Anderson v. Bell
Florida Supreme Court
433 So. 2d 1202 (1983)
- Written by Oni Harton, JD
Facts
Anderson (plaintiff) purchased a tract of land traversed by a small non-navigable creek. Anderson constructed a dam that resulted in creating a lake, causing several parcels of land to partially flood. Two property owners impacted by the flooding sued Anderson for the damage. The parties reached a settlement agreement providing that the flooded owners conveyed a flowage easement to Anderson. The easement gave Anderson the right to flood the land and expressly reserved title and beneficial use of the other lands, except for the flowage rights, to the flooded owners. These flooded owners subsequently sold the property to Bell (defendant). Anderson brought an action to enjoin Bell from boating and fishing upon the surface waters above the bottom of Anderson’s land. The trial court ruled in favor of Bell and refused to enjoin Bell. The appellate court affirmed, holding that there is no distinction between natural lakes and man-made lakes for the purposes of determining the respective rights of adjoining landowners.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Adkins, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.