Attorneys take aim at flood losses

Two San Francisco attorneys are meeting with Ross Valley residents and business owners to discuss legal strategies to recoup losses in the winter floods.

Ray Bourhis, a Marin resident and author, and Lawrence Mann have reached settlements in similar cases throughout California by holding cities and towns responsible for damages caused by incidents they were responsible for preventing.

The two held a meeting Friday night at Sir Francis Drake High School.

The attorneys have researched the flooding of Corte Madera Creek on New Year's Eve and are reporting to participants in a series of forums about what their options are for recovering losses and where they can turn for relief.

Bourhis, who specializes in litigation against insurance companies in "bad faith" cases, said he cannot divulge specific information about how he plans to remedy property owners' problems.

"These poor people have had their lives ruined," Bourhis said. "It will take years in some cases for repairs to be made - so these poor people are really stuck."

Mann said he and Bourhis have used the concept of "inverse condemnation" to hold entities liable for damage in cases that involve such things as breaks in dams and levees, and overflowing

creeks.

"When the government causes real property damage or loss, even though they didn't intend to condemn the property, it acts as a condemnation," Mann said.

He cited a case he settled with the state and local water reclamation district in Oroville for $42 million after homes were damaged when a dam that was not being operated correctly caused a levee to collapse.

"The levees had been leaking for years, and they weren't repaired correctly," Mann said. "We can use the same procedures to recover property damages in the Ross Valley."

The two lawyers would not identify which entities could be held liable but said they know who they are.

"I think they all realize they have a substantial problem both because the properties were damaged and the creeks need work," Mann said. "One of the things that we want for these residents and businesses is that they don't have to be flooded over and over again."

Bourhis said the Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn't begin to cover damages or losses to properties.

"In many cases, people didn't have flood insurance and haven't been told they were in a flood plain," Bourhis said. "The losses are enormous and completely unnecessary."

Bourhis' book, "Insult to Injury," is about what he calls "endemic" problems trying to get insurance companies to pay individual claims.

"All kinds of issues arise involving insurance coverage for things that happen," Bourhis said. "Insurance companies always question coverage because they like to steal money from people."