Nearly 1,000 lawsuits against Southern California Edison over the deadly 2025 Eaton Fire return to Los Angeles Superior Court this morning as a judge manages pretrial proceedings ahead of a scheduled January 2027 trial.
The case management conference is set for 10 a.m. in Department 17 of the Spring Street Courthouse, 312 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, before Judge Laura A. Seigle.
Specific agenda items and motions scheduled for today’s hearing are not available in public sources.
The lead case, filed by Altadena resident Jeremy Gursey, anchors the consolidated litigation brought by homeowners, renters, businesses, wrongful death families and government entities.
The Jan. 7, 2025, Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures in Altadena during a 24-day conflagration that burned 14,021 acres before full containment Jan. 31, 2025.
The blaze ranks as the fifth deadliest and second most destructive wildfire in California history.
Plaintiffs allege that at approximately 6:18 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2025, an electrical failure occurred on overhead power lines owned, operated and controlled by SCE, causing an arc or electrical sparks that ignited ground vegetation beneath a transmission tower near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in Eaton Canyon.
The fire spread rapidly through Altadena amid wind gusts reaching 100 mph.
SCE acknowledged that circumstantial evidence suggests one of its idled power lines may have ignited the fire.
In a Feb. 6, 2025, letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, the company stated that photographic evidence of its tower at the end of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line shows signs of potential arcing and damage on grounding equipment for two of the three idle conductors.
The official cause of the Eaton Fire remains listed as “undetermined” by Cal Fire, which is still investigating.
Today’s conference advances pretrial proceedings toward selection of approximately 50 bellwether test cases this spring.
The bellwether cases will cover multiple categories including total home loss, wrongful death, business losses and tenant claims.
Judge Seigle has directed that elderly or medically fragile plaintiffs be included among the bellwether test cases so their matters can be heard promptly.
The first bellwether trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 25, 2027 — approximately eight months from now.
Judge Seigle rejected SCE’s attempts to delay the trial until August 2027, maintaining the January date to ensure justice for elderly and ill plaintiffs.
The deadline for all pretrial filings is Jan. 4, 2027.
On Jan. 16, 2026, SCE filed cross-complaints against Los Angeles County, Pasadena Water and Power, five water agencies, Southern California Gas Co., the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management.
The utility is pursuing what it calls a “spread theory,” arguing that additional entities share responsibility for the fire’s devastation.
SCE alleges that Los Angeles County neglected to remove brush that exacerbated the fire’s severity and that the county Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management did not provide timely evacuation warnings.
The company also claims SoCalGas allowed gas to continue flowing during the fire’s outbreak and that water agencies failed in their responsibilities.
Pasadena officials rejected SCE’s claims in a Jan. 17, 2026, statement: “Evidence from the lawsuit has shown Edison’s equipment to be the cause of the catastrophic Eaton Fire that began on January 7, 2025 and devastated our community. Today’s cross complaint does not change that fact and Edison should accept responsibility for the extensive damage it has caused.”
Additional plaintiffs in the consolidated litigation include Los Angeles County, which filed suit March 4, 2025, seeking cost recovery and damages; the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre; and the U.S. Department of Justice, which sued SCE in September 2025.
Judge Seigle signed the initial case management order March 17, 2025, establishing protocols for preserving and sharing evidence.
A court order requires SCE to preserve all equipment and data related to the suspected origin of the fire.
Joint inspections and CT scans of removed transmission towers continue to show arcing damage that supports plaintiffs’ cause-and-origin theory, according to court filings.
Gursey’s Jan. 13, 2025, lawsuit was among the first four filed against the utility.
His complaint alleges SCE’s electrical transmission system “was in a dangerous condition, posing a significant risk of electrical failure, fire and property damage to surrounding property and communities.”
The complaint states: “The conduct alleged against Defendants in this complaint was despicable and subjected Plaintiffs to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of their safety and rights, constituting oppression, for which Defendant must be punished by punitive and exemplary damages in an amount according to proof.”
Richard Bridgford, a partner at Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian representing Gursey, said: “We happen to know the ignition point is directly below their line. We believe based upon the video evidence and based upon extensive discussion with our experts they will be found to have started the fire.”
As of Jan. 5, 2026, SCE reported receiving more than 1,800 applications to its compensation program and making offers to 82 applicants.
By April 29, 2026, the company reported that relief offered to community members impacted by the Eaton Fire exceeded $500 million, according to SCE.
The lawsuits against SCE could cost the company billions of dollars in settlements.
The bellwether cases are expected to shape settlement negotiations for thousands of remaining plaintiffs.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
