The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 Presidents Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 Presidents Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Trial Academy Master Class 6.0
    • The Business Of Law
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

NTL member wins flooding lawsuit against Army Corps of Engineers

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Andrew Findley

Dan BoulwareA federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled on March 13, 2018 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bears responsibility for causing recurrent flooding and damaging farms and property in four Midwest states along the Missouri River: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. The ruling states that the government must compensate farmers, landowners and business owners for the flood damage, which has been estimated to exceed $300 million.  The case, Ideker Farms et al v. United States of America, was brought by 372 plaintiffs comprised of farmers, landowners and business owners, and has been led by Polsinelli in partnership with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. National Trial Lawyers member and Polsinelli shareholder Dan Boulware served as lead counsel.

The mass action lawsuit was originally filed on Mar. 5, 2014 and alleged that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ actions have violated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that bars the Government from taking private property without just compensation. Judge Nancy B. Firestone with the United States Court of Federal Claims found in favor of the plaintiffs in five of the six years that the flooding was claimed dating back to 2007, disallowing the flood claims in 2011. The Court found that the Corps’ deprioritized flood control in 2004.

Judge Firestone stated in her Trial Opinion that the evidence established that the Corps’ changes to the river “had the effect of raising the Missouri River’s water surface elevations (“WSEs”) in periods of high flows.” She found that since 2007, the flooding has been among the worst in the history of the river and the Corps’ changes in the management of the river caused or contributed to the flooding. Citing the testimony of plaintiffs’ experts, the Court acknowledged that “recurrent flooding in the Missouri River Basin . . . will continue into the future,” and that increased blocked drainage of farm lands due to higher river levels is a problem.

“As a farmer and landowner who has experienced substantial losses from these floods, I’m extremely pleased with this outcome,” said lead plaintiff Roger Ideker of Ideker Farms in St. Joseph, Mo. “It rightfully recognizes the Government’s responsibility for changing the River and subjecting us to more flooding than ever before.”

“Today is the day the plaintiffs have patiently waited for and have fought for during the past four years. Although we do not concur with the Court’s conclusions regarding the 2011 flood event, we are very pleased with the Court’s conclusions regarding the Corps changes to the river causing flooding, and we are certainly pleased with an outcome that will provide substantial compensation to plaintiffs living along the river who have suffered significant flood damage and losses throughout the past decade,” said Boulware. “It should now be clear that we have a changed river – one that is flood prone. We hope the Corps of Engineers will now do the right thing for our clients and that Congress will also act soon to restore flood control to a higher priority as it was during the last century.”

The ruling also addressed the critical shift in the management of the river by the Corps in 2004 to restore its ecosystem and benefit and create habitat for threatened and endangered species. The court found that the notching of dikes and revetments, as well as the reopening of the historic chutes, which allows the river to meander and erode the bank, created potential flood impacts. These changes to the river, coupled with increased reservoir storage and threatened and endangered species releases from the dams during high river stages below the dams, served to cause or contribute to cause flooding in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014 and since.

“For nearly a decade, these individuals have suffered not only serious flood damage, but more critically, threats to their fundamental livelihood,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Benjamin Brown, Partner and Co-Chair of the Antitrust Practice Group at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. “Today’s decision reflects what we have been saying since the outset of this litigation – all Americans should share the costs of protecting threatened and endangered species and the entirety of this burden should not be foisted on those who happen to live and work on the river.”

The Ideker Farms, Inc. et al v. United States of America case has two phases. This ruling marks the end of phase one, which began on Mar. 6, 2017, focusing on liability and the cause of the flooding. The trial in the Federal Claims Court began in Kansas City, Mo. before moving to Washington, D.C. It involved 44 plaintiff “bellwether” tracts and more than 90 witness testimonies over the course of the 63-day trial. Closing arguments were held in November and concluded in December. In total, over 100 depositions were taken and in excess of 20 million documents were produced throughout phase one.

The case will next proceed to phase two, where the Court will determine the extent of losses due to the taking.

The plaintiffs are represented by Am Law 100 firm Polsinelli, led by Boulware, who is recognized by his peers as among the top 1 percent of all trial attorneys in the country, Edwin Smith, Seth Wright, Todd Ehlert and Sharon Kennedy. Brown and Laura Alexander of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ firm based in Washington, D.C., also supported plaintiffs in this case.

For more information, including historical background, on this case, please visit http://www.missouririverflooding.com.

Posted in Blog | Tagged farmers, flooding, lawsuit, mass action, US Army Corps of Engineers

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Why You Might Need an Attorney This Summer If You Travel

Why You Might Need an Attorney This Summer If You Travel

Travel is not a new notion to us; it can be traced back to wealthy Greeks and Romans who left for leisure to their summe[Read More...]
Walgreens Agrees to a $105 Million Shareholders Settlement

Walgreens Agrees to a $105 Million Shareholders Settlement

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) agreed to pay $105 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit accus[Read More...]
A Military Couple Reaches a $15 Million Settlement With Tripler Hospital Over Botched Delivery

A Military Couple Reaches a $15 Million Settlement With Tripler Hospital Over Botched Delivery

A federal judge in Hawaii has approved a $15 million settlement for an Army couple whose son suffered brain damage from lack [Read More...]
Defrauded College Students Will Have $6 Billion Forgiven in a New Settlement

Defrauded College Students Will Have $6 Billion Forgiven in a New Settlement

The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were[Read More...]
An Iowa City Settles Lawsuit Over a Deadly Police Shooting For $5 Million

An Iowa City Settles Lawsuit Over a Deadly Police Shooting For $5 Million

Burlington, Iowa, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a man who was shot[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.