Come & Take It: The Eminent Domain Podcast (Episode #13), Featuring Winstead Shareholder Tom Forestier
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 140: Listen and Learn -- Regulatory Takings
On-Demand Webinar | Eminent Domain in 2020: A Year in Review
More Emerging Litigation Claims and Demands from COVID-19
Regulatory Takings and Executive Power to Seize Property
Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
[WEBINAR] Planning in the Coastal Zone
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, in part, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The federal Endangered Species Act deals with a different type of “taking.”...more
Is a business temporarily closed by order of the government entitled to compensation? Two groups of plaintiffs have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court hoping not just for a “yes” but an overhaul of a half-century of regulatory...more
Last year, we reported on a significant published appellate decision, South San Joaquin Irrigation District v. PG&E, which concluded that when a public agency uses eminent domain to acquire the assets of an electric, gas, or...more
Efforts by the Executive Branch to shape and control regulatory output is nothing new. Beginning with the Nixon Administration, several administrations have issued Executive Orders (EOs) to limit or otherwise influence how...more
Investors and developers scour the Southern California real estate market searching for opportunities to buy dated houses that they can demolish and replace with large, modern homes to sell for much more. A few individuals...more
Tune in to the latest episode of "Come and Take It: The Eminent Domain Podcast." Host Bobby Debelak sits down with Winstead Shareholder Thomas J. Forestier, a leading infrastructure and eminent domain attorney with 37+ years...more
On September 4, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity, along with more than 20 other groups, (collectively, CBD) delivered a petition (Petition) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in which CBD requested the...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
When a property owner brings a regulatory taking / inverse condemnation claim based on a city or county’s zoning decisions, the owner often provides context and history, including public statements made by staff, board...more
Itching to sue the government for taking your property? Treme v. St. John the Baptist Parish Council is a reminder that you must have a property interest subject to being taken in order to have standing to sue for a...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 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15, 2024, issued an order vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority...more
A public agency’s acquisition of private property can sometimes trigger significant severance damages due to eliminating access, cutting off utility service, or taking a substantial portion of a property’s parking. As...more
When one hears “eminent domain” or “condemnation,” you might envision a governmental agency or utility coming in and acquiring the entirety of a piece of property and leaving nothing behind. However, often times,...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
The US Supreme Court has announced it will evaluate whether “impact fees” associated with permits can violate the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution. At stake is the determination of when, how, and under what...more
In California, when a government entity adopts a resolution of necessity to acquire property by eminent domain, that resolution typically “conclusively” establishes the requisite findings of public use and necessity. However,...more
In 2024, Medicare will, for the first time, have authority under the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022 to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. On August 29, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...more
Our office routinely handles utility takings, which often involve partial takings of easements for transmission lines or pipelines. As governments attempt to improve the electrical grid to support the transportation of wind...more
Sullivan's Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and Litigation Department have released the second issue of their Zoning and Development Newsletter. The publication aims to provide our firm's clients and others interested...more
In eminent domain cases, it is uncommon that right to take challenges are upheld, and when they are, it is typically a procedural deficiency that can be cured. It is even more unusual where a right to take challenge is...more
UNITED STATES UPDATES - California - Today’s IV, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2022 Cal.App. LEXIS 840 (2022 WL 5107251) - Facts: A property owner who owned a hotel in Los...more
With all the recent storms in California, private property is bound to suffer impacts from storm water runoff, landslides, erosion and subsidence. Understanding whether the government bears responsibility for such damage is a...more
According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the answer is a definitive yes....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