Deborah J. Fox

Fox has spent much of the pandemic defending counties and cities in litigation up and down the state challenging capacity restrictions and shelter-in-place rules. And as the pandemic and regulations about it change, so do the lawsuits.

The earliest cases opposed capacity limits on religious institutions. Then came cases about restaurants, gyms and bars, Fox said. “Now they’ve moved to challenges more about takings and the Commerce Clause.”

Those cases tend to be brought by business owners who are suffering financially as a result of the pandemic and now are “trying to place those financial issues back on the public entities,” she said.

She won just such a case early last month on behalf of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County. U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit questioning some of the governor’s orders about capacity and cleaning for hotel and Airbnb-type rentals. Abshire v. Newsom, 2:21-cv-00198 (E.D. Calif., filed Feb. 1, 2021)

In a different sort of pandemic-related litigation, Fox represents cities and counties in more than a dozen potential class actions filed by restaurants seeking partial refunds of license and health permit fees corresponding to the times the restaurants could not operate. Some cases have settled, but others continue. Brookfields v. County of Sacramento, 34-2021-00292281 (Sacto. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 12, 2021)

Fox represents county governments in a wide variety of other important cases. Last May, a judge gave L.A. County and the state a $6.6 million victory against a man who was illegally dumping tons of construction debris in the Santa Susana Mountains. To prove the dumping, Fox had a drone film the trucks from above. People v. Fishback, PC056481 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 6, 2015)

She represents Santa Barbara County in an unusual cross-complaint from Southern California Edison over the 2017 Thomas fire and mudslides.

And in August, she won a unanimous state Supreme Court decision addressing confusion regarding mandatory stays following injunctions in a case objecting to the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors’ appointment of a new member. Daly v. San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, 2021 DJDAR 8085 Cal, 8/9/21

Yet to be decided is whether the objector should have brought a writ or a quo warranto action. Fox thinks the latter, although they are rare. “In my career, I’ve done three quo warrantos.”

- Don DeBenedictis