Hurricane Katrina fallout sparks class-action lawsuit craze

New Orleans CityBusiness, Nov 28, 2005 by Fritz Esker

Chalmette resident Charles Roose, wearing rubber boots and knee- high, cut-off jeans, wades through his front yard pointing to dried- up plants and continuous black stains running 4 feet from the ground across his house and 1,250-square-foot garage.Roose, a car collector, runs his finger along the bottom of his 1985 Ford mustang in his garage and pulls up black, greasy findings.

The same can be said about his Ford Mustang convertible, Corvette and Dodge Dakota.Roose's property is one of about 2,500 houses affected by the Murphy Oil spill in Meraux as 1 million gallons of oil spilled into homes and canals after Hurricane Katrina's storm surge pushed a storage tank off its base.The oil contaminated these houses so they're not livable anymore, said Roose, now living in Mandeville and visiting his Chalmette home once a week to retrieve belongings. It seeped and soaked into everything and can't be just cleaned up or washed out of the house.While some homeowners have already accepted settlements from Murphy Oil, Roose plans to wait things out.They're offering $11.65 a square foot in a lot of settlements but they should be up near the $40-a-square-foot range, Roose said. If they just paid us three-fourths of the fair market value of the house it would satisfy our demands, because honestly what can we do with a house that has been contaminated? We don't know what's in that stuff.Katrina-inspired flurryMurphy Oil is one of several entities across New Orleans being sued in a rash of class-action lawsuits resulting from Katrina. Defendants range from contractors, insurance companies, the Orleans Sewerage and Water Board to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.In the Murphy Oil case, R. Glenn Cater, partner at Cater & Willis, represents several plaintiffs. He said typical class-action lawsuits take from two to five years to resolve but this case could be settled quicker because of extraordinary circumstances.There are so many people who want to come back but are afraid to come back because of contaminants, Cater said. Kerry Miller, lead attorney for Frilot Partridge, represents Murphy Oil. He reserved comment for this story citing a federal judge's request for him not to go on the record.Mike Chernekoff, a partner and environmental and toxic torts lawyer at Jones Walker, was reluctant to speculate but he said, at the end of the day, a large chunk of the award might go the plaintiff's attorneys. ... It's also quite possible the plaintiff's expectations will not be met.Broussard a targetCater also represents plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit, Chicago Property Interests and Zoe Aldige vs. Jefferson Parish and Aaron Broussard, centering around the evacuation of Jefferson Parish pump operators during Hurricane Katrina, which caused flooding in homes across Metairie. Cater seeks full compensation for the losses of the people of Jefferson Parish. Cater is optimistic, citing a case his firm worked during Hurricane Juan where residents of West Bank subdivisions Westminster and Lincolnshire had their homes flooded because of a deteriorated levee. Broussard said no evidence has been introduced that correlates the parish doomsday plan with flood damages. The courtroom will reveal every pertinent fact and let justice be done, Broussard said. The law firm of Bruno & Bruno has been busy since Katrina, engaged in lawsuits against the Levee Board; the Sewerage and Water Board; the contractors who built the levees, including Pittman Construction, Boh. Bros, Mojeski & Masters, Burke & Kleinpeter and B & K Construction Co.; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All suits are related to levee breaches. The most ambitious task Bruno & Bruno is tackling involves the Army Corps of Engineers, which is usually shielded from lawsuits because it is a government agency. Bruno, however, feels a precedent was established for his claim in 1976 where the Teton Dam in Idaho broke, killing 11 people. Congress awarded money to uninsured victims of the disaster. Insurance companies sued the Corps, which claimed immunity. Congress awarded compensation under the watchful eye of a federal judge. Insurance headhuntersAbout 200 North Shore and Jefferson Parish property owners are plaintiffs in a class- action lawsuit, Urban M. Craddock Sr. v. Safeco Insurance Co. et al., filed against 56 insurance companies for refusing to fully compensate for removing fallen trees. The Howard and Reed law firm in Covington filed the suit in the 22nd Judicial District Court in St. Tammany Parish, a case that could begin in 90 days, attorney Shawn Reed estimates. When we got back in the firm, the phones were ringing off the hook of people telling me they were getting $500 or nothing to remove their trees, and then they were getting quoted estimates in thousands of dollars by tree removal companies, said Reed. Morris Anderson, a State Farm spokesman and a defendant in the suit, said there are no extra insurance policies available to homeowners to cover fallen trees that don't damage structures and no plans to add hurricanes to policy coverages.Anderson said State Farm covers structures damaged by trees and the removal of trees off structures. An additional $500, classified under debris removal, is offered to the homeowner to hire someone to remove a tree from the property, said Anderson.The Manard Law Firm filed a class-action suit against State Farm mutual insurance on behalf of people whose flood losses exceeded their flood policies with State Farm. Bob Manard, senior partner, said State Farm did not inform clients that excess flood insurance could be bought through other companies, which is their duty. The Frank D'Amico law firm is representing a number of individuals suing insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Travelers. In many of these cases, a person whose home has been destroyed by winds from Katrina has been told the destruction was caused by flood, not wind, and is therefore not covered, said managing partner Frank D'Amico. Richard Exnicious, an associate at Frank D'Amico, hopes for quick settlements. It doesn't do any good if we drag this out. They (his clients) need the money now.