Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
Yours, Mine and Ours (not yet!): An Update on the Patentability of Human Genes -
Planning and constructing large public works projects can take years. When those projects will impact private property, owners are left in a difficult situation, as the cloud of condemnation hangs over their property, making...more
In a case that exists only because of the choices a city made in both application decision-making and litigation, the Second District Court of Appeal held, in Felkay v. City of Santa Barbara, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2021), that...more
Welcome to 2020! It is a new year and with every new year, comes a lot of new: new goals, new diet, new workout routines that leave every part of you sore... In the professional setting, a new year brings a lot of “chores,”...more
Brad Kuhn was quoted extensively in the Daily Journal article “Century-Old Doctrine Haunts Fire Litigation.” The article provides an overview of how developments in inverse condemnation that occurred in 2019 pose numerous...more
On August 15, 2019, the California Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) issued its first inverse condemnation opinion in more than 22 years in the case City of Oroville v. Superior Court of Butte County, Case No. S243247...more
On June 5, 2019, the California Supreme Court (“Court”) heard oral argument in the case City of Oroville v. Superior Court of Butte County, Case No. S243247 (“Oroville Case”). This case is notable because it is the first time...more
Many public agencies and utilities have easements for water or gas pipelines or electric transmission lines. Those easements typically contain express rights to construct, operate, and maintain the facilities, including...more
When the government physically takes or occupies property without first going through the rigorous procedural requirements under California eminent domain law, usually it’s a clear-cut case of inverse condemnation liability. ...more
The Supreme Court of Alabama (“Court”) in an August 29 opinion addressed an inverse condemnation action against an Alabama agency. See Portersville Bay Oyster Co., v. Christopher Blankenship, No. 1161101, 2018 WL 4124504...more
Infrastructure projects take years to develop: the environmental review, funding, design, procurement, and construction of a public project is time consuming in any state, but even more so in California given the strict...more
In the Village of Bayville, New York (“Bayville”), a landowner wished to enclose and protect private property and the private roadway for access thereon (“Lot 18”) against trespassers. The landowner sought to erect crash...more
In April 2014, we posted a blog discussing the North Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion in Beroth Oil v. NCDOT, 367 N.C. 33, 757 S.E. 2d 466 (2014). (See here) In that post, we compared high frequency stock market trading and...more
Most people understand the basic concept of eminent domain: the government takes someone’s private property and pays the owner “just compensation” for the taking. Sometimes, however, the government “takes” (or “damages”)...more