Tom Reep, et al. v. City of Milwaukee, et al.

Summary

In this construction negligence proceeding, plaintiff Tom Reep and other joining plaintiffs alleged City of Milwaukee and other defendants of negligence in not avoiding a sewage backup which caused damages to homes of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also alleged that the gates intended to prevent the backup from happening did not functioned properly and the company responsible for operating the system mechanically to avoid backup, Veolia Water North America Inc didnt fulfilled its responsibility. In the lawsuits filed by the plaintiffs, they had claimed that when the sewers filled up in a 7-8 June 2008 storm, instead of letting the sewage getting backed up into basements along the parkway in Milwaukee and Glendale it should have been dumped into the nearby Milwaukee River.
The plaintiff and other joining plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Chris Trebatoski and Barry White. The defendants, City of Milwaukee and others were represented by attorney Jan Smokowicz.

Outcome

City of Milwaukee: 36.77%
MMSD: 27.15%
Veolia: 36.08 %

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Reep, Tom
Defense: City of Milwaukee
Verdict: $1,491,000

Judge: Christopher Foley
Jurisdiction: 1st Judicial District of Wisconsin
Court: Milwaukee County Courthouse

Case Number: 2009CV003483
Industry: Government
Practice Area: Construction Law

Plaintiff

Reep, Tom

Represented By:
Trebatoski, Chris (Weiss Berzowski Brady LLP)
White, Barry (Weiss Berzowski Brady LLP)

Defense

City of Milwaukee

Represented By:
Smokowicz, Jan (Milwaukee City Attorneys Office)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:08:32	Opening Statement	Trebatoski, Chris
00:46:19	Opening Statement	Smokowicz, Jan
01:12:09	General Case Activities
01:30:07	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

13 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

13 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

15 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Anderson, Orell	In Person
00:23:58	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Anderson, Orell	In Person
00:27:02	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Larkin, Richard	In Person
00:48:14	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Bretl, John	In Person
01:15:23	General Case Activities		Bretl, John	In Person
01:16:36	Break
01:21:52	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Bretl, John	In Person
01:44:31	Break
02:03:09	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Bretl, John	In Person
02:36:13	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Bretl, John	In Person
02:37:19	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Bye, Kevin	In Person
02:56:44	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Bye, Kevin	In Person
03:06:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Bye, Kevin	In Person
03:10:06	General Case Activities
03:14:23	End of Session

SEP

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

9 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

14 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

7 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

11 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

8 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

12 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Closings

9 Chapters

PM Session

Questions 1

10 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Questions 2

4 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

4 Chapters

SEP

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Tom Reep, et al. v. City of Milwaukee, et al.

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:20:04	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Reep, Thomas	In Person
02:10:29	Break
02:31:38	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Reep, Thomas	In Person
03:48:07	General Case Activities
04:03:38	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:15:58	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Reep, Thomas	In Person
01:06:32	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Shaefer, Kevin	In Person
01:35:40	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Shaefer, Kevin	In Person
01:36:43	General Case Activities		Shaefer, Kevin	In Person
01:39:59	General Case Activities	Trebatoski, Chris	Shaefer, Kevin	In Person
01:40:45	General Case Activities
01:45:43	Break
02:06:24	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Shaw, John	In Person
03:29:25	General Case Activities
03:30:48	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:04:50	Witness Direct Examination	White, Barry	McCollum, Booker	In Person
00:21:13	Witness Direct Examination	White, Barry	Nixon, Marylee	In Person
00:41:01	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Nixon, Marylee	In Person
00:41:20	General Case Activities		Nixon, Marylee	In Person
00:41:54	General Case Activities
00:46:11	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Larkin, Richard	In Person
01:31:09	General Case Activities
01:39:31	Break
01:53:03	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Larkin, Richard	In Person
01:54:33	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Larkin, Richard	In Person
02:20:50	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Anderson, Orell	In Person
03:23:56	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:42:40	General Case Activities
00:45:45	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Sprangers, Kurt	In Person
01:45:56	Break
02:03:29	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Sprangers, Kurt	In Person
02:20:29	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Sprangers, Kurt	In Person
02:45:18	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Sprangers, Kurt	In Person
02:48:02	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Brooks, Robert	In Person
03:28:23	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:14:40	General Case Activities
00:16:49	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Brooks, Robert	In Person
00:29:52	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Brooks, Robert	In Person
00:55:38	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Brooks, Robert	In Person
00:57:54	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Brooks, Robert	In Person
01:00:37	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Sanders, Jason	In Person
01:28:18	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Sanders, Jason	In Person
01:45:48	Break
02:07:07	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Thur, Tim	In Person
02:38:33	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Thur, Tim	In Person
02:39:46	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Thur, Tim	In Person
02:40:48	General Case Activities
02:49:24	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:48:11	General Case Activities
00:49:00	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Dutill, Charles	In Person
01:45:22	Break
02:01:59	General Case Activities
02:05:27	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Dutill, Charles	In Person
03:26:04	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:24:09	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Dutill, Charles	In Person
00:44:12	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Dutill, Charles	In Person
00:46:36	Break
00:55:18	General Case Activities
00:57:43	Break
01:09:28	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Eisenach, Philip	In Person
01:44:08	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Eisenach, Philip	In Person
02:01:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Eisenach, Philip	In Person
02:04:42	General Case Activities
02:09:39	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:59:25	Break
01:05:23	General Case Activities
01:07:57	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Roddewig, Richard	In Person
02:31:06	Break
02:50:15	General Case Activities
02:51:14	Witness Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Roddewig, Richard	In Person
03:55:14	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:03:50	Witness Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Roddewig, Richard	In Person
01:04:16	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Roddewig, Richard	In Person
01:11:05	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Roddewig, Richard	In Person
01:11:45	General Case Activities
01:13:18	Witness Direct Examination	Trebatoski, Chris	Reep, Thomas	In Person
01:23:11	Witness Cross Examination	Smokowicz, Jan	Reep, Thomas	In Person
01:29:26	Break
01:37:12	General Case Activities
02:02:27	General Case Activities
02:35:58	General Case Activities
02:38:01	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:13:47	Break
00:33:00	General Case Activities
00:37:39	Closing Statement	Trebatoski, Chris
01:38:20	Closing Statement	Smokowicz, Jan
02:35:14	Break
02:48:39	Closing Statement	Trebatoski, Chris
02:58:15	General Case Activities
03:09:47	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:08:02	Break
		00:29:33	General Case Activities
		00:38:12	Break
		01:39:33	General Case Activities
		01:59:31	Break
		02:32:02	General Case Activities
		02:41:14	Break
		02:46:54	General Case Activities
		02:56:22	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:18:53	Break
		00:22:38	General Case Activities
		00:32:27	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:01:07	Reading of the Verdict
		00:05:05	General Case Activities
		00:08:00	End of Session