Mike Danko Featured on KRON4 Discussing Judge’s Ruling that PG&E Violated Criminal Probation
Separate from PG&E’s bankruptcy case, federal judge William Alsup (the judge overseeing PG&E’s criminal probation from the 2010 San Bruno explosion) held another hearing on January 30th. Judge Alsup questioned whether PG&E was upholding its duty to prevent its equipment from causing wildfires, saying “it’s not really true” that safety is PG&E’s top priority.
Judge Alsup also asked PG&E’s attorneys: “What do we do? Does the judge just turn a blind eye and say ‘PG&E continue your business as usual. Kill more people?’ Will we see headlines [that] PG&E has done it again? Another town is burned down because you didn’t turn the power off or cut down the trees?”
Judge Alsup is considering whether to impose new probation terms, which may include requiring PG&E to inspect and overhaul its electrical infrastructure throughout California to clear trees and vegetation.
PG&E’s lawyers claim there are not enough qualified tree trimmers to do the work on the scale and timeline that Judge Alsup proposes.
Mike Danko appeared in an interview on KRON4 discussing Judge Alsup’s recent probation hearing: “I am very pleased that somebody finally gets it.” He added “I think the judge might be leaning towards…(requiring PG&E to) adopt a system such that when it gets windy…you shut off the power….because if you shut off the power…there will be no catastrophic wildfire.”
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Northern California Fire Lawyers is a team of more than 30 attorneys from a coalition of three Northern California law firms: Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle, Danko Meredith and Gibbs Law Group. Collectively, our fire lawyers have more experience investigating and bringing claims against PG&E than any law firm in California. Our attorneys have been appointed by California judges to leadership positions in some of the largest fire and disaster cases, including the Butte Fire Cases, 2017 PG&E Fire Cases, and San Bruno Explosion lawsuits.
Our attorneys currently represent over 200 families who are victims of the 2015 Butte Fire that devastated over 70,000 acres. We have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients, and members of our team have been honored for their work with numerous awards, including “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California,” “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” and “Top Women Lawyers in Northern California,” among others.
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