Day: March 21, 2009

Judge Duval’s ruling keeps “Mister Go” lawsuit going

Editilla had the story hung on the Saturday Ladder – fitting, since this has been a beautiful day and our background post on the case is the weather is here I wish you were beautiful. h/t Jimmy Buffett.

A lawsuit blaming the Army Corps of Engineers for flooding from Hurricane Katrina can proceed to trial, a judge ruled Friday in a case seen as a likely last recourse for storm victims seeking compensation from the federal government for alleged negligence by the agency.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval dismissed the corps’ argument that it cannot be sued for widespread flooding that devastated much of New Orleans during Katrina’s storm surge in 2005. The corps argues federal law gives it immunity from lawsuits and that it properly maintained a waterway at the center of the dispute.

You’ll find Judge Duval’s Order and Reasons note the Plaintiffs maintain that they are entitled to judgment… because…the Government cannot carry its burden to establish that the Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”) had discretion to ignore specific legal mandates prescribed in federal statues, regulations, and policy…

The lawsuit argues that the Army Corps failed to properly maintain a navigation channel called the Mississippi River -Gulf Outlet, allowing Katrina’s surge to swamp eastern New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish through that waterway. Continue reading “Judge Duval’s ruling keeps “Mister Go” lawsuit going”

State Farm strikes out at Fifth Circuit with the bases loaded

Now I understand all the confusion resulting from the Fifth Circuit’s decision to hear Dickerson and Kodrin together.  The consolidated Opinion in Harrington v State Farm reverses and remands three similar cases to District court for rehearing:  Harrington v State Farm, Benit v State Farm, and Arceneaux v State Farm.

Plaintiffs-Appellants (“Appellants”) in these consolidated cases sought recovery under their respective homeowner’s policies for damage to their homes from Hurricane Katrina. The district courts read Appellants’ complaints as seeking damage caused only by flood and dismissed the complaints under FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). We disagree with the district courts’ interpretation of the complaints and conclude that Appellants also sought recovery for unpaid wind damage. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.

If you read this and don’t wonder how many other Plaintiffs in the Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation were screwed by this State Farm “slight of hand” strategy, you probably are eagerly awaiting the Easter Bunny.  Same goes for anyone who thinks State Farm was unaware legitimate wind claims were clearly stated and unresolved when they filed the 12(b) (6) Motions.

…All three suits sought to recover from Defendant-Appellee State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (“State Farm”) under each plaintiff’s homeowner’s policy for damage to each plaintiff’s home sustained in Hurricane Katrina. The complaints, amended complaints, and motions in all three cases are identical in all relevant respects. Harrington and Benit share nearly identical procedural histories, while Arceneaux differs slightly. Continue reading “State Farm strikes out at Fifth Circuit with the bases loaded”

A bit of housekeeping related to yesterday’s post on Dodd’$ connection$ to Countrywide’$ Angelo Mozilo

I understand there has been some questions raised on yesterday’s post as it related to my posting on Yahoo Finance Countrywide Message Board after Hurricane Katrina. After Mozilo’s house of cards there collapsed in late 2007 Bank of America bought Countrywide and like the old Dow Jones board (where I would stop in from time to time to say hi to my buds on the WSJ Editorial board) 😉 disappeared very quickly from the Yahoo cyber scene. My own experience is that is a bit unusual as there are several boards still open related to now extinct publicly traded companies but sometimes it is better to destroy the cyber evidence so to speak.

My own recollection is the corporate regulars on that old CFC board were a very skilled group including an employee with roots to Jackson County and Pascagoula. My favorite was an insider who went by the handle Subprime_usury_scam – the handle told the whole story 18 months before the collapse there. The record is not entirely gone though and lives on in a few snippet summaries of messages posted back in late March 2006. I dedicate this post to CFC employee Quisterman from Pascagoula who I affectionately renamed Quislingman as he sold his hometown out to corporate greed.

In any event I’ve updated yesterday’s post with this PDF. It was obvious to me in late March 2006 CFC had big problems with just a cursory looksie. CNBC loved interviewing Mozilo back in those days – too bad they never bothered to look at CFC’s SEC filings.

sop

We tried to do this Multiperil thang peacably but now its on……

Sop: The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It’s drawn the finest people.

Chris Dodd (To Gene Taylor): Where is thy salute?

Gene Taylor: For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks.

Chris Dodd: This is our army. To join it you give homage.

Gene Taylor: I give homage to Mississippi. And if this is your army, why does it go?

Worn down polciyholder: We didn’t come here to fight for them.

Thomas McIntosh: Home. Big insurance is too many.

Gene Taylor: Sons of Katrina, I am Gene Taylor.

Thomas McIntosh: Gene Taylor is 7 feet tall.

Gene Taylor: Yes, I’ve heard. He kills anti trust exemptions by the hundreds, and if he were here he’d consume Edward Rust with fireballs from his eyes Continue reading “We tried to do this Multiperil thang peacably but now its on……”