. Lead attorney Gerald Singleton has served as Liaison
Counsel and on the Executive Committees in some of the largest fires in
the state. Mr. Singleton and Erika Vasquez, head of the firm’s fire
litigation division, currently represent over 2,000 individuals in the
2015 Butte Fire, which was a catastrophic fire started by PG&E power
lines that burned over 70,000 acres in Calaveras and Amador counties.
The firm recently represented the largest individual group of plaintiffs
in the 2013 Powerhouse Fire in Los Angeles County, and Mr. Singleton
served as Liaison Counsel for that case. Prior to the Powerhouse Fire,
Singleton Law Firm was one of four firms who teamed up in a joint
venture to represent over 1,600 individuals in the 2007 San Diego Fires.
ABOUT DIXON DIAB & CHAMBERS LLP
The lawyers at Dixon Diab & Chambers LLP have gained national
recognition as being some of the top litigators in their respective
areas of practice. Ed Diab leads the firm’s fire litigation practice and
has litigated numerous wildfire cases throughout the country. He was
actively involved in the widely publicized lawsuit against Pacific Gas &
Electric arising out of the 2010 San Bruno Gas Pipeline Explosion that
leveled 38 homes and killed 8. He also currently represents numerous
people in lawsuits against Pacific Gas & Electric that sustained
significant property damages arising out of the 2015 Butte Fire in
Amador/Calaveras County that burned over 70,000 acres. Both Deborah
Dixon and Robert Chambers have significant experience litigating
complex, multi-party lawsuits against entities and insurance companies
on behalf of individuals and businesses. Their experience in personal
injury, business litigation, products liability and class actions
provide integral background for fire cases, as does their direct
experience handling claims on behalf of victims who suffered personal
injury and property damages because of fires. The firm also has
substantial experience representing families in wrongful death cases,
having handled more than 150 such claims and recovering millions of
dollars on the families’ behalf.
ABOUT THORSNES BARTOLOTTA MCGUIRE
Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire is a high-end, civil litigation firm that
specializes in serious personal injury and wrongful death, condemnation,
inverse condemnation, and construction defect litigation. Since its
founding in 1978, the firm has recovered over $1 billion on behalf of
its clients. TBM annually earns numerous commendations, among them
designations by American Lawyer Magazine as one of the top 20 firms in
the Nation. The firm was recognized as Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” by
U.S. News & World Report and received the prestigious Tier One ranking
for San Diego in the categories of Mass Torts Litigation and Personal
Injury Litigation. The firm has received numerous “Outstanding Trial
Lawyer,” “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” and “Best Lawyers in America”, and
just received the prestigious “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World
Report for 2018.
ABOUT TERRY SINGLETON, ESQ.
Terry Singleton is a San Diego-based attorney with more than 40 years of
experience in civil litigation. Mr. Singleton has successfully tried
dozens of cases to verdict and has obtained over 50 verdicts or
settlements in excess of $1 million in personal injury, utility
fire/negligence and/or wrongful death cases. This includes obtaining one
of the largest verdicts ever awarded in a wrongful death case in
Imperial County. Mr. Singleton has more than 20 years of experience
managing utility-caused wildfire litigation, beginning with the 1993
Guejito Fire in Escondido, California. He served as one of two
lead trial attorneys for the largest group of plaintiffs in the 2007 San
Diego Wildfires, which included the City and County of San Diego, and
recently was one of the trial lawyers who successfully conducted a jury
trial resulting from the 2011 Las Conchas fire in New Mexico, where he
represented individuals and the Native American Pueblos of Cochiti and
Jemez against an electrical distribution and a transmission/generation
cooperative. Mr. Singleton, a US Army volunteer and Vietnam veteran, is
also an active member of the community. In recent years, his pro bono
work has included working to free a young man from prison who was
wrongfully convicted of murder in 2000. He has also routinely been
recognized as a top personal injury lawyer by San Diego “Super Lawyers.”
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SOURCE: Baron & Budd, P.C.
Baron & Budd, P.C.
Bradley Bowen, 214-523-6633
Copyright Business Wire 2017