How a $30-Million Federal Lawsuit Was Blown Up Over Breakfast
Six years of litigation fizzled out in July when one of the plaintiffs dropped a bombshell at a breakfast meeting with opposing counsel, effectively ending a $30 million federal lawsuit filed against a Saudi businessman over a California wildfire.
The Los Angeles Times tells the story of the now-dismissed case over the fire than burned more thann 25,000 acres. The government originally contended that an electrical junction box on Tarek Al-Shawaf’s property had malfunctioned, sparked and started the Mountain fire.
Recently, one of the private plaintiffs mentioned to Al-Shawaf’s lawyer that his own investigation turned up the fact that the fire probably started hundreds of feet from the Saudi’s property, writes the Times‘ Joseph Serna.
“To be honest, at the time I didn’t realize it was this crucial,” plaintiff Lawrence Goda said in hindsight. “I figured the feds … would have definitely factored that into the case.”
Read the Lost Angeles Times article.
