BB&K Prevails for Client on Damage Liability and Inverse Condemnation Claims

BB&K Partner John Higginbotham represented the City of Azusa in Res-Care, Inc. v. City of Azusa. The case involved a flooding incident which occurred when a City-owned water main burst in the middle of the night and flooded a care facility for mentally disabled adults. Plaintiff claimed damages in excess of $400,000, and was seeking permission to add an even larger claim for inverse condemnation. Because liability appeared inevitable, BB&K’s initial instructions were to settle the case as quickly as possible. However, when plaintiff refused to settle for less than the full amount of its damages, BB&K filed and won a motion for summary judgment based on technical flaws in plaintiff’s complaint and an expert witness declaration. BB&K also convinced the court to reject plaintiff’s proposed inverse condemnation claim, on which the City would have been held strictly liable. Judgment was entered in favor of the City.