Kristof D.
Szoke

Representative Experience

• San Diego Gas & Electric Company v. City of San Diego. Kristof represented the City of San Diego in a lawsuit with SDG&E over which party had the legal responsibility to pay approximately $100,000,000 for SDG&E to relocate certain electric and gas facilities located within City streets. The relocation of SDG&E’s facilities was necessary to accommodate new pipelines for a City project converting wastewater to potable water. The trial court ruled in SDG&E’s favor, granting SDG&E’s motion for summary judgment, and denying the City’s motion for summary judgment. Meyers Nave was retained by the City to appeal the trial court’s ruling. Kristof was an essential member of the team that successfully persuaded the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s ruling in full, and to enter judgment in favor of the City.
• Beverly Hills Unified School District v. Los Angeles California Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Kristof second-chaired and secured an overwhelming verdict in favor of the Los Angeles California Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in a high-stakes eminent domain trial involving an easement located 100 feet beneath the Beverly Hills High School necessary for Metro’s multibillion dollar expansion of the D Line (formerly Purple Line).
• County of Santa Barbara – Billion Dollar Victory in Thomas Fire and Montecito Debris Flow. In one of the largest coordinated wildfire litigations in California history, Kristof was a member of the team that represented the County of Santa Barbara in complex proceedings against Southern California Edison arising from the 2017 Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow. Edison, having paid over $1.1 billion in settlements to more than 5,000 homeowners, sought to shift liability onto five public entities, including the County, via a Master Cross Complaint alleging negligence. In a first-of-its-kind attempt to offload wildfire liability, Edison demanded indemnification while concealing settlement evidence and pursuing a closed-door trial. Kristof helped secured decisive victories: a $700 million damages exclusion in November 2023, followed by a $300+ million exclusion in April 2024, effectively eliminating over $1 billion in claims. These rulings mark a watershed moment in public entity wildfire defense.
• Amato et al. v. BitMEX. Kristof helped resolve securities litigation case where angel investors of a cryptocurrency exchange were unlawfully denied equity, ultimately recovering 30 million dollars on an original investment of 55k.
• AT&T Mobility v. City of Los Altos; Verizon Wireless v. City of Los Altos. Kristof helped obtain a ruling dismissing a case against multiple large telecommunications carriers.