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 -
When the government approves a private development that diminishes neighboring property values, can a property owner maintain a takings claim? According to a recent California court decision, the answer is no – governmental...more
Deux décisions récentes des tribunaux ont de nouveau porté l’attention sur la question de savoir si un titre ancestral peut s’appliquer à des terres privées (ou « en fief simple »). Dans ces décisions, les tribunaux répondent...more
In federal condemnation actions, federal rules and principles generally control, despite a significant crossover with condemnations in the state courts. United States v. Miller, 317 U.S. 369 (1943). The procedural framework...more
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Sept. 11, 2025, issued a significant decision addressing the standard for government liability under the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause in the context of federal wildfire suppression...more
The legality of firearms possession in Florida continues to evolve, with an important change as of September 25, 2025. After the First District Court of Appeal struck down the state’s decades-old Open Carry ban in McDaniels...more
Now is the time for employers in Florida to re-examine their policies regarding the possession of weapons on their premises. The law is changing. On September 10, a three-judge panel of Florida’s First District Court of...more
A “dedication” is an uncompensated transfer of an interest in private property to the public. Dedications can occur pursuant to statute or common law. Statutory dedications follow the path set forth in the Subdivision Map...more
You may not associate creditors' rights with the United States Constitution. After all, when people think of constitutional rights, they generally think of free speech, freedom of the press, trial by jury, etc. The...more
The Supreme Court may be about to accept an appeal with enormous potential to decide the airspace rights of drones in the United States, and nobody in the drone community seems to have noticed. Cases concerning drone flights...more
When residents call to complain about their neighbor's vehicle blocking the street or a commercial truck parked overnight, you need to know what your association can—and cannot—do to address these concerns. Let's examine the...more
Several states have made attempts to provide the animal production industry protection against unlawful interference by enacting so-called Ag-Gag laws. A wave of litigation is challenging these laws as unconstitutional,...more
On March 19, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Rose of the Southern District of Iowa determined that Iowa Code § 727.8A—a law passed in 2021 that prohibits unauthorized access to private property in order to record...more
On Monday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia issued a significant decision about private road easements often referred to as “Ryder” easements. In Becker Building Company, LLC, et al. v. Scott W. Keller, et al., the Court...more
Property owners may occasionally face challenges when municipalities interpret zoning ordinances in ways that could limit certain lawful activities. We recently represented a client in a case where the municipality sought to...more
When water agencies provide water to customers, and that water causes damage to customer property, can water agencies face inverse condemnation liability? For quite some time, inverse condemnation liability appeared to be...more
Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) is charged with the arrest, detention and removal of certain non-citizens. In certain situations, ICE may com to your worksite to arrest such a non-citizen. Below is a guidance on the...more
Last month, in Wolford v. Lopez, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision with implications on commercial property owners’ rights to restrict firearms on private property. Interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s...more
Although employers are welcome to support their employees’ ability to meet with their union representatives, they are not required to grant nonemployee union representatives access to their property to do so....more
On September 12, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed a Court of Appeals decision that declared the City of Sammamish––and all other municipalities enumerated under Revised Code of Washington 8.12.030––does not lose its...more
On August 20, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a ruling in Wolfe v. Reading Blue Mountain & Northern RR Co. The Court overturned the Commonwealth Court’s determination that a condemnation of private land by a...more
In the latest episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Karla MacCary and Elinor Eizdi explore the law of implied easements, which is a murky area of the law that was made more clear by a recent California Supreme Court case that...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
Hinckley Allen claimed an important win for private property rights in Rhode Island last week. In Roth v. Rhode Island, Hinckley Allen challenged the constitutionality of newly enacted state legislation that significantly...more
In June 2023, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted legislation granting the public expanded “privileges of the shore,” including but not limited to the right to fish from the shore, to swim in the sea and to pass along...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado may have a profound impact on inclusionary zoning ordinances and bylaws in Massachusetts. I suspect few of those regulations – if challenged – will...more