My great uncle and aunt celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary yesterday in Dana Point, Calif., an hour or two south of Los Angeles. Jen and I hopped on a plane Sunday morning and ended up in Southern California an hour later. No sooner had we stepped off the plane than we met up with my grandfather and grandmother from Pennsylvania, distant cousins, and others. We headed to brunch at the local marina and listened to my great uncle tell unbelievable World War II stories about battles in the Pacific.

After a walk on the beach, we proceeded to the main event -- the anniversary celebration at a local country club. The afternoon and evening were filled with family photo shoots, mingling with extended family and friends of the family, inspirational speeches by the sons of the honored couple (as well as a tear-jerking declamation by my mom), and swing dancing to a live band. When the night came to an end, it felt as though we had spent the week in L.A. -- not just the day.

It's hard to believe that only this morning Jen and I were at the southern end of the state. Tonight, we're back in the Bay Area, feeling more and more at home in our new house.

-Gabe

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But this year the word -- and all that it entails -- is starting to be seriously considered as the trial lawyers and the insurance industry square off over the lawyers' attempt to restore the right of accident victims to file bad-faith lawsuits against their rivals' insurance companies.

As the final five days of the Legislature's 1999 session gets under way, it appears possible that Gov. Gray Davis, a long-time ally of the trial lawyers, will sign the form of legislation they have been seeking.

In short, the lawyers want to reinstate a legal concept known as "Royal Globe" after the insurance company that figured in the original case, which would expand the right to file bad-faith lawsuits. In 1988, the state Supreme Court threw out the doctrine, but lawyers have been trying ever since to reinstate it. They freely acknowledge that it is their No. 1 legislative priority. The flip side is that insurers, too, say blocking "Royal Globe" is their highest priority.

Under current law, a person can sue his or her own insurance company for bad faith, but not the other person's insurer. This issue is of pocketbook importance to attorneys, because bad-faith judgments may entail huge amounts of money -- and contingency fees.

Insurers, of course, contend "Royal Globe" is nothing more than a cash cow for trial lawyers, and they say reinstating "Royal Globe" would cost them, and the public, some $1.5 billion annually in higher claims, settlements and litigation costs.

But as one of the most intense lobbying fights ever in Sacramento -- a fight that has largely been unreported, perhaps because of the complexity of the issue -- reaches a climax, it seems that Davis is leaning toward signing legislation that would, in whatever fashion, reinstate "Royal Globe."

So insurers, although it hasn't been publicly reported, are starting to seriously consider Plan B: the referendum.

A referendum is a ballot proposition that goes before voters and gives them a chance to pass judgment on a law. In effect, it gives them an opportunity to throw out a law they don't like.

A referendum is rare. The most famous referendum in modern California history occurred in 1982, when voters rejected the bitterly controversial Peripheral Canal, which would have moved huge amounts of excess Northern California water around the edge, or periphery, of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River to the Central Valley and Southern California.

It is likely that when, and if, Davis signs a "Royal Globe" bill that a business- and insurance industry-backed campaign to qualify a referendum for next year's ballot will get under way. Insurers have decided they must block "Royal Globe" at whatever cost, and a referendum offers them their best shot, other than protracted legal fights in the courts.

From the insurers' standpoint a referendum offers two big advantages.

First, when the referendum qualifies to appear on the ballot, any "Royal Globe" law is suspended, pending the outcome of the election.

Second, it gives insurers a chance to present their side of the story to the public in a slick, statewide advertising campaign. Such a campaign likely would cost $50 million or more, but insurers say privately that such a figure is paltry compared to the billions of dollars at stake.

The bill containing "Royal Globe" this year has been rewritten and hijacked to the point that it has become difficult to follow it. The latest incarnation, the third version of the bill originally introduced by Sen. Martha Escutia, a Commerce Democrat, is pending in the Legislature and is all but certain to be voted on this week.

Davis' staff has been meeting with insurers and trial lawyers behind closed doors for days, but thus far a compromise has proven elusive.

But for Capitol insiders, this fight between two of the state's most powerful special interests has all the soap-opera elements of the classic political fight. Will Davis, keeping faith to his earlier promises to the lawyers, sign the bill?

Will the insurers bankroll a referendum? Will both sides pony up enough money to do battle over a referendum?

Good questions. We'll have to wait five days for the answers.

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