Standard Pacific of San Diego v. AA Baxter Corp.

These consolidated appeals challenge determinations that settlements made by defendants A. A. Baxter Corporation (Baxter), Woodward-Clyde Consultants and Woodward Gizienski & Associates (collectively Woodward-Clyde) with plaintiff homeowners were made in good faith and thus bar cross-complaints for equitable indemnity from Baxter and Woodward-Clyde.

Plaintiffs in the underlying action are homeowners in subdivisions in the Tierrasanta area of San Diego. Their homes were damaged by soil subsidence.

Christiana Community Builders (Christiana) originally owned the undeveloped land underlying plaintiffs’ homes. Christiana contracted with Woodward-Clyde to perform soil testing and engineering and with Baxter to perform grading to Woodward-Clyde’s specifications. Christiana then sold some of the manufactured lots to Standard Pacific of San Diego (Standard Pacific) and some to Kaiser Aetna and Ponderosa Homes (collectively Ponderosa) who built single-family residences on the lots and sold them to plaintiffs.

During 1981 through 1983, plaintiffs, in three separate actions (Super. Ct. Nos. 468789 , 491800, 507760 ) sued Christiana, Standard Pacific, Ponderosa, W oodward-Cly de…