As we look back on 2012, it was unquestionably a busy year. Federal funds continued to make their way to local projects and shovels continued to break ground for infrastructure projects. The potential use of eminent domain to acquire underwater mortgages made headlines across the country, although the plan remains purely theoretical, having not been attempted in any jurisdiction. And, many in California were left scratching their heads trying to figure out just how to deal with the dissolution of redevelopment agencies.

As we look forward to 2013, we expect another exciting year. As has become our custom, what follows is an eminent domain recap of 2012, along with our thoughts on what the Right-of-Way profession can expect in 2013. With so many published decisions in 2012, we have not included any unpublished decisions in our review.

However, there were several interesting unpublished decisions and other stories this year. To keep up to date, we invite you to follow our blog, the California Eminent Domain Report, which covers issues in far more detail than we have time for in our year-end summary.