California AG Likely Can Use Outside Firm in Exxon Case, Judge Says

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) will likely be given the go-ahead to continue using consumer law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP to help with it’s high-profile lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. and other oil giants.

Judge Shelleyanne Chang of the California Superior Court in Sacramento County in a tentative ruling Thursday rejected a petition from a labor union representing California civil service attorneys, which argued the attorney general’s office should have first turned to state-employed lawyers before hiring an outside firm.

The judge said the State Personnel Board, tasked with overseeing the merit-based civil service system across ...