Everyone is suing everyone else over Hollywood Blvd. subway damage.

Metro Rail contractors have started blaming each other and government agencies for the damage done to buildings along Hollywood Boulevard, in documents filed in lawsuits.

Attorneys for properly owners along the boulevard said the accusations flying among the defendants are certain to benefit the plaintiffs in the end.

Nine different lawsuits had been filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court as of March 23 by property owners against the MTA and its contractors over damage caused by subway tunneling under the boulevard. Commercial, retail and apartment buildings along the boulevard have suffered from serious cracking, separation and sinkage problems since last summer. Some estimate the damage exceeds $1 billion.

Attorneys for Hollywood Damage Control & Recovery Inc., which claims to represent some 500-plus business and property owners and tenants, said they planned to file that group's massive, long-awaited lawsuit late last week. However, the suit had not been filed at press time. Other lawyers with existing cases against the MTA said they also have additional litigation in the works.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled last week that nine lawsuits involving Hollywood Boulevard Metro Rail damage are "related," and he sent all the cases to a department that handles "eminent domain" litigation for the purposes of dealing with pre-trial motions and discovery issues.

Attorney Bob Flaig of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, who represents Metro Rail construction management firm Parsons Dillingham, said he expects that a judge will eventually combine all the cases into one.

Contractor Shea Kiewit Kenny, which did the actual tunneling under the boulevard, is arguing in court documents that it was only acting at the direction of the MTA and therefore should be immune from liability.

SKK argues that the designs it followed were prepared by the MTA and its consultants, and that it is not responsible for soil conditions or for adverse effects on the soil caused by tunneling that was done "by methods approved by the public entity."

SKK attorney Patrick Duffy, of Monteleone & McCrory in Universal City, said the City of Los Angeles also may be partially to blame because its water lines leaked into the soil, causing the ground to become saturated and contributing to the sinkage problem. Hollywood Boulevard sank as much as 10 inches in places, causing the street to sink, and the curbs and front of buildings to crack, separate and slip toward the street.

Parsons Dillingham, which managed the construction project for the MTA, has filed documents blaming SKK, the MTA and a host of MTA consultants for the problems.

Parsons is seeking a court ruling on "the fights and duties and respective liabilities and responsibility to indemnify" of the parties involved.

MTA Chief Executive Franklin White, for his part, has publicly blamed the contractors, saying they used substandard materials and that Parsons didn't provide proper oversight. Plaintiffs reap rewards.

The contractors have been precluded from fighting back in the media because their contracts with the MTA prohibit them from talking to the press.

Lawyers representing the property owners said that when defendants start blaming each other for damages, the plaintiffs usually benefit.

"It's a tactical procedure. ... They end up proving that it happened, and the plaintiffs reap the good fortune," said attorney Arnold Graham of Laskin & Graham in Glendale. "We have the entity that has the money, and that is the MTA."

Tom Girardi of Girardi & Keese, lead attorney for the team representing Hollywood Damage Control & Recovery, agreed that the defendants' response so far is expected and welcome.

"At the end of the day, responsibility will be assessed, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a pox on all their houses. No one is innocent," Girardi said. "But all these buildings were doing is sitting there; they didn't do anything really bad.

"As soon as one defendant starts blaming another one, the plaintiffs automatically win."

New cases filed

One of the most recent cases against the MTA, Parsons and SKK was filed by Hollywood developer Larry Worchell for damages to commercial buildings he owns at 6510-6516 Hollywood Blvd.

Worchell, who is represented by Hill, Farrer & Burrill, alleges $2 million in physical damage and $1 million in losses of goodwill and rents. He claims that negligence on the part of the MTA caused the property to sink.

Also, Yong Shin, who owns commercial property at 6553-6565 Hollywood Bird., which he claims is of historical significance, has filed a "multi-million-dollar" lawsuit. He claims he would have to rebuild his buildings "at great expense" in order to restore them.