Summary Judgment Granted in Landslide Case

May 1, 2009

Robert H. Panman and Adrian J. Barrio recently won a summary judgment motion on behalf of their client, Mountains Restoration Trust (“MRT”). The case arose out of a 2005 Malibu landslide. After heavy rains, a good portion of the hillside behind co-defendant’s property slid down into the bottom of the ravine through, and onto, property owned by MRT, a public entity. Plaintiff alleged that the course of a waterway was re-directed in such a way as to cause movement and instability of plaintiffs’ property as a result of this slide. The waterway ran through MRT’s property at the bottom of the ravine. Plaintiffs asserted claims of nuisance, trespass, and negligence.

The Court granted MRT’s summary judgment because (1) as a public entity, MRT is statutorily immune from liability for damage caused by “natural conditions” on its property under Government Code sections 831.2 and 831.25, and (2) erosion constitues a “natural condition” as a matter of law and a public entity cannot be held liable for damage to an adjacent property caused by erosion.