On November 18, 2009, Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. issued a landmark decision in favor of five test plaintiffs who claimed that the MR-GO caused the catastrophic flooding of St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward. An estimated 100,000 residents and businesses in those two areas could benefit from this historic ruling. The opinion is available by clicking the "Trial Order" button below.

      The most devastating catastrophe in American history was not an accident. But for the gross negligence of the United States Government—and particularly the Army Corps of Engineers—large portions of Greater New Orleans would not have been flooded. The evidence already available indicates that for decades the Army Corps ignored warnings that its design, construction, and maintenance of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (“MR-GO”) posed a clear and present danger to the public health and safety of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. The multiple failures of the Industrial Canal—and drowning of the Upper and Lower Ninth Wards, New Orleans East, and St. Bernard Parish—were directly caused by the foreseeable and foreseen funneling effect of wind-driven surges of water in the MR-GO during Hurricane Katrina.

      The Army Corps has refused to accept full responsibility for its dereliction of duty and the loss of hundreds of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in residential and business property. Without a definitive court determination of the federal government’s liability, the victims have no chance of receiving just compensation for their financial losses. And without lawyers who have the skill, courage, and financial resources to fight the Army Corps, there will be no justice for Katrina victims.

      That is why we have formed the Katrina Justice Litigation Group.

      We are seasoned trial lawyers from Louisiana and elsewhere who have banded together on a pro bono basis to achieve justice for Katrina victims. Based on a six-month investigation, we have concluded that the Army Corps is legally responsible for the massive flooding of the eastern areas of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. On April 25, 2006, we filed in the federal court in New Orleans a Complaint against the Army Corps on behalf of five residents whose requests for reparations were never even acted upon by the Army Corps in the six months that they were pending. (A copy of our Complaint can be downloaded from this website.) This lawsuit—Robinson v. United States of America—will be a “test case” seeking to have a prompt determination of the Army Corps’ legal liability for the flood damages.

      A victory for our representative plaintiffs could be highly beneficial to thousands of similarly-situated victims. The best way to protect your rights is to file a legally-required claim form with the Army Corps of Engineers as soon as possible but in no event later than August 27, 2007.
If you do not file the claim form, you may not be able to recover from the Army Corps. You may download a copy of this claim form from this website.

      Our website contains other information about Hurricane Katrina, the MR-GO, and sources of other information. If you would like to contact us, please send us an email.