Monthly Archives: March 2018

March 5th, 2018 — In Uncategorized

Manatt Triumps in Eminent Domain Lawsuit Against the United States

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, litigators, led by partner and OCA Member Edward G. Burg at trial, secured a victory for Hahm International Inc. and Levand Steel & Supply Corp. on Feb. 15 in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California against the United States. The jury awarded $30.3 million in compensation to the owners of 1,000 acres of land in the Mojave Desert, which was taken by eminent domain for expansion of the U.S. Marine Corps training base at Twentynine Palms.The property, owned by principals of Hahm International Inc. of Apple Valley and Levand Steel & Supply Corp. of Los Angeles, contained a permitted iron ore mine that was slated to supply iron ore to the cement industry for the next 45 years. The United States told the jury that the property was worth $5.6 million, while the owners claimed the property was worth $38.6 million.Burg, representing the property owners, hailed the verdict. “We always believed that the federal government vastly undervalued the property by not recognizing its uniqueness and its importance to future infrastructure and construction in California,” he said. The property owners currently own one of two active iron ore mines in California supplying iron to the cement industry. The property in the lawsuit, a permitted mine known as Morris Mine, was to become the next source of iron ore for the industry. Located in Johnson Valley, in the desert east of Apple Valley, it is the only iron ore mine permitted in the state in the […]

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