A recent Federal Circuit case, Haggart v. United States, No. 21-1660 (June 22, 2022) determined that under the Uniform Relocation Act, like other fee-shifting statutes, attorneys’ fees are not recoverable if the lawyer is one...more
Inverse condemnation litigation and liability has become a particularly hot topic in California over the last several years. Not many attorneys specialize in this area, and there are a number of traps for the unwary lawyers,...more
7/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Cost Recovery ,
Expert Fees ,
Insurance Claims ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Negligence ,
Offsets ,
Property Damage ,
Property Owners ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Property ,
Reimbursements ,
Subrogation
For several years, we’ve been following an eminent domain lawsuit in Marin County involving Caltrans’ acquisition of 34 acres for a $29.7 million interchange project at the Redwood Sanitary Landfill, which would widen the...more
11/4/2015
/ Appraisal ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Caltrans ,
Eminent Domain ,
Highways ,
Just Compensation ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Property Owners ,
Settlement Offer ,
Severance Damages ,
Takings Clause
In California eminent domain actions, the parties are required to exchange formal settlement proposals 20 days before trial. If the case proceeds to trial, the property owner may recover litigation expenses if its demand was...more
In California eminent domain actions, absent special circumstances (such as an abandonment, successful right to take challenge, or inverse condemnation finding), a property or business owner is typically only entitled to...more
Property owners are routinely hiring attorneys well in advance of a public agency's filing of an eminent domain action. Many times, the representation begins before it is even certain whether the agency will actually move...more
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
1/15/2013
/ Arkansas Game & Fish v U.S. ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Condemnation ,
DOT v Dry Canyon ,
Eminent Domain ,
Evidence ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Flooding ,
Jury Questions ,
Just Compensation ,
Loss of Goodwill ,
Mortgages ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause ,
Underwater Homeowners ,
Valuation Experts
A few weeks ago, the California Court of Appeal issued an interesting unpublished decision detailing a long, drawn-out eminent domain battle in Riverside County. I haven't blogged about it yet because, well to be honest, it...more
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