LA Fires
Jul. 23, 2025
Smoke damage from wildfires is real; it deserves real resolution
Recent court rulings have complicated smoke damage recovery for wildfire survivors. Rather than pursuing years of costly litigation against insurers, homeowners facing toxic contamination should consider mediation as a faster, more practical solution.
Tricia A. Bigelow
Neutral
Signature Resolution
Hon. Tricia Bigelow (Ret.) is a neutral with Signature Resolution. As Presiding Justice and Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, and as a trial court bench officer for a combined total of 26 years. Retired Justice Bigelow presided over complex cases involving high-profile companies and public figures. She has authored three books on California law and procedure and lectured extensively on judicial ethics and fairness, civil motions and trials, and other topics. She chaired the Los Angeles Superior Court Civil Education Committee, served on the CACI jury instruction committee, and from 2006 to 2008 was Dean of the Bernard E. Witkin California Judicial College, where she oversaw the education of all new judges in California. She was awarded the California Judicial Council Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence in 2014. In 2015, she was co-recipient of the Bernard S. Jefferson /award for distinguished service to judicial education from the California Judges Association.
Los Angeles may never fully recover from the Palisades and Eaton fires. Thousands of people lost homes and businesses; thousands more have struggled with the challenges of moving back into homes that are still standing. An apparent stroke of luck spared their homes, but many have had a difficult time dealing with insurance companies that refuse to cover smoke damage claims.
Their challenges have been compounded by recent court decisions on smoke damage c...
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