Welcome to 'Just Compensation'
Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 140: Listen and Learn -- Regulatory Takings
#WorkforceWednesday: Mandatory Vaccination, Tipped Worker Rule, and SCOTUS Rules Against Organized Labor - Employment Law This Week®
In a significant Takings Clause opinion, Darby Development Company, Inc. v. United States, the Federal Circuit sided with landlords who argued that the CDC’s eviction moratorium constituted a physical taking of their...more
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that “No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just...more
The unanimous opinion holds that development impact fees established through the legislative process are subject to constitutional scrutiny as potential regulatory takings. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions on Tuesday, April 16: Rudisill v. McDonough, No. 22-888: This case concerns the interaction between two federal statutes providing up to 36 months of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court last week unanimously held that the Takings Clause of the Constitution prevents legislatures, as well as administrative agencies, from imposing unconstitutional conditions on land-use permits....more
On April 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided DeVillier v. Texas, No. 22-913, holding that owners of property north of U.S. Interstate Highway 10 adversely affected by the flood evacuation barrier constructed by Texas...more
Last summer, I wrote a blog about why just compensation—which is based on the ‘objective’ standard of what a property would sell for on the open market—shortchanges residential property owners subjected to eminent domain. In...more
Procedures governing eminent domain actions differ in some respects from other areas of law. Notably, all issues, except the sole issue of compensation, are adjudicated by the court....more
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that members of a homeowners’ association are not entitled to severance damages to their residential parcels when common areas are condemned....more
B&D is pleased to present the next installment of our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. (Read part three covering administrative enforcement issues here.) In this edition, our litigation team examines two Fifth Amendment...more
Update - February 2024: We have been following the progress of House Bill (“HB”) 64 in Ohio’s 135th General Assembly (formerly HB 698 in the 134th General Assembly) (the “Bill”), which proposes numerous changes to Ohio’s...more
In California, a fundamental principle of eminent domain law is that an owner of property acquired by eminent domain is entitled to just compensation for the property interests taken (Code Civ. Proc. §1263.010)....more
In California, a business operating on real property being acquired, in whole or in part, for a public project may make a claim for loss of goodwill and be entitled to compensation if the business operator establishes the...more
In my last blog, I wrote about the shortcomings of compensating displaced property owners based on the ‘objective’ standard of the market value of their property. That standard ignores the owners’ ‘subjective’ losses, such...more
When we take on an eminent domain case, our primary goal is to put our client in the best position possible. In some cases, that means fighting the taking itself, as my dad (and boss) did in the well-known Wayne County v....more
The payment of “just compensation” for the taking of private property includes more than merely writing a check to the property owner after a jury determines the current fair market value of the taking. A property owner is...more
Local government agencies sometimes enact short-term building moratoriums for certain areas to further assess changes in land use patterns or slow growth. Those moratoriums imposed across a large area usually do not...more
As we have previously discussed, downzoning (changing the zoning designation for property from a more intensive use to a more restrictive use) can possibly rise to the level of a regulatory taking, depending on each...more
Facts: The property owner alleged a per se taking and inverse condemnation in the expansion of a road that increased surface and stormwater runoff flowing under the property and ultimately a sinkhole in the parking lot. The...more
When the government forces a property owner to sell private property, it is usually done through an eminent domain action (a direct taking), and the government is required to pay just compensation. But what if the forced sale...more
Some might argue that challenging the necessity of an appropriation involving a public utility or common carrier is a futile act, given the presumption of the necessity under R.C. 163.09(B)(1)(c). In State ex rel. Bohlen v....more
[Updated] The North Dakota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Thursday to consider who owns the right to the porous spaces within subsurface rock formations. The issue is over Senate Bill 2344, passed by the...more
A new decision out of the Northern District of California applying the “final action” standards of Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco has come out – with the District Court concluding that even under Pakdel’s...more
For property owners, the process of eminent domain — the legal proceeding through which the government can acquire private property for a public purpose — can be a long and intimidating journey. Once an owner becomes aware...more
With billions in Federal infrastructure improvement funding set to pour into Pennsylvania in coming years, privately owned land across the state will be impacted by thousands of “public purpose” projects. In terms of...more