It’s recognized as one of the best spots in California, able to comfortably hold waves from 4 to 30 feet on the right swells. Lunada Bay, the bowly, rippable right-hand point located in the affluent Los Angeles community of Palos Verdes Estates, has gained widespread notoriety over the past 40 years. It sounded strange hearing the name of a famed surf spot read aloud in a formal legal setting, but, considering the public drama that has enveloped the break, perhaps this case was inevitable. Then the status hearing - a preliminary meeting between the attorneys and the judge - began. They took their places at their respective tables - the defense attorneys on the left, the plaintiff’s on the right. “Counsels in the Cory Spencer et al versus Lunada Bay Boys et al case, can you please come forward?”įour lawyers rose from their seats and walked toward the front, the clacking of their footsteps echoing through the otherwise silent courtroom. She glanced down at the legal briefings in front of her and addressed the group of men toward the back.
Kuhl, a 65-year-old woman sporting a blonde, manicured bob and round spectacles, climbed the bench and settled into her leather chair at the head of the room. as judge Carolyn Kuhl emerged from her chambers. ON the 14th floor of the towering Central Civil West Courthouse in Los Angeles, the clock on the wall of a small, oak-paneled courtroom ticked past 10:15 a.m.