Eaton Fire Lawsuits Against Edison Return to Court as Local Residents Await Start of Trial

Judge Laura A. Seigle is scheduled to hear motions Friday morning in the consolidated Eaton Fire litigation that has brought hundreds of Altadena and Pasadena residents into court against Southern California Edison over the January 2025 blaze that killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures.

The 10 a.m. hearing in Department 17 of the Spring Street Courthouse comes as the cases move through pre-trial proceedings toward a first bellwether trial set for January 25, 2027, according to the Eaton Fire Litigation Portal.

Court records available before the hearing did not specify which specific motions would be argued.

The litigation is anchored by the lawsuit filed January 13, 2025, by Altadena homeowner Jeremy Gursey, whose property on Lake Avenue was destroyed. That case, Gursey v. Southern California Edison (No. 25STCV00731), now serves as the lead case in a consolidated proceeding involving nearly 1,000 lawsuits, according to Associated Press reporting in January 2026.

The City of Pasadena occupies an unusual dual position in the litigation. Pasadena filed its own suit against Edison for damages to public infrastructure and taxpayer resources, according to the Los Angeles County recovery office. At the same time, Edison filed cross-complaints on January 16, 2026, naming Pasadena Water & Power, Los Angeles County, five other water agencies, and Southern California Gas, alleging their failures contributed to the deaths and destruction, according to the AP.

Plaintiffs allege an electrical failure occurred at approximately 6:18 p.m. on January 7, 2025, on energized overhead power lines owned by SCE, igniting vegetation beneath a transmission tower in Eaton Canyon, according to the Gursey complaint. The fire spread rapidly through Altadena amid wind gusts reaching 100 mph.

Edison has denied sole responsibility. “As we have said before, SCE is not aware of evidence pointing to another possible source of ignition,” Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro said during a 2025 earnings call, according to the LA Downtown News. Edison spokesperson David Eisenhauer called the cross-complaints “a common legal process to help the court properly examine all potential contributing factors and entities,” according to the Pasadena Weekly.

Lisa Derderian, the City of Pasadena’s chief communications officer, rejected Edison’s claims in a January 2026 statement. “Evidence from the lawsuit has shown Edison’s equipment to be the cause of the catastrophic Eaton Fire,” Derderian said. “Today’s cross complaint does not change that fact and Edison should accept responsibility.”

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is investigating whether Edison should face criminal prosecution, Edison disclosed in its annual SEC filing in February 2026, according to the Pasadena Star-News. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a separate civil lawsuit against Edison in September 2025 seeking more than $40 million in damages for National Forest System lands, according to a DOJ press release.

Bellwether cases covering categories including total home loss, wrongful death, and business losses are expected to be selected this spring, according to the law firm Lieff Cabraser, which represents plaintiffs in the litigation.