Los Angeles Wildfires Task Force

In response to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, Buchalter has assembled an inter-disciplinary task force to assist our clients, colleagues, and friends who may have been affected by these events.  This Task Force is comprised of insurance, wildfire litigation, land use, tax, and real estate experts to assist in navigating the road to recovery. 

Buchalter has an Insurance Law Practice Group that is dedicated to exclusively representing policyholders, including assisting with claims and litigation under homeowner and business interruption policies.  The Insurance Law Practice Group includes 16 insurance law professionals, many of whom have been practicing insurance law for over 25 years. Members of the Insurance Law Practice Group have recovered tens of millions in insurance benefits to compensate homeowners and businesses for property damage, additional living expenses and business interruption losses from previous wild fire losses.  If you have any questions regarding the services offered by our Insurance Law Practice Group, you can find more information here and please contact our practice group Co-Chairs Brad Hoff at bhoff@buchalter.com and Cecilia Miller at cmiller@buchalter.com.

Buchalter’s Litigation Department includes a Wildfire Litigation Team comprised of expert attorneys whose focus is wildfire litigation.  Our Wildfire Litigation Team has represented clients against one of the largest utilities in California.  Our Wildfire Litigation Team draws on a deep pool of litigators and retained experts to efficiently pursue recovery against utility companies for damages caused by their wildfires.  Our team has experience representing public entities and businesses (big and small) in fire litigation.  If you have any questions regarding the services offered by our Wildfire Litigation Team, you can find more information here and please contact our lead wildfire litigation attorney Kevin Collins at kcollins@buchalter.com.

Buchalter’s Land Use Practice Group includes 6 legal professionals with expertise in land use, zoning, building codes, environmental laws, and the intricacies of navigating the approval process with local, state, and federal governmental agencies.  Our team is experienced in working with, negotiating, and, when necessary, litigating against governmental agencies to achieve successful outcomes for clients.  Our Environmental Practice counsels clients through the characterization, investigation and remediation/ restoration processes and compliance matters for contaminated properties, including those impacted by natural disasters.  If you have any questions regarding the services offered by our Land Use Practice Group, you can find more information here and please contact our practice group Chair Alicia Guerra at aguerra@buchalter.com.

Buchalter’s Real Estate Practice Group includes 78 legal professional whose focus is on construction agreements and architects’ agreements, mortgage financing and work-outs, and purchase and sale transactions.  If you have any questions regarding the services offered by our Real Estate Practice Group, you can find more information here and please contact our practice group Lead Michael Zerman at mzerman@buchalter.com.

Buchalter has a Tax, Benefits and Estate Planning Practice that includes over 35 tax experts to assist with all aspects of tax issues related to the timing of filing, casualty losses, the taxation and reinvestment of insurance proceeds and all other issues relate to the wildfire.  If you have any questions regarding the services offered by tax experts, you can find more information here and please contact our practice group Co-chair Joseph K. Fletcher III at jfletcher@buchalter.com.

Buchalter understands that our clients’ first priority will be rebuilding and our team is well equipped to help our clients rebuild, mitigate their damages, and ensure litigation does not interfere with that process.

This page will be updated often with resources and updates, including insightful articles on insurance claims, preparing for wildfire litigation, tax analysis, FEMA assistance, and other critical information related to the Los Angeles Wild Fires. For more information, please reach out to your Buchalter attorney or any member of this Task Force.

Articles & Resources