Ellis George scored a major victory in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 2, 2020, by convincing Judge James C. Chalfant to order Los Angeles County to provide the factual and evidentiary justification for its recent ban on outdoor dining. On behalf of the California Restaurant Association, a team of Ellis George attorneys led by Dennis Ellis successfully challenged the County’s outdoor dining ban on the grounds that the County did not have the scientific basis to conclude that outdoor dining posed any particular risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Even under the highly deferential standard that usually governs challenges to government agency action, the Court was convinced that Ellis George had made a sufficient showing to merit a temporary restraining order if the County could not come forward with evidence showing that it had adequately considered the real costs and benefits posed by banning outdoor dining.
Ellis George’s comprehensive showing in court included seven declarations from medical and restaurant industry experts and dozens of restauranteurs affected by the ban. The parties are due back in Court on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 to evaluate the County’s purported evidence.
The Ellis George team included Dennis Ellis, Richard Schwartz, Katherine Murray, Carl Roth, Ryan Keech, Noah Helpern, Nancy Morgan, Joachim Steinberg, David Kim, and Daniel Rozenblatt.
More coverage can be found on the Los Angeles Times and Fox News.
