About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will examine wildfire liability, with the panel examining litigation and risk management across the entire wildfire lifecycle. The faculty will cover pre-event planning, real-time response, and post-event claims and recovery.
Description
The authoritative panel discuss liability patterns, including inverse condemnation and negligence, complex coordinated proceedings, insurance recovery, and damages modeling for wildfire litigation. Wildfires in California, Oregon, Hawaii, and other western states have reshaped the operational, financial, and legal landscape. Increased attention is being given to wildfire mitigation practices. Counsel must address risks before a fire, manage investigations and evidence in real time, and navigate claims, regulatory scrutiny, and litigation strategy after the event.
Listen as our litigation faculty provides a lifecycle-based framework to evaluate wildfire exposure and litigation risk with practical tools and real-world experience.
Presented By
Mr. Carr is a Partner in Buchalter’s San Francisco office and a member of the Litigation practice group. He is an experienced trial attorney having successfully tried many cases to verdict before juries, judges, and arbitrators. Mr. Carr handles cases in virtually every area of complex high-stakes litigation, including, contract claims, intellectual property claims (expertise in trade secrets), real estate disputes, business disputes, and matters designated as complex (including, class actions and coordinated actions). He represents start-ups to Fortune 100 companies to government agencies across a wide range of industries, including, grocery, national clothing retailers, real estate, financial institutions, technology, and transportation companies. Mr. Carr is also sought out frequently to represent state and federal receivers in cases filed by the government or financial institutions.
Mr. Collins represents clients in a wide variety of areas, including misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, class actions, antitrust, real estate, land use, construction, and mass torts. His clients range from small and medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies, as well as public entities. Mr. Collins has been handling complex civil litigation matters through trial for almost 30 years.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Thursday, June 25, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. Introduction and Framing
A. Wildfire litigation trends and exposure landscape
II. Liability Framework and Regulatory Context
A. Core liability theories and defenses
B. Role of regulators and compliance expectations
III. Before the Fire: Risk Management and Positioning
A. Mitigation planning, compliance, and documentation
B. Insurance and contractual risk allocation
IV. During the Fire: Response and Evidence Strategy
A. Scene preservation and investigation
B. Litigation holds, privilege, and coordination with agencies
V. After the Fire: Claims, Litigation, and Recovery
A. Causes of action and defenses
B. Damages, insurance recovery, and expert strategy
C. Coordinated proceedings and settlement considerations
VI. Practical Considerations for Practitioners
A. Strategic takeaways across the wildfire lifecycle
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- Evolving wildfire liability exposure
- Key liability theories and defenses
- Pre-fire risk management, compliance, and documentation practices
- Evidence preservation, investigations, and privilege considerations during wildfire events
- Damages modeling, insurance recovery, and expert strategy in wildfire claims
- Coordinated proceedings, settlement dynamics, and litigation strategy
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