Maricopa County v. Walsh & Oberg Architects, Inc.

494 P.2d 44 (1972)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
M
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Maricopa County v. Walsh & Oberg Architects, Inc.

Arizona Court of Appeals
494 P.2d 44 (1972)

JW

Facts

Maricopa County (Maricopa) (plaintiff) hired Walsh & Oberg Architects, Inc. (W&O) (defendant) to design a new building. W&O’s design featured a concrete slab laid over an underground parking garage, with landscaping on top and electrical wiring inside to light the garage. After the building had been constructed, however, the slab developed cracks that allowed water to leak into the garage. Maricopa sued W&O. The trial court found that the slab leaked because of flaws in W&O’s design. The court also found that the only way to waterproof the slab would involve removing and later replacing all the landscaping at a cost between $350,000 and $500,000. The majority of this cost would be from removing and replacing the landscaping, not from waterproofing the slab itself. But there was an alternative to waterproofing the slab: gutters could be installed in the garage to catch any water that leaked in, and the damaged electrical wiring could be fixed. The trial court found that the cost of this alternative remedy would be only about $100,000, including an estimate of Maricopa’s costs to repay garage patrons for any damage the leaks caused over the building’s lifetime. The trial court awarded this alternative amount. Evidence suggested that Maricopa would not have waterproofed the slab even if awarded the greater amount. Nevertheless, Maricopa appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Jacobson, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Contracts

Key Terms