The Burns Charest Law Firm and co-founder Daniel Charest found their way into Law360’s weekly roundup of the top verdicts in the country.  

The column, “Legal Lions & Lambs” highlights the best (and not-so-best) work in the legal profession. On Dec. 19, the news roundup included word of the firm’s important win on behalf of homeowners whose homes were flooded in Hurricane Harvey in 2017 upstream of the Addicks and Barker dams.

Read about it here. https://www.law360.com/articles/1229316/law360-s-weekly-verdict-legal-lions-lambs (subscription required)

On Dec. 17, Senior U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Charles Lettow ruled in favor of Mr. Charest’s clients. The judge found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed and built the Addicks and Baker dams to store excess stormwater on the properties of homeowners and businesses, and that doing so amounted to an uncompensated “taking,” which is prohibited under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. 

The ruling clears the way for a trial on damages so that homeowners can be compensated.  

“Does the government have to pay? Is it liable? And the answer is yes,” Mr. Charest said on FOX 26 in Houston. “The next question is for how much and for what exactly.” https://www.fox26houston.com/news/federal-judge-finds-government-liable-for-hurricane-harvey-damage

“We’re thrilled the judge saw the facts as we did and the law as we did,” Mr. Charest told The Wall Street Journal. “We plan to push as fast as we can to get people who have suffered made whole under the law.”https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-finds-u-s-liable-for-hurricane-harvey-damage-11576622542