Monthly Archives: December 2021

Parts of Canada, like the United States, will likely see an increase in property takings due to existing and upcoming public infrastructure projects. This is particularly true in Ontario. Recently, OCA Member, Shane Rayman, with Rayman Beitchman LLP in Toronto was interviewed on the subject for the Canadian Lawyer publication. “Expropriation is happening more and more frequently as more and more public works take place,” Shane Rayman says, pointing to Ontario’s Building Transit Faster Act, which enacted new powers for Metrolinx to acquire land. To read the interview in its entirety, click here. .

Under the inverse condemnation statutes and laws in most states, any authority or body that has the power of eminent domain and that has taken some action resulting in private property being taken, destroyed or damaged may be sued based on a claim of inverse condemnation.  But what if the authority or body (i.e. the party responsible for the taking or damaging) does not actually possess the power of eminent domain? May it still be charged with an inverse condemnation claim? In many states, the courts have said no; the party being accused of the taking must possess the power of eminent domain, either directly or by an act of delegation. However, recently the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled differently, finding in Hughes v. UGI Storage Co., No.J-69A-2021 (Nov. 29, 2021) that UGI Storage did not need a prior delegation of eminent domain power to be (potentially) liable for inverse condemnation under Pennsylvania law. To read more about the case, the facts and the basis of this unusal legal holding, click here.