On July 23, 2009, a building in downtown Los Angeles was evacuated after the owner of a high-end textile company smelled smoke in his warehouse. Shortly before evacuation, pedestrians observed smoke wafting from a manhole cover outside the building. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the incident but were unable to locate any fire. The source of the smoke was never identified. Cozen O’Connor’s experts determined that the smoke originated from The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP)’s underground vault. The smoke was blown through open ducts by DWP’s ventilation fan into the building through its air conditioning system. Cozen O’Connor sued DWP on behalf of the insurer under the theory of inverse condemnation, which imposes liability upon public utilities for damages caused by their facilities, arguing that smoke was analogous to toxic odors, noise, dust and debris for which public entities had previously been held liable in California. DWP made no pre-trial settlement offers, contending that we could not establish the source and cause of the smoke. Cozen O’Connor prevailed at trial, resulting in a $650,000 recovery to our client.