Patrick McNicholas

McNicholas was part of the small group of attorneys who obtained a $13.5 billion settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on behalf of wildfire victims seeking relief amid the largest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In mid-May, more than 90% of the victims voted in favor of accepting the deal. McNicholas' firm, McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, partnered with two other firms to represent more than 5,500 plaintiffs in negotiating with the bankrupt utility and its creditors over compensation for the fires, which were caused by PG&E equipment. Included were the Wine Country/North Bay fires of November 2017 and the Camp/Paradise Fire a year later. California North Bay Fire Cases, JCCP 4955 (S.F. Super. Ct., coordinated Jan. 4, 2018).

"We'll be dealing with the bankruptcy trustee and the mediators to disburse the funds," McNicholas said. "A lot of good lawyers and some dynamite experts made this happen. It's going to be a monumental challenge to ensure that the funds are purposed to the right clients individually, but this is an optimal outcome given the facts of this tragedy."

In obtaining the deal, McNicholas and colleagues Richard Bridgford and Jim Frantz first had to persuade victims that they were right for the job. "We had town hall meetings and established a network of thousands of victims," he said. "We could show that we had a lot of wildfire specialist lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers and trial and arbitration specialist lawyers. The package was persuasive."

Then came two years of negotiations with PG&E. McNicholas said the company's experience with its faulty gas pipeline leading to the 2010 explosion and fire in San Bruno ought to have led to reforms. "You'd have thought they'd have cleaned up their act, but they really hadn't upgraded much of anything. We were able to get the highest payment available given their assets."

In a separate matter, last year McNicholas achieved an appellate reversal that has changed the way employers use "on-call" worker scheduling. In an opinion of first impression, a 2nd District Court of Appeal panel held that employees have to be paid for wait times or on-call shifts. The justices held 2-1 that a 1943 California Industrial Welfare Commission wage order is still in effect and entitles workers to be paid as soon as they are required to report to work, including reporting by phone, whether or not they're called in to work. Ward v. Tilly's Inc., B280151 (2d DCA, op. filed Feb. 4, 2019).

"As a result, retailers have changed their practices," McNicholas said. "They can no longer waste their employees' time." He added that an associate in his firm, Michael J. Kent, heard about the practice, did the research and urged a lawsuit. "He has a big heart," McNicholas said. "He insisted this is a huge injustice. No, we haven't made him partner yet, but he's young."

-- John Roemer