A California court sided Thursday with state Attorney General Rob Bonta in a dispute with lawyers in his office who tried to block his hiring of a private law firm to handle a prominent climate lawsuit.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang rejected a labor union’s lawsuit that seeks to reverse Bonta’s hiring of the San Francisco law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.
The ruling is preliminary and indicates the decision Chang is likely to make. The ruling would become final if the parties decline to participate in a hearing Chang has scheduled for Friday. As of late Thursday, the court docket did not indicate a response from either the union or Bonta but did show a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m.
The union — California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) — is contesting a December decision by the California State Personnel Board siding with Bonta (D), who enlisted the law firm in the state’s lawsuit against some of the world’s largest oil companies. His office says the size and complexity of the case requires lawyers with experience in industry-wide cases.
