Facts

Plaintiff Ames owns property upslope of defendant Zacarias. Ames filed a complaint claiming Zacarias had improperly excavated a slope behind her residence, which resulted in landsliding causing damage to Ames' property.

Zacarias then filed a cross-complaint against Ames and Javaheri, who also owns property upslope of Zacarias, claiming that modifications both cross-defendants had made to their property had caused her slope to fail and slid down onto her property causing damage to her property.

Subsequently, Javaheri filed a cross-complaint against Zacarias claiming that Zacarias' removal of lateral support for the slope caused damage to his property.

CROSS-PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Zacarias alleged that Javaheri and Ames allowed sheets of water to flow onto the slope without proper drainage, that the water infiltrated the Santa Monica Slate (a type of soils), saturated the slope, and caused hydrostatic pressure to build up, eventually released through a landslide.

Damages

Experts estimated the slope repair to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Result

Liability insurers for each of the three parties each contributed $500,000 to settle the case through mediation. The case settled for a total amount of $1.5 million, with each party receiving $500,000 each.

Other Information

MEDIATOR: Hon. John P. Shook, retired, of ARC Dispute Resolution FILING DATE: June 27, 2012.