Late yesterday the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision that delivers a significant victory for property owners affected by upstream flooding from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs during Hurricane

Wording in a court judgment prevents homeowners in the giant reservoirs west of Houston from suing the federal government in future floods and could place

Under the ruling, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won’t have to compensate homeowners who bought their property after August 30, 2017 if the land

More than five years after their homes and businesses were flooded, residents above the Addicks and Barker dams are learning how much money the federal

The suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opens the door to suits by an estimated 10,000 other upstream homeowners, with the potential for

A federal court last week found the US government liable for $455,000 in damages to six claimants whose homes were flooded by water backed up

Read more here: https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/southcentral/2022/11/04/313609.htm

Upstream Addicks and Barker Reservoir homeowners win $550,000 in damages in lawsuit over Harvey flooding. Read more here: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/flooding/2022/11/02/436618/upstream-addicks-and-barker-reservoir-homeowners-win-550000-in-damages-in-lawsuit-over-harvey-flooding/?utm_source=twitter-share-attachment&utm_medium=button&utm_campaign=hpm-share-link

Five years ago… Although the rains for Harvey began several days earlier, it was not until the early hours of Monday August 28, 2017, that

Read more here: https://www.scribd.com/document/447678442/2020-02-18-Downstream-Opinion-00479940xE22AB

Liability Win As we reported in a prior update, the Court ruled that the Government is liable for causing the flooding of the 13 upstream test properties

Congratulations to the Harvey Upstream Plaintiffs!!! The Court of Federal Claims has ruled that Harvey Upstream Flooding constituted a taking and the Government is liable

As we reported last month, trial concluded on May 17, 2019. We were pleased with the proceedings, in terms of the testimony of the witnesses, the

The trial on the Government’s liability for 13 test properties was held from May 6 to May 17 in Houston. The Plaintiffs called 27 witnesses,

Trial Starts Monday Against Government Over Hurricane Harvey Flooding; Unusual Site Visit Planned: https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2019/05/03/trial-starts-monday-against-government-over-hurricane-harvey-flooding-unusual-site-visit-planned/?cmp=share_twitter&slreturn=20230201140024

Houston to receive additional $100M in housing aid for Harvey recovery. Read more here: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-to-receive-additional-100M-in-housing-13649782.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

Harvey Flood victims will have to start paying rent on Monday for the privilege of staying in FEMA trailers. Read more here: https://www.khou.com/article/weather/hurricane/harvey/harvey-victims-in-fema-trailers-will-pay-rent-after-monday/285-d4994d84-745f-49ec-b647-de10a2c59d8c

Harvey Upstream Liability Trial Set: May 6-17 in Houston at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Scheduling order: https://www.scribd.com/document/399613614/2019-02-13-Upstream-Addicks-Doc-202-Amended-Scheduling-Order

Harris County voters approve flood-mitigation bond proposition, early results show – Houston Business Journal. Read more here: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/08/25/early-results-in-harris-county-voters.html?ana=e_hstn_bn_breakingnews&u=GubONnI%2F6MFvE%2BfqyAq3kg0bfd312e&t=1535248093&j=83480581

ONE YEAR LATER As the one-year anniversary of the Harvey flooding comes, we want to pause to think about everyone who lost so much in the

Community outreach continues: took questions from residents and community leaders during presentation on Hurricane Harvey and the effects of its flooding on the Lakes on

The City of Houston says a new program will reimburse residents who paid out of pocket to repair damage to their homes after Hurricane Harvey.

Fifty-five percent of surveyed Harris County residents say they’ll vote for the county’s proposed $2.5 billion flood control bond. Read more here: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2018/08/06/298951/solid-majority-favors-proposed-harvey-flood-bond-uh-survey-finds/

Harris County Flood Control District Meeting—Thursday, June 21, 6-8pm Read more here: https://communityimpact.com/houston/katy/city-county/2018/06/14/harris-county-to-begins-holding-community-engagement-meetings-to-obtain-feedback-on-2-5b-bond-package-priorities/

Today, the Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Government was not entitled to dismiss the upstream case, and that we get to proceed to

THE COURT WILL HEAR ARGUMENTS ON THE GOVERNMENT’S MOTION TO DISMISS. On Wednesday, May 16th, Judge Charles F. Lettow of the Court of Federal Claims

LITIGATION UPDATE Currently, the lead attorneys are working on discovery in the test property cases, including the exchange of documents, site inspections, and eventually depositions.

With amazing graphics, the New York Times profiles Canyon Gate—one of the upstream subdivisions—and explains the Harvey upstream flooding. Today, the New York Times published a compelling article illustrating

More than two decades ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that property owners in the reservoir pools of Addicks and Barker dams might

Yesterday’s Houston Chronicle Article, “Record reservoir flooding was predicted…” On Thursday, the Houston Chronicle published a powerful story, describing reservoir modeling the Corps had completed even

Last week, we provided an update, with recent developments and rulings in the case. This week, we have set two informational meetings that are open to upstream flood

Today, the Court ruled that the “Master Amended Complaint for Upstream Cases” that we filed would be the Master Complaint for all upstream cases. All

We have scheduled two informational meetings for this weekend.  These meetings are for upstream flood victims, particularly new and potential clients to learn about why

For decades, the Army Corps of Engineers was aware that land upstream from the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs in Houston could be a source of

Master Complaint and Test Property Process.  As we have described in earlier emails, the Court has urged a streamlined process for all the flooding cases.

A Big Thank You for Everyone Who Attended. The leadership team of Irvine & Conner PLLC and Burns Charest LLP hosted a three-hour town hall

Meeting with Government Attorneys.  The leadership team met today with attorneys from the Government. The Court ordered this meeting, for the purpose of discussing streamlining

Updated Engagement:  Two Important Clarifications for the Clients. We have worked hard to provide fair and favorable terms for our clients. After our conversations with

A federal court has ruled that owners of homes and businesses upstream of the Addicks and Barker dams in Houston should be compensated by the

As described in our prior email, the Court is now setting deadlines in the Harvey Flooding case. Three attorneys at our two firms have been

On November 20, 2017, Chief Judge Susan G. Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims appointed attorneys from Irvine & Conner and Burns Charest

This morning, the firms representing the interests of the upstream class filed an amended complaint, which contains more detailed allegations resulting from our review of

On Friday, October 6, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held a hearing on all the Harvey flood cases filed so

We will be holding two public meetings this week to help answer questions related to Addicks and Barker flooding: Thursday, September 28th, 4pm – 6

On September 15, 2017, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all homeowners located within the maximum design pools of Addicks and Barker