Eminent Domain › Taking

Ninth Circuit Holds Takings Case Must Proceed Through Tribal Court

An eminent decision out of the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals is not a common occurrence. A Ninth Circuit eminent domain decision dealing with intangible property is even less common. Yet, on April 26, 2013,...more

Regulatory Takings: Monks v. Rancho Palos Verdes Revisited (Again)

For those of you who have followed Nossaman's blog since the very early days, you'll recall our coverage of a significant regulatory takings case, Monks v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The 2008 California decision received...more

Follow Up on IRWA/Appraisal Institute "2012 Eminent Domain Year in Review" Presentation

For those of you who attended the joint meeting today between Chapter 1 of the International Right of Way Association and the Appraisal Institute, we promised to post a cheat sheet that reminds you about the cases associated...more

Valuation Disputes Centering on Severance Damages and Highest & Best Use

Below are some updates on California projects have turned to eminent domain to complete right-of-way acquisition. They involve issues that are somewhat typical in condemnation proceedings: disputes over severance damages and...more

Ninth Circuit Upholds Denial of Compensation for Access Impairment

Earlier this week, in an unpublished decision (pdf), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of compensation for construction that altered a point of access to an existing business. (Wardany v. City of San Jacinto (9th Cir....more

Interesting Valuation Dispute in Caltrans Eminent Domain Battle

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the owner of Silveira Ranch are involved in an interesting valuation dispute stemming from Caltrans' acquisition of part of the ranchland needed for Highway 101...more

Iligan v. Ungacta

Motion For Leave To File And Brief Of Amici Curiae The National Federation Of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center;...

One of the biggest dangers of not providing adequate constitutional protections for private property is that public officials can misuse their power to take property for private gains. Government actors, after all, have an...more

Big Year For Published Eminent Domain Decisions

Originally Published in Daily Journal, January 15, 2013. As we look back on 2012, federal funds continued to make their way to local projects and shovels continued to break ground for infrastructure projects. This led to...more

El Dorado County is Ready to Condemn

In order to construct the Silva Valley Interchange on Highway 50, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors passed a Resolution on January 4, 2013 to acquire approximately 12 acres by eminent domain. As reported by In El...more

The Cross-Fire Continues Over the Judge's Role in Limiting Appraisal Opinions in Eminent Domain Cases

It has been quite a busy year for takings cases. While our readers can soon expect our annual "Year in Review E-Alert," the California Court of Appeal decided to grace us with one more published eminent domain opinion just...more

You Can Receive Compensation for Goodwill IF...

The Court has once again reminded us that it takes its role as gate keeper seriously. This week, in an unpublished case, the Court of Appeal issued a decision that serves as a not-so-gentle reminder that business owners are...more

Winery Which Has Plans For Pricy Premium Wine, But Has Not Yet Turned a Profit, Has No Compensable “Goodwill” When Land and Vines...

A winery which planned to increase sales revenues by developing a flagship estate cabernet wine using grapes grown on its own vineyard land, but has never been profitable in the past, does not have a claim for compensation...more

When is a Resolution of Necessity Tainted By Prior Agency Obligations?

One of the prerequisites to instituting an eminent domain action is the governing agency's adoption of a resolution of necessity to acquire the necessary property. At the time of adopting the resolution, the agency cannot be...more

A Motion in Limine Strikes Again

A couple of weeks ago, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision that discussed an attorney malpractice lawsuit known as a “settle and sue” case, where the client settles whatever litigation in which they are...more

Eminent Domain: The Continuing Battle Over the Roles of Judge and Jury

Eminent domain cases are unique in that the roles of the judge and the jury do not match the typical civil jury trial experience where the jury is the arbiter of fact and the judge decides the law. In eminent domain, the...more

Court Decision on Loss of Goodwill Results in Sour Grapes for Business Owners

California is one of only a few states in which a business may recover for loss of goodwill when property is taken by eminent domain, but even here there are limitations on a business' right to recover for such damages. ...more

The Benefits of Crossing Your T's and Dotting Your I's

When I was a child, a long long time ago, I learned the importance of paying attention to detail. While I will not bore you with the details of my adolescence and the shenanigans that forced my parents to drive home this...more

I Saw the Sign, and It . . . Was Taken Down?

Those don't quite sound like the lyrics to the early-90's popular Ace of Base hit, "The Sign." But they likely describe the situation of many travelers on the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles thanks to a recent California Court...more

When Adopting a Resolution of Necessity, Can Failing to Consider a Substitute Condemnation Constitute a Gross Abuse of Discretion?

While most lawsuits typically start with the filing of a complaint, eminent domain cases really start one key step earlier, with the condemning agency’s adoption of a Resolution of Necessity. The Resolution establishes (i)...more

Abandoning Your Eminent Domain Action May Come With A Hefty Price Tag

On occasion, public agencies decide to abandon or partially abandon an eminent domain proceeding. The most typical reason is due to a revision in project design, making the property no longer necessary for the proposed...more

Court of Appeal Confirms that Private Utilities Can be Liable for Inverse Condemnation, and Held to the Same Standard as Public...

On August 30, 2012, the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal held that a privately owned utility could be subject to strict liability for inverse condemnation, thereby concurring with a similar holding...more

Defining the Rules for Admissibility for Speculative Future Damages

Earlier this year in City of Livermore v. Baca, the California Court of Appeal held that as long as an expert can identify damages arising from a taking or public project, those damages likely will not qualify as speculative,...more