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®
More Emerging Litigation Claims and Demands from COVID-19
Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
The Koontz Decision: Limits Conditions a Government can Impose on Developers
Supreme Court Hands Landowners a Major Victory - Nossaman's Brad Kuhn
In litigation underlying Satcher v. Columbia County, 2024 WL 3802370 (Ga. Aug. 13, 2024), property owners sued the County related to damage caused by their privately-owned 48-inch pipe that had been used as part of the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has again rejected a state's narrow interpretation of the constitutional limits on government's ability to impose development conditions. A unanimous SCOTUS ruled on April 12 in favor of the...more
* The following blog is an adaptation of the presentation Alan Ackerman and Matthew Ackerman gave on “The Fundamentals of Easement Valuation” at the American Law Institute’s Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Seminar...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that private utilities may exercise eminent domain to take state-owned property under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). The decision resolved an issue that could have blocked construction...more
On June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, No. 19-1039, holding that the Federal Government had properly delegated to private companies federal authority to condemn necessary...more
The Supreme Court of the United States rarely hears anything related to eminent domain or takings cases; the Kelodecision in 2005 was the latest “big” case for our industry, although the 2019 Knick decision also made...more
Collins v. Yellen, No. 19-422: The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (“Recovery Act”), 12 U.S.C. §4501 et seq., was passed in response to concerns that Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s financial condition as a result of...more
Throughout the United States, old railroad corridors are being abandoned and converted into other uses, such as hiking, biking or other trail purposes. This converted use makes sense, as it is difficult to otherwise compile a...more
We routinely get calls from owners facing impacts to their property or business as a result of construction of a public project or changes in adjacent public streets. For example, the city or county may close a road, create a...more
In my last post, “Real Estate Alphabet Soup: D is for Deed” I continued my primer on the “alphabet soup” of real estate. This post continues to stir the “alphabet soup” with the letter “E.”...more
When the North Carolina Department of Transportation ("DOT") exercises its power of eminent domain, in addition to taking private property in fee simple, it will often take various easements, including Permanent Utility...more
ITC is adding a new phase to its Coldwater Capital Project, impacting area farmers. This post describes ITC’s capital project. I have learned that ITC is seeking to expand the project and take easements from agricultural...more
ITC seeking more new vegetation management easements in Washington Township. I am currently representing 25 property owners in the Breckenridge Subdivision, houses on Yorkshire and Berkshire in Washington Township. These...more
In return for dropping a necessity challenge, Wolverine Pipeline agreed to substantially modified easement and paid the attorney fees incurred in pursuing the challenge. As I have previously noted, greater flexibility...more
Early intervention by property owner counsel can sometimes result in convincing condemning authorities to alter either their project or the rights sought to prevent catastrophic consequences to the owner and massive just...more
Today, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Property Reserve v. Superior Court case. Today was also the day the Court began showing live webcasts of oral arguments online, so I was able to not only hear...more
With the February 13 passing of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, American jurisprudence lost an intellectual giant. But Justice Scalia will not be forgotten; the legacy of his life’s work lives on. While...more
Has DTE withheld distribution of complete easements, including the exhibit containing the legal description of the encumbered property, in an attempt to hide the true impacts of the easements from homeowners? Last night, I...more
Generally when the United States takes property pursuant to its eminent domain authority, “just compensation” is based on the market value of the property on the date of the taking. However, when acquiring a street, road or...more
In a published decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District rejected the California Coastal Commission’s (“Commission”) finding that there is no rational nexus or rough proportionality between...more
A recent Supreme Court case may have a far-reaching impact on many of the United States’ “rails-to-trails” biking and jogging paths. In March, the Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that rights of way granted to railroad...more
The United States Supreme Court decisions in Nollan and Dolan provide landowners with a useful tool for seeking compensation when government agencies use their land use authority to exact valuable property rights and other...more
One of the prerequisites to instituting an eminent domain action is the governing agency's adoption of a resolution of necessity to acquire the necessary property. At the time of adopting the resolution, the agency cannot be...more
Earlier this year in City of Livermore v. Baca, the California Court of Appeal held that as long as an expert can identify damages arising from a taking or public project, those damages likely will not qualify as speculative,...more