Cities Join Appeal of Cougar Case Ruling : Litigation: They fear $2-million award to El Toro girl mauled in county park may leave them exposed to similar lawsuits involving wildlife in open space.

Fearing their parks and beaches may be hit by expensive lawsuits, some California cities are joining in the appeal of an Orange County court decision that awarded $2 million to a child mauled by a mountain lion.

The statewide League of California Cities is coordinating a response by cities against the award given Laura Small in Orange County Superior Court last August. The El Toro girl was 5 years old when she was mauled in 1986 by a mountain lion in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. She won her civil lawsuit last year after jurors found the county liable in the incident.

The county is now appealing that decision to the Court of Appeal, and several cities in the state, including Huntington Beach, are joining in the court action by filing a brief in support of the county’s position.

League officials said cities are worried about the verdict in the Small case because it may leave them exposed to future suits involving natural-condition open space.

JoAnne Speers, general counsel for the League of California Cities, said Monday that the league itself is not filing the friend-of-the-court brief in the appeal. She said that individual cities have been invited to support the filing.

The document is being written for the cities at no charge by David B. Casselman, a Los Angeles lawyer and expert on the state’s laws on natural-condition open space.

“I think one of the greatest fears of the cities is that they will have to shut down access because of the tremendous expense of litigation,” Casselman said in a telephone interview Monday.

Casselman said he did not immediately have a listing of all the cities that have agreed to support the brief in the mountain lion case, but he estimated that about 50 have responded favorably so far.

“We’re getting responses from all over the state,” he said.

In a letter he sent the city of Huntington Beach, Casselman said: “We sincerely believe that the verdict in the Small case was contrary to California law and public policy. The judgment of the trial court in this case poses a threat to every public entity that owns or controls unimproved property that is used by the public for recreational purposes.”

Huntington Beach’s City Council, without debate, voted 7 to 0 last week to lend its support to the appeal of the Small decision.

City Atty. Gail C. Hutton said Monday that the city has vast acreage of open space and beaches. While mountain lions are not in the city’s area, there are other forms of wildlife that could become subjects of litigation, she said.

“What about sharks?” Hutton asked. “What if someone were attacked by a shark? Is our city liable for not posting warnings, even though there hasn’t been a shark attack in these waters for many years? And also, what about such animals as possums and rats? There are a lot of possums in this area. What if some were found carrying rabies or anthrax?”

Wylie Aitken, the Santa Ana lawyer who represents Laura Small and her parents, said Monday that the lawsuit was “not about wildlife, it was about dangerous conditions such as existed at Caspers Park.”

“Cities such as Huntington Beach have nothing to worry about in litigation involving sharks unless they have done something to encourage people to enter the water where sharks exist in their natural state, and then the cities should be held liable,” Aitken said.

Aware that cities are joining in the court brief against the Small decision, Aitken said: “I’m not surprised. It’s like a fraternity. They all join in. I have heard that the lawyers for the county are trying to get the state and the cities and anyone else to join them in covering up for their own incompetence. I wish there were as much (governmental) concern for Laura Small, who happens to be a citizen of this county and of this state.”

The appeal of the Small case has not yet been scheduled for trial, but officials on Monday said the case is likely to be heard some time this year.