Miotke v. City of Spokane

This appeal arises from litigation which followed the discharge of raw sewage into the Spokane River. The trial court awarded plaintiffs, the owners of waterfront property, a total of $245,000 in damages and $88,500 in attorney fees. Defendants, City of Spokane and the Department of Ecology, appealed the awards of both damages and attorney fees, and plaintiffs cross-appealed, seeking increased damages and attorney fees.

This case raises a plethora of issues, many of them novel, at least in this jurisdiction. Stated simply, however, the most important question raised by the appeal is whether…