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BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO DEBTOR'S MOTION TO ESTABLISH WILDFIRE CLAIMS ESTIMATION 

PROCEDURES

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4843-4115-9838v.1 0112895-000001 

RICHARD A. MARSHACK, #107291 

rmarshack@marshackhays.com 

DAVID A. WOOD #272406 

dwood@marshackhays.com 

MARSHACK HAYS LLP 

870 Roosevelt, Irvine, CA 92620 

Tel: 949-333-7777 -/- Fax: 949-333-7778

GERALD SINGLETON, #208783 

JOHN C. LEMON, #175847 

SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC 

450 A Street, 5th Floor 

San Diego, CA 92101 

Tel. (619) 771-3473 

Email: gerald@slffirm.com 

 john@slffirm.com 

Attorneys for SLF Fire Victim Claimants 

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re 

PG&E CORPORATION, 

 and, 

PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY, 

 Debtors. 

 

Affects: 

☐ PG&E Corporation 

☐ Pacific Gas & Electric Company 

☒ Both Debtors 

* All papers shall be filed in Lead Case, 

 No. 19-30088 (DM). 

Case No. 19-30088 (DM) 

Chapter 11 

(Lead Case Jointly Administered) 

BRIEF RE: ESTIMATION PROCESS 

PURSUANT TO 11 U.S.C. §§ 105(a) and 

502(c) FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 

WILDFIRE CLAIMS ESTIMATION 

PROCEDURES 

[Docket No. 3091] 

Hearing: 

Date: August 27, 2019 

Time: 9:30 a.m. 

Ctrm: Courtroom 17, 16th Floor 

Place: United States Bankruptcy Court 

 San Francisco, CA 94102 

/ / / 

/ / / 

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 3631 Filed: 08/20/19 Entered: 08/20/19 20:36:33 Page 1 of

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OPPOSITION TO DEBTOR'S MOTION TO ESTABLISH WILDFIRE CLAIMS ESTIMATION PROCEDURES

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TO THE HONORABLE DENNIS MONTALI, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 

JUDGE, THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE, AND ALL INTERESTED 

PARTIES: 

The Singleton Law Firm (“SLF”) and Marshack Hays LLP, together with several other firms, 

represent approximately 5,300 victims of the fires started by PG&E Corporation (“PG&E”) and/or 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PGE Company,” collectively with PG&E the “Debtors”) in 

2015 (“Butte Fire”), 2017 (the twenty fires collectively referred to as the “North Bay Fires”) and 

2018 (“Camp Fire”).1 The SLF Claimants submit this brief (“Brief”) in response to the Court's 

continued status conference re: establishment of a wildfire claims estimation procedures pursuant to 

11 U.S.C. §§ 105(a) and 502(c). 

A. Preliminary Statement 

 SLF Claimants have reviewed the Court’s Order Regarding Further Hearings on Estimation 

Motion and Other Case Scheduling Matters (“Order”), Dk. No. 3619, entered on August 20, 2019, in 

which the parties are instructed to discuss proposed procedures. In order to fully respond to the items 

raised in the Order, SLF Claimants intend to file a further position paper after conferring with 

counsel, to be filed by Monday August 26, 2019. 

B. Participants at Estimation Hearings 

The SLF Claimants contend the following parties should be able to participate in any 

estimation proceeding: 

1. Debtor; 

2. Tort Claimants Committee – including corresponding State Court fire litigation 

counsel (we understand this to be Norcal Leadership); 

3. SLF Claimants; and 

4. Anyone else who requests to participate within the deadline set by court and who the 

 

1

 The claimants represented by SLF, Marshack Hays LLP, and other firms are jointly referred to as 

the “SLF Claimants.” 

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court further decides should be allowed to participate. 

 SLF Claimants do not know if the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors ("OCC"), or 

other creditors, intend to participate in the estimation proceeding. As such SLF Claimants propose 

the Status Conference be continued for twenty (20) days so that during this time period other 

creditors may make a written request to participate if they wish to. Thereafter, the court can 

determine at the continued status conference whether to allow them to participate at the continued 

status conference. 

C. Discovery 

The court’s Order provides that: 

“C. [t]he court wishes comments, particularly from Tubbs fire litigation counsel on 

both sides, as to what might be helpful in any coordination between setting the court’s 

estimation schedule (Phase 3) and the timing of Tubbs fire trial. Related is whether 

the Debtors are willing and able to work with plaintiffs’ counsel to speed up the 

scheduling of the Tubbs fire trial...” 

... 

“E. The court wants a full discussion among counsel as to what discovery will be 

necessary, and what is the timeframe, preparatory to the scheduling of the final 

estimation proceedings.” 

See, Dk No. 3619, 4:20-26. 

 SLF Claimants do not believe that there is a procedure by which the court could come to an 

accurate and fair estimation of all 21 fires under the Debtors’ current proposed Timeline.2

 SLF 

Claimants will address this further at the status conference or the pleading to be filed as referenced 

in the preliminary statement. SLF Claimants believe substantial discovery needs to be conducted 

which SLF Claimants will discuss with the Court. Preliminarily, SLF Claimants request the 

 

2

 Terms not defined herein are as defined in the Court’s Order. 

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OPPOSITION TO DEBTOR'S MOTION TO ESTABLISH WILDFIRE CLAIMS ESTIMATION PROCEDURES

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following initial discovery to be produced by August 30, 2019: 

1. Debtors must produce all documents that have previously been produced and any 

documents that have otherwise been requested in all litigation relating to the 21 fires; 

and 

2. Copies of the Cal Fire reports without redactions (including all unredacted 

attachments), for each fire. 

Further, SLF Claimants respectfully request the court schedule: 

1. Physical inspections of the fire ignition sites, and the equipment alleged to be 

involved in the cause and origin, for each fire. 

 We are unable to propose dates at this time until the Court has established the 

estimation trial date. 

2. Depositions of the authors of, the percipient witnesses to the fire, and any experts 

who rendered opinions used in, each of the Cal Fire reports. 

 We are unable to propose dates at this time until the Court has established the 

estimation trial date. 

3. Persons Most Qualified (PMQ) depositions from Debtors with respect to the cause, 

origin, and other relevant issues, for each fire. 

 We are unable to propose dates at this time until the Court has established the 

estimation trial date. 

 With respect to other discovery SLF Claimants will supplement this pleading after they have 

had an opportunity to confer with other counsel. 

 Lastly, in its Order, the court noted the parties should be prepared to discuss “possible 

mediation.” Order, 5:11. SLF Claimants believe, through the discovery process there may be a flow 

of enlightenment, such that the Court should consider the appointment of a mediator with any 

mediation taking place after close of discovery. With respect to mediators, the selection of the 

mediator is important which parties should be prepared to discuss. For example, is the mediator 

someone who has substantial experience in wildfire litigation or someone who has general 

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experience in mass tort litigation or a bankruptcy professional (including former or currently sitting 

judges) who understand the claim estimation process. Initially, SLF Claimants would be most 

inclined to have someone with experience in wildfire litigation. 

 

Dated: August 20, 2019 MARSHACK HAYS LLP 

 /s/ Richard A. Marshack 

By:______________________________ 

RICHARD A. MARSHACK 

DAVID A. WOOD 

Attorneys for SINGLETON LAW FIRM 

FIRE VICTIM CLAIMANTS 

Dated: August 20, 2019 SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC 

 /s/ Gerald Singleton 

By:______________________________ 

GERALD SINGLETON 

AMANDA W. LOCURTO 

Attorneys for SINGLETON LAW FIRM 

FIRE VICTIM CLAIMANTS 

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