Brisbane floods class-action lawsuit set to be filed against Wivenhoe Dam operator Seqwater by Maurice Blackburn lawyers

A CLASS-action lawsuit against the operators of the dams that flooded Brisbane in 2011 is on the brink of being filed.

A CLASS-action lawsuit against the operators of the dams that flooded Brisbane in 2011 will be filed before the end of the year.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn will take on Seqwater, alleging thousands of people were flooded in 2011 because engineers were negligent in their management of the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.

Seqwater responds to flood inquiry report

Class action 'could set record'

Principal Damian Scattini - who announced the class action in January - said $1 million had been spent by the firm so far on experts and research supported the filing of the action. He said the delay in taking action wasn't a rethink.

"This is a very big case, and it's critical for the people we're representing that it's given the proper attention - it has to be done right," Mr Scattini said.

"We are continuing to finalise our preparations for filing the class action, including the statement of claim, and will be providing a further update to our clients soon."

About 5000 people have expressed interest in joining the class action, with about half formally signed up to date.

The case is being pursued on a no-win, no-fee basis, with clients to pay about 30 per cent in fees to IMF - the firm funding the litigation - if the case were successful.

Mr Scattini has said dam operators were negligent before and during the January flood by not releasing water soon enough with heavy rainfalls predicted, and then holding back water until the dams overfilled.

Water pours over the spillway at Wivenhoe Dam in the wake of Brisbane's flood disaster.

Engineers then panicked, Mr Scattini alleged, and released a huge volume of water that flooded many sections of Ipswich and Brisbane that should have remained dry.

Seqwater has said the flood was unavoidable and its engineers did everything they could to reduce damage.

In 2012, an inquiry into the running of the dam found dam operators had breached their manual, creating pressure for the Newman Government to make ex-gratia payments to victims.

Maurice Blackburn said it asked its US-based experts whether the dam had been operated competently and if any failures made a difference in flood damage. It said the response was positive to both questions.

But the law firm suffered a credibility hit in January when it released maps that contained errors.

The suit, which is likely to claim hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, could potentially be filed in a number of court systems, but Mr Scattini has said his preference was to file in Queensland.

Legal experts said the case would have a better chance of success if filed in a federal court, with a reasonable likelihood of a settlement.

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