IN RE KATRINA CANAL BREACHES LITIGATION

Nos. 10-30249, 10-31054 and 11-30808.

673 F.3d 381 (2012)

In re KATRINA CANAL BREACHES LITIGATION. Norman Robinson; Kent Lattimore; Lattimore & Associates; Tanya Smith, Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellants, v. United States of America, Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee. Monica Robinson, Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, v. United States of America, Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee. In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation. In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation. United States of America, on Behalf of United States Army Corps of Engineers, Petitioner.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 2, 2012.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Joseph M. Bruno (argued), Bruno & Bruno, L.L.P., Jonathan Beauregard Andry , Andry Law Firm, Lewis Scott Joanen , Frank Jacob D'Amico, Jr. , Richard Michael Exnicios , Law Offices of Richard M. Exnicios, Gerald Edward Meunier , Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, L.L.C., Camilo Kossy Salas, III , Salas & Company, L.C., David S. Scalia , Scalia Law Firm, Michael Warren Hill , New Orleans, LA, Joseph W. Cotchett , Cotchett, Pire & McCarthy, Philip L. Gregory , Joseph C. Wilson , Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, Burlingame, CA, Walter Clayton Dumas , Sr. Atty., Dumas Law Firm, L.L.C., Joseph J. McKernan , McKernan Law Firm, Michael Carter Palmintier , Trial Atty., deGravelles, Palmintier, Holthaus & Frugeé, L.L.P., John Bettes Dunlap, III , Dunlap Fiore, L.L.C., Baton Rouge, LA, Norval Francis Elliot, III , N. Frank Elliot III, L.L.C., Drew A. Ranier , Ranier, Gayle & Elliot, Lake Charles, LA, Calvin Clifford Fayard, Jr. , Sr. Trial Atty., Fayard & Honeycutt, A.P.C., Denham Springs, LA, Nina D. Froeschle , Pierce O'Donnell (argued), Andrew Patrick Owen , Trial Law Firm, P.C., Thomas V. Girardi , Girardi & Jeese, Los Angeles, CA, Henry Clay Mitchell, Jr. , Matthew D. Schultz , Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Echsner & Proctor, Pensacola, FL, Brent M. Rosenthal , Rosenthal Pennington, L.L.P., Sherri Ann Saucer (argued), Baron & Budd, P.C., Dallas, TX, James Parkenson Roy , Elwood Clement Stevens, Jr. , Bob F. Wright , Domengeaux, Wright, Roy & Edwards, Lafayette, LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellees Cross-Appellants.

Mark Bernard Stern (argued), Alisa Beth Klein , Daniel Joseph Lenerz , Abby Christine Wright , Civ. Div., Appellate Staff, Lindsey E. Powell , Robin D. Smith , Civ. Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellant Cross-Appellee.

James Bryan Mullaly , City Atty's Office for the City of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, for City of New Orleans, Amicus Curiae.

Michael K. Kellogg , Scott Harris Angstreich (argued), Andrew S. Oldham , Kellogg Huber Hansen , Washington, DC, for AT&T Entities, Amicus Curiae.

James M. Garner (argued), John Thomas Balhoff, II , Ashley Gremillion Coker , Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, James David Caldwell , Office of the Atty. Gen. for the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, for State of Louisiana, Amicus Curiae.

James M. Garner , John Thomas Balhoff, II , Ashley Gremillion Coker , Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, Richard Alvin Tonry , Tonry & Ginart, Chalmette, LA, for Parish of St. Bernard, Amicus Curiae.

James M. Garner , John Thomas Balhoff, II , Ashley Gremillion Coker , Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Rain CII Carbon, L.L.C., Universal Health Services, Inc., Amy Huey and Virginia Burdette, Chapter 7 Trustees of the Estate of Quintessa Huey and Caryn L. Fong, Certain Members of the MRGO Must Go Coalition, James Wilkins, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Holy Cross Neighborhood Ass'n, Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, MQVN Community Development Corp., Amici Curiae.

Ewell Elton Eagan (argued), Nina Wessel English , Brian Lee Guillot , Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, L.L.P., Marcus Van Brown , Wendy Hickok Robinson , Energy Services, Inc., Legal Services, New Orleans, LA, for Energy Louisiana, L.L.C., Energy New Orleans Inc., Amici Curiae.

Elisa Tara Gilbert , Brendan Regis O'Brien , Gilbert Firm, New York, NY, for Hartford Steam Coiler Inspection & Insurance Co., Amicus Curiae.

Before SMITH, PRADO and ELROD, Circuit Judges.


JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Decades ago, the Army Corps of Engineers (the "Corps") dredged the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ("MRGO"), a shipping channel between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as levees alongside the channel and around the city. The Corps's negligence in maintaining the channel, grounded on a failure to appreciate certain hydrological risks, caused levees to fail and aggravated the effects of 2005's Hurricane Katrina on the city and...

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