OCA Blog

John Hamilton, Owners’ Counsel of America Emeritus Member from the State of Kansas, recently prevailed in the case of Nauheim v. City of Topeka, No. 114271 (Jan. 25, 2019) in convincing the Kansas Supreme Court that a tenant who was displaced when the City of Topeka sought to acquire private property for a drainage project was entitled to relocation benefits even though the City did not have to actually...

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https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/01/16/trump-eminent-domain-border-wall

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OCA mourns the recent passing of one of its most beloved and admired members, Dixon Montague. Dixon’s professional achievements are plentiful and lengthy. After graduating from Tulane University and the University of Mississippi (J.D. 1977), he joined Vinson and Elkins in Houston Texas. There he spent over 30 years representing clients in eminent domain, inverse condemnation, and regulatory takings cases against local, state, and federal authorities in federal and state...

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In Violet Dock Port, Inc. v. St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal Dist., Owners’ Counsel of America joins with the Institute for Justice, the Rutherford Institute, the National Federation of Independent Business, Southeastern Legal Foundation, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, and the Cato Institute in filing Amicus Briefs asking the United States Supreme Court to review and reverse a lower court ruling that allowed the state of Louisiana to use...

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James L. Thompson, a partner with Miller, Miller & Canby and OCA Member Emeritus has been selected as Senior Lawyer of the Year by the Maryland State Bar Association Senior Lawyer Section. Thompson’s career has spanned more than 45 years, during which he has served clients and the legal community. He concentrates his practice in eminent domain and real estate valuation litigation, as well as civil litigation involving complex real...

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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...

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Owners’ Counsel of America Member Randall Smith represented several landowners who filed damage claims arising from a sewage and sanitation project in New Orleans. After several years of litigation, the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board has agreed to pay five Uptown stores a total of $2.125 million for physical damages and the loss of business caused by major drainage work done on Jefferson Avenue in recent years. The...

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Owners’ Counsel of American (OCA) is pleased to announce the selection of Joshua E. Baker of the firm of Waldo & Lyle as the Primary OCA Representative for the State of Virginia. After an extended vetting process, Owners’ Counsel of America limits its membership to but one eminent domain attorney from each of the 50 states. The Virginia seat was previously occupied by Joseph T. Waldo who has been elected...

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Richard De Angelis, with the law firm of McKirdy, Riskin, Olson, and DellaPelle (where OCA Member Tony DellaPelle also practices) is currently representing private landowners in New Jersey who are asserting that their property is being taken for private redevelopment purposes disguised as an affordable housing project. The borough’s claim that it can seize four downtown properties in the name of affordable housing is nothing more than a “whitewash” to help a for-profit development...

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Owners’ Counsel of America (OCA) announces that it has presented its highest honor, the Crystal Eagle Award, to Luis Gallardo-Rivera of Puerto Rico, a person who has consistently demonstrated his passion and commitment to the protection of private property rights in his native country of Puerto Rico. Working with other dedicated citizens who believe that the residential communities of Puerto Rico need not be sacrificed in the name of economic and private redevelopment projects, Luis Gallardo-Rivera has fought...

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