For decades, Mr. and Mrs. B had owned 7 acres of undeveloped land on the Palos Verdes peninsula, adjacent to the Rolling Hills Country Club. Historical aerial photos located during the lawsuit confirmed that over the course of decades the Country Club had graded its property to expand its useable land, which had effectively dammed a natural drainage canyon crossing Mr. and Mrs. B’s property and causing storm waters to pond on their property.

When Mr. and Mrs. B were in their 80′s, they finally sought approval from the City of Rolling Hills Estates to develop their property.  However, one of the conditions imposed by the City was the removal of this drainage/ponding situation.

When the Country Club refused to remove the earthen dam, Mr. and Mrs. B sued to force the Country Club to re-open the natural drainage canyon.

The Country Club moved to dismiss the suit based on the theory that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations because the claim had existed for so many years.

When the court granted the Country Club’s motion to dismiss, but gave Mr. and Mrs. B 30 days to amend their complaint to give them a last chance to state a claim which could survive the statute of limitations bar, they hired Stan Denis to take over their case.

Mr. Denis was able to identify a legal theory which would avoid the statute of limitations bar and allow Mr. and Mrs. B to pursue their claims to trial.

After a three week trial, a jury found in favor of Mr. and Mrs. B, forcing the Country Club to re-open the natural drainage, and awarded them $200,000 in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages; believed to be the largest jury verdict for punitive damages ever awarded in the Southwest (Torrance) Judicial District.