South Lake Tahoe lawyers renew precautions in wake of arson

Colleagues of an attorney whose house was destroyed by an unknown arsonist said the news hasn't caused them to think a similar situation could happen to them, but said that they do take precautions.

William Cole, who primarily defends people in criminal cases, said he tries to iron out disagreements with clients before emotions can escalate.

"I try to do as good of a job as I can for my clients and I think my clients realize that," he said. "I work hard for my clients. I never really had anybody that I knew of that had any anger for me as how their case turned out."

On Aug. 29, firefighters responded to Lori London's house in a Lake Tahoe neighborhood on the South Shore to battle a roaring blaze investigators believed was intentionally set. London and her children were out of town at the time of the blaze.

London is a prominent attorney who handles family, juvenile and criminal law matters.

While some might believe her work in the criminal court might have made her an enemy angry enough to set her house on fire, attorneys, like Jordan Morgenstern, said the act might have been instigated from a child-custody dispute.

"I think it could very well be a distraught family law client or the parents of a child she may have represented in a juvenile dependency matter," Morgenstern said. "Those are the people, in my opinion, who have the most to lose and might be the most inclined to lash out at somebody."

"I certainly would consider it as one of the higher risk areas of law to practice," Cole said.

El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney Hans Uthe believes attacks against family law attorneys are becoming more frequent.

"When you're dealing with people's emotions sometimes bad things happen," Uthe said.

No stranger to threats himself, Uthe said prosecutors are trained in basic self-defense tactics and utilize strategies such as taking different routes when driving home.

Prosecutors are notified when certain inmates are released from prison or jail.

London has said the fire won't cause her to rethink her career.

One defense attorney, who wished anonymity, said he would rethink where he practiced law.

"If somebody hated me that much that they would burn my house down, I probably wouldn't hesitate to move from the community to protect my family," he said.