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Serviam as a Court-Appointed Receiver Resolves a Public Wastewater Crisis in California
When a privately owned wastewater treatment plant serving a California mountain community fell into crisis—insolvent, inoperable, and out of regulatory compliance—a California Superior Court turned to Serviam by Wright LLP to serve as Court Receiver. What followed was a structured, court-supervised process that stabilized the facility, secured public funding, and ultimately transferred the system to a governmental entity capable of operating it in full compliance with California law and regional water board permitting requirements. The case is now approaching formal discharge and stands as a practical example of what effective court receivership can accomplish for communities and public agencies facing intractable utility or infrastructure failures. A Public Utility System in Crisis The wastewater treatment plant ("WWTP") had experienced years of decline before the Court's intervention. A major wildfire devastated the surrounding community, destroyed critical infrastructure at the WWTP, and left the facility without power and inoperable for an extended period. By the time the Court appointed a receiver, the WWTP had no corporate operating funds and was...
Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment for County Client in Civil Rights Case
Serviam is pleased to announce a landmark victory for a County Client in federal civil rights litigation. The United States District Court issued a comprehensive 94-page Opinion granting summary judgment in favor of the County on every claim. The Court simultaneously denied Plaintiff's competing motion for summary judgment in its entirety. The litigation arose from an extended series of County enforcement actions—including a criminal investigation, search warrants, code enforcement proceedings, and a receivership—that Plaintiff contended were part of a coordinated government conspiracy to deprive him of his property. Plaintiff further alleged that County personnel engaged in misconduct, fabrication of evidence, and violations of his constitutional rights. After years of parallel proceedings in both State and federal court, the Court conducted a detailed review of the full factual and procedural history before issuing its ruling. The Court's opinion was exceptional in both its depth and the breadth of independent grounds it identified to defeat Plaintiff's claims. Key findings from the ruling include: Probable Cause. The Court found that the County...
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