Flooding in Houston after Hurricane Harvey

A federal judge has selected 12 lawyers, mostly from Texas, to lead litigation alleging involuntary takings filed on behalf of individuals and businesses who own property that flooded after water was released from two reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey.

In a series of orders issued Nov. 20, Chief Judge Susan Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, appointed plaintiff's counsel to lead work on lawsuits filed by property owners upstream and downstream of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. The orders follow a hearing in Houston on Nov. 1, which was attended by an estimated 150 lawyers who were competing for the assignments.

The lawyers have filed suits on behalf of clients who live in Houston neighborhoods that flooded when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorized controlled water releases from two reservoirs in the wake of the storm that dumped 51 inches of water on the Houston area in late August. The suits, some seeking class action certification, allege that the intentional flooding was an unlawful government taking of property that violates the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.