Elkins Kalt Wins $12 Million Summary Adjudication Judgment Award for Plaintiffs in Groundwater Contamination Case
January 24, 2025
An Elkins Kalt team led by Kenneth Ehrlich, Sean McCormick and Lorien Giles recently won their motion for summary adjudication, on behalf of Plaintiffs Joseph F. Farivar Investment Group and Bordan Shoe Co., in a case involving groundwater dioxane contamination that had migrated from Defendants’ property onto Plaintiffs’ property.
Plaintiffs filed claims for trespass, nuisance, and declaratory relief, and moved for summary adjudication based on Defendants’ own statements to the Regional Water Quality Control Board confirming the contamination. Defendants opposed the motion and disputed the clean-up costs needed to address the contamination, but Elkins Kalt successfully argued that Defendants’ evidence should be excluded and that summary adjudication was warranted. The Court’s ruling awards approximately $12 million in damages and remediation costs to Elkins Kalt’s clients.
Elkins Kalt’s victory recently earned the Daily Journal’s “Top Verdicts” award.
The case is Joseph F. Farivar Investment Group et al. v. HPC Vineburn, LLC et al., No. 23STCV00319 (Los Angeles Superior Court).