OCA Blog

Casey Pipes, OCA’s Alabama member, has also been a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) since 2018.  ACREL is a national association of preeminent real estate lawyers focused on service to clients, colleagues and the profession.  Admission is by invitation only (as is OCA) after a rigorous screening process. ACREL’s distinguished, nationally-known lawyers have been elected to fellowship for their outstanding legal ability, experience and...

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Our OCA Primary Member from South Carolina, Jeff Tibbals, has put together the summary and comment below on recent developments in South Carolina’s eminent domain laws, which should be of particular interest to South Carolina property owners Recent South Carolina legislation raises an important legal question about the extent to which private utility companies—such as Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper—can exercise eminent domain powers in South Carolina. This issue...

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Pope Leo XIV grew up in a small home at 212 E. 141st Place in a Chicago suburb, Dolton, IL.  His childhood home was recently renovated and the owner planned to sell it at auction.  However, before the auction could take place, the City of Dalton expressed interest in acquiring the property, via negotiation or, if negotiations failed, eminent domain.  Eminent domain requires a public purpose and public use...

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The City of Hoboken, New Jersey, partnered with the State of New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, commenced condemnation proceedings to acquire a permanent easement for construction and maintenance of a flood control wall on private property.  The private property was part of a luxury apartment building, and in particular was deed restricted as an outdoor recreational area (5,200 s.f. +/-) accessible by the owners and the general public. ...

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In an appellate victory for Charles McFarland of McFarland PLLC, Owners Counsel’s Texas member, a unanimous Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion March 21st, 2025, in The Commons of Lake Houston, Ltd. v. City of Houston, a case centered around regulatory takings law. The Commons is the developer of a 3,300-acre master-planned residential community located on Lake Houston. Following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the City amended its floodplain ordinance...

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The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) exercised the power of eminent domain to take 1.7 acres of a three acre parcel of vacant land in Dunn, NC from the property owner.  The owner did not believe that the government’s initial offer of $344,050 was just compensation, and wisely retained experienced eminent domain counsel.  Jeremy Hopkins, the North Carolina member of Owners Counsel of America and a partner at...

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In December 2023, the American Law Institute announced that OCA Honorary Member Amy Brigham Boulris would be one of several  newly elected members. In its’ announcement, ALI stated that it was “pleased to welcome these exceptional individuals to the Institute.” Amy Brigham Boulris is a veteran property rights litigator who exclusively represents landowners in eminent domain, takings, development exactions, Harris Act, and civil rights contexts. Highly experienced at both...

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Can a governmental body avoid paying an inverse condemnation damage judgment by simply refusing to do so on the basis of a state constitutional provision prohibiting seizure of state assets to satisfy money judgments? That is what the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans attempted to do when faced with having to pay property owners over $10 million on various judgments, but specifically in one test case over...

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Owners’ Counsel of America is saddened to announce that Gideon Kanner, a fierce defender of property rights, who helped to found the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, has died at the age of 93. While a complete list of Gideon’s professional accomplishments are too extensive to chronicle here, below are but a few highlights from his extraordinary career. After 10 years as a rocket engineer, followed by a stellar...

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Public universities have a long history of expanding campuses in the name of progress and economic growth. But often, these expansions used eminent domain and property seizures to disrupt and diminish thriving Black communities across the country. In the second half of the 20th century, the rapid growth of public universities across Virginia and many other states uprooted hundreds of Black families, hindering them from accumulating wealth in the...

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