Days after the Eaton fire destroyed the home she rented in Altadena, Liz Huston hired an attorney — a decision she now regrets.
Frustrated by the attorney’s alleged lack of service, Huston fired the lawyer, asked to be dropped from the lawsuit against Southern California Edison and submitted a claim on her own to SCE’s wildfire compensation program.
The attorney responded by slapping a lien for services on whatever she gets from SCE, Huston said.
“I feel really screwed in this situation,” said Huston, 50, a mixed media artist. “I made a decision (to sign with the lawyer) in a vulnerable moment. It just makes me mad I have to give her 30 percent.”
Huston provided the Southern California News Group with a copy of the attorney’s lien notice to SCE on the condition that the lawyer not be identified for fear of retaliation.
Such attorney liens are legal, but the lawyers must prove the value of their services in court, according to legal experts.
“It’s not how I would have handled it,” said another lawyer who is suing SCE in the Eaton fire.
More than 100 lawsuits have been filed against SCE, contending the utility’s equipment triggered the blaze that damaged or destroyed some 9,000 structures in and around Altadena and killed 19 people.
Without admitting fault, Edison executives have said a long dormant power line may have reactivated in the heavy winds, sparking and igniting the brush. A state investigation into the cause remains underway.
SCE, however, launched its compensation program in October as an alternative to potential years of litigation. The utility said claims for damages would be processed within 90 days, resulting in an offer of compensation. If the claimant accepts the offer — and agrees not to sue — the money would be paid within 30 days.
For instance, under the formula offered by the plan, owners of a destroyed 1,500-square-foot house could receive $900,000 in rebuilding compensation, plus $200,000 for going through the program, with more for pain and suffering. As a renter, Huston figures she stands to get $120,000 from Edison, plus 10% for attorney fees — which she fears won’t cover the lien.
According to SCE, more than 1,500 claims have been submitted as of Dec. 15 and one claim, for smoke and ash damage, has already been paid, although the utility would not say for how much and to whom. Twenty-seven offers have been made by SCE and one-fifth of the claimants have attorneys.
Things can get a bit complicated for the displaced homeowners because some of the houses were expanded without permits. While the official square footage listed at the recorder’s office may say one thing, the actual size of the house — and its replacement cost — may be another.
In any case, plaintiff attorneys have advised clients that litigation would be more lucrative, although no one can say how much or how long it will take. Trial for the first batch of lawsuits is scheduled for January 2027.
Huston rented a two-bedroom, 800-square-foot accessory unit on her landlord’s property. There, she stored her original artwork, decades worth of sketch pads and other pieces from her 21 years as a self-employed artist.
“I just wanted to get it over with and get on with my life.” — Liz Huston, Altadena
None of it survived the fire. She only had time to flee with her pet cat as the flames approached Jan. 7, 2025. She has some items at her small gallery in downtown Los Angeles, but everything else is gone. She ended up buying a studio condo in Pasadena.
Still, the trauma remains.
“I’m in therapy. My heart is broken,” Huston said. “I’m just overwhelmed with the whole thing. … How do you put a price tag on 21 years of artmaking?”
Shortly after the fire, in a move of solidarity, Huston hired her landlord’s attorney. But she could never get hold of the lawyer, Huston said. She said she felt ignored when the attorney didn’t return her emails. Huston said she sent a certified letter outlining her concerns, but still didn’t hear back.
So she fired the attorney and filed a claim with SCE on her own. She said she doesn’t want to sue anymore.
“I just wanted to get it over with and get on with my life,” Huston said. “I don’t deal well with people who are supposed to be in my court and aren’t.”
Huston said she probably could get more money by remaining in the lawsuit, but she just doesn’t want to endure what could be years of legal wrangling.
“It wasn’t about the money for me. I just wanted it done,” said Huston, who is awaiting an offer from Edison.
The decision on whether to sue or go through the SCE program has proven gut-wrenching for many fire survivors, some of whom declined to talk with a reporter. Indeed, one woman who applied to the program, and was interviewed on the record by the Southern California News Group, changed her mind and asked to be pulled from the story for fear of reprisal.
Mark Mariscal, whose house was destroyed in the flames, said he is advising survivors without attorneys that it doesn’t hurt to apply for the SCE program.
“The worst thing that can happen is you go through the process and they make you an offer and you say, ‘no,’ ” said Mariscal, 65, a retired Los Angeles city recreation and parks executive and a community advocate.
He said the Edison program seems like it may pencil out for him and his schoolteacher wife, although he has not yet received an offer. “I don’t think we want to wait three, four, five years” for the litigation to play out.
Based on formulas released by SCE, Mariscal figures he will get a total of $700,000 through the program. Combined with about $1 million from his own insurance, Mariscal said he should be able to rebuild his home of 35 years.
Mariscal, who is on speaking terms with Pedro Pizarro, the chief of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, has talked with hundreds of fire survivors, many without insurance. He said some stand to make more through the SCE program than they could have if they had sold their homes prefire.
“Is the SCE settlement great, good, OK? I don’t know,” Mariscal said. ” I think it’s laid out fairly for people to read on their own and do their own calculations.”