Monthly Archives: March 2019

March 13th, 2019 — In News & Events

OCA Member Dwight Merriam Discusses the Truth About Trump’s Border Wall Plan

Whether he knows it or not, by declaring a national emergency to build his wall President Donald Trump has doomed the centerpiece of his presidency to an eternity of fights in Congress and the courts. Trump does not see or chooses not to see the naked truth that as a practical matter, the nature of eminent domain litigation and federal law will prevent him from ever assembling the land necessary to build his wall by the end of a second term, even with an emergency declaration. Land assembly for any large project is difficult and takes a long time. It is difficult to find a comparison to Trump’s wall, which is 550 miles long and requires the acquisition of more than 1,000 private properties in Texas alone. But consider the notorious Kelo v. New London eminent domain case involving a relatively modest land assembly of 115 properties covering 90 acres. Read more in the Connecticut Law Tribune.

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March 6th, 2019 — In Uncategorized

Attorneys Hertha Lund, Casey Pipes and Joseph Suntum Elected as Newest OCA Board Members

Owners’ Counsel of America has elected three accomplished eminent domain attorneys to serve on its Board of Directors for 2019. They are OCA Members Hertha Lund with Lund Law, PLLC in Bozeman, Montana; Casey Pipes with Helmsing, Leach, Herlong, Newman & Rouse, PC in Mobile, Alabama; and Joseph Suntum with Miller, Miller & Canby in Rockville, Maryland. Hertha Lund represents landowners in matters involving eminent domain, property rights, water rights and wind energy development across the state of Montana. Hertha has argued numerous cases before the Ninth Circuit and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, various federal circuit courts and the district courts in Montana. She also served as law clerk to Chief Judge Loren A. Smith at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. While in law school, Hertha served as co-editor-in-chief of the Montana Law Review. And at Montana State University, she studied animal science, range management and pre-veterinary medicine. Casey Pipes is both the managing shareholder of his law firm and an active practicing attorney, representing landowners in condemnation actions throughout Alabama. Casey is also a Fellow in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) and a member of the Counselors of Real Estate®, an international organization of real estate professionals recognized as the leading advisors in complex real property matters. Casey previously served as chair of several American Bar Association committees in both the Section of Litigation and in the Real Property, Trust and Estate Section. Casey is a frequent speaker at national and state-wide educational seminars on the subject of eminent domain and real property litigation. On the national […]

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March 5th, 2019 — In Uncategorized

Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II Joins Owners’ Counsel of America as District of Columbia Member

OCA is pleased to announce the selection of Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II as the Primary OCA Representative for the District of Columbia. Thor Hearne is a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Larson O’Brien LLP. Mr. Hearne has earned a national reputation for his work in complex federal and state litigation, appeals, and class actions, especially matters involving election issues; property rights; and constitutional law. In the specific area of property rights, Mr. Hearne served as lead counsel in the representation of more than a thousand landowners in sixteen states in takings claims arising from the enactment of Section 8(d) of the Trails Act. This representation led to the seminal case of Brandt v. United States, 134 S.Ct. 1257 (2014), a decision which set a major precedent with regard to Trails Act litigation involving the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875. In 2014, the National Law Journal named Mr. Hearne one of Fifty Litigation Trailblazers and Pioneers in the country. In 2013, the National Law Journal recognized Mr. Hearne as a pre-eminent national trial and appellate attorney for his work in class-action eminent domain litigation. Mr. Hearne is also one of the nation’s preeminent political and election law attorneys. He served as President George W. Bush’s national election counsel in 2004, and as then-candidate George W. Bush’s lead counsel in Missouri in 2000 when he won the landmark case Bush-Cheney v. Baker. He was an advisor to the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election reform and has testified on election law matters before the U.S. Senate, the U.S. […]

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March 1st, 2019 — In Uncategorized

OCA Member Dwight Merriam: Emergency Declaration Could Blow up President Trump’s wall

The idiom “hoist with his own petard” is sometimes misconstrued to mean hoisted up. Not so. A petard was a medieval explosive device. To be hoisted with one’s own petard is to be blown up with your own bomb. President Trump is doing precisely that with an emergency declaration to build his wall due to the legal and practical impossibility of acquiring the property rights necessary to build a wall along the Southern border. The history on this issue began in 2006 when President George W. Bush initiated a border fence project. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized and partially funded 700 miles of border fence. When he signed the bill into law, President Bush said, “This bill will help protect the American people. This bill will make our borders more secure. It is an important step toward immigration reform.” Acquiring more than 1,000 separate properties in 2006 through voluntary negotiation and the draconian power of eminent domain proved difficult. There were 334 eminent domain cases filed in South Texas, and 60 to 70 cases are still being fought in court a dozen years later. Aside from the practical impossibility of assembling all the property for Trump’s wall and the hundreds or thousands of expensive lawsuits over compensation that would take decades to resolve, the real cost of such an effort is in social justice and equity. The Texas Civil Rights Project has stepped up to protect the rights of individuals with few resources and little practical experience in […]

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