PROVIDENT LAW WINS 5-DAY JURY TRIAL
REGARDING ADVERSE POSSESSION DISPUTE
By: Timothy Watson
Senior Litigation Counsel Timothy Watson, Associate Tyler Stine, and the trial team at Provident Law® recently obtained a jury verdict and judgment in favor of their client after a five-day jury trial in a highly contested case in Maricopa County Superior Court. The client obtained title to a disputed piece of real property connected to the client’s back yard. The Court also awarded the client recovery of its attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in brining the action.
The background and history of this dispute was presented to the jury at trial. In summary, the Plaintiff in this lawsuit purchased the real property located in Scottsdale, Arizona in December 2014. Before the purchase, Plaintiff’s predecessor in interest had installed a fence in 2010 which divided the back yard to Plaintiff’s property from the Defendants’ property. In March 2015 Defendants purchased a parcel of land adjacent to the Plaintiff’s property. The fence encroached approximately fifteen feet (15’) onto the western portion of the Defendants’ property creating the disputed area.
Plaintiff alleged that Defendant was not aware of the encroachment until a survey was done in 2021. In contrast, Defendant alleged that she was aware of the encroachment but permitted the fence to remain in place “until she decided to develop” the adjacent property. Defendant further alleged that she had a verbal conversation in 2015 with Plaintiff in which she granted oral permission to use the disputed area until such time as she wanted the fence moved. Plaintiff denied this conversation ever took place and alleged that he would have taken action if such a conversation occurred in 2015, such as getting a lawyer, getting a survey, or negotiating a purchase of the disputed area.
In April 2021, Defendants provided Plaintiff with written notices alleging that the fence was encroaching approximately fifteen (15) feet into the Defendants’ property and that it must be moved. The written notices never identified or referenced the Defendants’ alleged oral permission. Plaintiff also claimed that Defendants intentionally permitted rain water to flow onto his property causing erosion and claimed that Defendants trespassed on his property by intentionally “jamming wood” into his patio drain tube causing a trespass onto his property.
Defendants alleged counterclaims against Plaintiff including but not limited to: (1) Plaintiff misused an easement roadway by speeding and driving recklessly, (2) Plaintiff caused water runoff from a patio drain to cause erosion on Defendants’ parcel, and (3) Plaintiff drove his truck too close to Defendant while Defendant was walking on a roadway near the properties and hit her with his side mirror causing pain and discomfort. Plaintiff disputed all counterclaims and testified that he did not negligently or intentionally hit Defendant with his side view mirror, but rather, as he tried to drive around Defendant, she intentionally reached out and hit is side view mirror with her hand.
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-1103(B) Plaintiff sent a letter to Defendants that included a Quit Claim Deed concerning the Disputed Area at issue along with a payment of five dollars and a written request for the conveyance of any claimed ownership interest the Defendants claimed to have in the Disputed Area. Plaintiff’s primary claim in the lawsuit was a claim to title over the disputed area under the legal doctrine of adverse possession.
Ultimately, the jury determined that the Provident Law® client owns the disputed area through adverse possession. This permits the client to keep title to the important area and maintain his fence around his property that has been in place longer than the client has owned his property. The jury also found Plaintiff was not liable for any of Defendants’ counterclaims except for the frivolous trespass claim in which the jury awarded Defendant zero dollars in damages. After the verdict was rendered, the Superior Court entered an award of attorneys’ fees in favor of the Provident Law client.
If you have questions about a real estate or business dispute, contact Timothy Watson at Provident Law. In any consultation with an attorney, you should always ask about their experience in jury trials with large complex cases.
Timothy Watson is the Senior Litigation Partner and Chair of the trial practice group at Provident Law®. He is a trial advocate with more than 24 years of experience in high profile, high value litigation. He has successfully tried numerous cases in state and federal courts including multi-million dollar claims in the areas of business litigation, real estate, high net worth probate, injury and insurance matters. He holds a Martindale Hubbell peer review rating of AV-Preeminent with high ethical standing. In addition to representing clients in large, complex litigation, Mr. Watson provides mediation and arbitration services. He can be reached at: tim@providentlawyers.com or at 480-388-3343.