City Concludes Litigation with L. Johnson, Inc.

GREAT FALLS, MT – Eight years of litigation for a case seeking more than 3 million in damages against the City of Great Falls concluded this week with an award of $105,000.00 for the plaintiff.

On Thursday, March 2, 2023, after a four-day trial, a Great Falls jury awarded L. Johnson, Inc. $105,000.00 for its inverse condemnation claim against the City of Great Falls. Falling well short of the $3 million in damages L. Johnson, Inc. sought in their lawsuit. 

In 2015, L. Johnson Inc. filed a lawsuit claiming negligence, nuisance, trespass, and inverse condemnation by the City of Great Falls. L. Johnson Inc. alleged that runoff from several subdivisions south of 10th Avenue South, which had been approved by the City of Great Falls over the past 25 years, caused flooding on substantial portions of their farmland.

In May of 2022, Judge John Kutzman dismissed the negligence, nuisance, and trespass claims against the City, leaving only the inverse condemnation claim for trial. After both parties presented evidence at trial, a Great Falls jury found that stormwater from the residential developments north of Gibson flats affected just 35 acres of L. Johnson Inc.'s farmland, justifying a $105,000.00 condemnation award.

"After nearly eight years of litigation, during which L. Johnson, Inc. sought more than $3 million in damages, the result was an unquestionable victory for the City," stated City Attorney David Dennis. The City of Great Falls was represented in the litigation by Kevin Meek and Jim Zadick of Ugrin Alexander Zadick, P.C.

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