OCA Blog

For those who could not attend this year’s Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference on October 1-2 at William & Mary Law School, a link to the panels, speakers and recorded sessions can be found on OCA Member Robert Thomas’ Inverse Condemnation Blog. This year’s conference opened with the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize being awarded to Professor Henry E. Smith of Harvard Law School. The prize is named in honor of the...

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In an article published in the New York Law Journal Owners’ Counsel of America Members Mike Rikon and Jon Houghon discuss the recent decision in Staten Island Land Corp and how it seeks to address the problem of advance payments and sandbagging in the State of New York. As they explain in the article, under New York’s quick take statute, the government can take title to property which it seeks to...

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Owners’ Counsel of America member Randall Smith writes in a new article published in the October/November issue of the Louisiana Bar Journal about the unique interplay between Louisiana’s expropriation laws and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in the Knick case. The article focuses on what Knick may mean for Covid-19 claims against local governments in the wake of mass shutdowns and other regulatory measures that are currently...

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OCA Affiliate Member, Stephen Clarke of the law firm of Waldo & Lyle in Norfolk Virginia recently joined Clint Schumacher on his Eminent Domain podcast to share a story about the reaction of his clients to the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project.  On a lighter note, Stephen also introduces Clint to the board game “Settlers of Catan.” To listen to the podcast, click here. Clint’s Podcast can...

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The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Knick v. Township of Scott has been aptly described as one of the most influential property rights cases of the last decade. In Knick, the Court explicitly overturned the second prong of the so-called Williamson County ripeness test that required property owners to seek a remedy through state action –usually just compensation – for the alleged taking before coming to federal court. In...

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To follow up on a story we ran earlier regarding OCA’s Amicus Brief filing in the case of the City of Suffolk’s operation of a sewage and stormwater system so as to discharge wastewater into the Nansemond River, we learn that after recent rains an estimated 1.5 million gallons of raw sewage has been dumped in the river. “They are discharging and allowing raw sewage to be discharged into...

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For the past 22 years, CLE International has sponsored presentations by the most knowledgeable and experienced eminent domain professionals. This year will be no exception! During a two-day virtual Conference to be held on September 24-25, the industry’s leading experts and attorneys in eminent domain, relocation, appraisals, and land planning will present on a variety of timely topics. Owners’ Counsel of America’s Hawaii Member, Robert Thomas, Owner’s Counsel’s Executive...

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It’s not too late to register for the annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference presented by the William & Mary Property Rights Project.This ground-breaking conference is held in honor of OCA founder Toby Prince Brigham and OCA Honorary Member Gideon Kanner for their lifetime contributions to private property rights. The conference is designed to bring together members of the bench, bar, and academia to explore recent developments in the law...

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Due to ongoing concerns with travel and large public gatherings that we don’t expect to subside in the coming months, ALI CLE has decided to cancel the annual Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation conference which was previously scheduled for January 28-30, 2021 at the Doubletree hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are, however, still planning a virtual conference for the same dates (minus Saturday) to ensure that attendees can...

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The St. Louis County Circuit Court recently approved University City’s request to condemn seven commercial properties within the footprint of Novus Development’s nearly $190 million project. Novus’ plans to use the site at Olive and Interstate I-70 to develop a mix of retail anchored by a Costco store, apartments, offices and potentially a hotel. Last year, the City approved $70.5 million in tax increment financing for the project. OCA...

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