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
What do you do when you learn the old fence that you and your neighbor thought was the correct boundary turns out to be wrong … or when you discover your house or garage has been constructed on your neighbor’s property? Such...more
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia held that, in order to establish an implied easement, a party must prove the physical location of the easement. In Thomas E. Morris, et al. v. Anthony Heath Parker, et al., Record...more
In a recently issued decision—Bexar II—a divided National Labor Relations Board again reversed employer-friendly standards, this time granting expanded property access to the off-duty employees of a property owner's...more
In another ruling promoting a pro-labor agenda under the Biden administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reverted to its pre-2019 precedent on the balance between the rights of property owners and the rights...more
A utility company that provides service to an owner’s property usually requests the owner to sign a standard form of easement. The form of easement allows the utility company to enter onto the owner’s property to install and...more
Here is what we cover in this issue of The Title Reporter: A Legal Update for the Title Insurance Industry: •A Delaware trial court has ruled that plaintiffs suing a title insurer for breach of a title insurance policy...more
General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, is already on her way to accomplishing one of the objectives she laid out in her recent Advice-Memorandum 21-04. In the GC’s memo, she identified a...more
In the past, the Coastal Commission has taken a very negative view on any limitations of public beach access. In fact, one can say that the Commission has been downright aggressive in pursuing what it perceived to be...more
Under a long-standing law in Wisconsin, those parties holding easements will need to re-record their easement rights periodically or their ability to enforce those easements will be lost. Even easements that are...more
On November 25, 2019, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the public’s use of a road for more than half a century to access Martin’s Beach was permissive, and therefore “did not ripen into a public dedication that would...more
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The California Constitution contains a similar provision. Reading these constitutional...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the “Board”) has been steadily increasing employers’ rights to restrict union access to their facilities. Now the Board appears poised to codify the new rules of engagement in...more
In NLRB v. Babcock & Wilcox, Inc., decided in 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court provided two exceptions to the general rule that an employer cannot be compelled to open its property to union organizers. The first exception applies...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently issued another decision benefitting employers by holding that an employer does not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it removes from the employer’s parking...more
Setting clear and reasonable standards for taking access to an employer’s private property is high on the National Labor Relations Board’s agenda. Not only is the Board talking about issuing formal rules in this area, but the...more
As any seasoned developer knows, condominium development projects involve a delicate interplay between the developer, unit owners, the condo association, and the lenders that fund construction and acquisition costs. Last...more
Forestland parcels in the Pacific Northwest often are not accessible by public roads alone. This means forest-land owners must frequently cross property owned by other parties, including private owners, tribes, and local,...more
In its decision this week in Perry v. Aiello, the Massachusetts Appeals Court addresses an interesting question: whether a 1947 grant of easement-like rights created an affirmative easement, which can be perpetual, or a...more
This two-part series is about four important cases that have been decided over the past year relating to the acquisition of easements. Part 1 highlighted two cases explaining key principles that can dictate whether or not an...more
Real Property Update - US Supreme Court - Regulatory Taking: owner of parcel A, that took title to adjacent parcel B after regulation restricting use of parcels had been passed, lost grandfather rights for both parcels by...more
For owners, “access” to abutting or surrounding roadways is essential to their property. Without it a piece of property is “landlocked” and thus has little, if any, economic utility. Private property owners want good access...more
Late last week, the Arizona Supreme Court handed down a decision that clarified the rights of property owners who lose access to an abutting road and, in the process, reinforced the principle that both elimination and...more