Edwin Richards, an attorney in the Irvine and Los Angeles offices of Kutak Rock, led a team of attorneys that successfully defended a city in California after a homeowner sued the city for flood damages to its million-dollar home after a rainstorm. The plaintiff claimed the storm drain system in the housing tract was owned and maintained by the city and sued the city for inverse condemnation, nuisance and dangerous condition of public property.

The court bifurcated the inverse condemnation cause of action from the other claims and after a three-week bench trial Kutak Rock achieved a full defense judgment in favor of the city. Kutak Rock then filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that, in view of the judgment in the inverse condemnation trial, the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the remaining nuisance and dangerous condition of public property claims. The court granted the city’s motion for summary judgment which resulted in a full dismissal for the city.