O’Melveny Secures Important Win for Compassion & Choices

After the End Of Life Option Act (EOLOA) became law, O’Melveny continued to defend its validity to ensure that it remained available to California’s physicians and terminally ill patients.

The day before the EOLOA took effect on June 9, 2016, Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) filed a constitutional challenge against the Riverside District Attorney in the Riverside Superior Court. The court agreed with LLDF and enjoined recognition of the EOLOA as an exception to the California penal code.

On behalf of two terminally ill Californians and a doctor who treats terminally ill patients (both interested parties), O’Melveny filed a motion to vacate the judgment, which was denied, thereby conferring appellate standing on the interested parties.

A team of O’Melveny attorneys appealed, and the Court of Appeals granted the request for an immediate stay of the trial court’s injunction, meaning the EOLOA was reinstated pending further rulings from the Court of Appeal. O’Melveny and the Attorney General’s appeals ultimately vacated the lower court’s judgment. On remand, the trial court found that the EOLOA was constitutional, a conclusion that was affirmed in a further appeal.