Tag: eminent domain

Posted on Mar 7, 2022 in News & Events

James Burling, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Pacific Legal Foundation, will receive the 2022 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at William & Mary Law School’s 19th annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference on September 29-30 sponsored by the William & Mary Property Rights Project. The Property Rights Project presents the award each year to an individual whose scholarly work and accomplishments affirm that property rights are fundamental to protecting individual and civil rights. “James Burling is among the foremost students of the relationship between citizens and their government in contemporary America,” said Steven J. Eagle, Professor Emeritus of Law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and the 2019 Brigham-Kanner Prize winner.

Posted on Feb 11, 2022 in OCA Blog

An historic station that was built as the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Conshohocken Station circa 1890 is now the subject of a taking by the Borough of Conshohocken for alleged park purposes.  Although passenger service at the Outbound Station ceased in 1962, after the property was purchased by Joe and Barb Collins and lovingly restored, it was used for nearly 30 years as an antique store, and more recently, leased to the Couch Tomato Cafe. OCA Emeritus Member Michael Faherty recently wrote an open letter to the Borough challenging their right to take the property by eminent domain on several grounds, including a failure to identify a specific use for the property.  “Instead of listing an identified, researched and needed public purpose,” Mr. Faherty states in his letter, “the proposed ordinance only listed multiple possible, future public purposes as…including, but not necessarily limited to, public open spaces, parks, recreation, and public parking. Such a vague assertion of potential public purpose fails to adequately state the purpose as required 26 Pa. C.S.A.(b)(4).”

Posted on Mar 23, 2021 in News & Events

The Supreme Court is currently entertaining an interesting property rights case entitled Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. Cedar Point Nursery together with Fowler Packing Company are California fruit growers that employ around 3,000 Californians. In 2015, the United Farm Workers (UFW) sent union organizers to Cedar Point’s workplace during harvest time to encourage them to unionize. Under California’s Union Access Regulation the organizers are granted an easement that allows them to enter a business’s private property three hours a day. The businesses are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate this regulation and affirm that government can’t allow unions on private property without paying compensation for a property taking. Cedar Point is being represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation. For more information about the case and the arguments being made check out OCA Member Robert Thomas’ Inverse Condemnation Blog.

Posted on Aug 28, 2020 in News & Events

Best Lawyers, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named 26 Owners’ Counsel of America members in its 27th Edition for 2021 in recognition of their Eminent Domain and Condemnation expertise and practices. The list includes George Autry (North Carolina), Stephanie Autry (North Carolina), Keith Babcock (South Carolina), Joshua Baker (Virginia), Michael Berger (California), Dana Berliner (Institute for Justice), William Blake (Nebraska), Amy Brigham Boulris (Florida), Andrew Brigham (Florida), Ed Burg (California), James Burling (Pacific Legal Foundation), Ivy Cadle (Georgia), Brandee Caswell (Colorado), Robert Denlow (Missouri), Darius Dynkowski (Michigan), Paul Henry (Missouri), Warren Herlong (Alabama), Dan Manning (Iowa), Alan Marcuvitz (Wisconsin), James Masterman (Massachusetts), Charles McFarland (Texas), Tom Olson (New Jersey), J. Casey Pipes (Alabama), Mark D. Savin (Minnesota), Jack Sperber (Colorado), and Bradley Stout (Kansas).  In addition, eight OCA members were also named “Lawyer of the Year” for 2021. They include:  Michael M. Berger (California), Ed Burg (California), Dan Manning (Iowa), Alan Marcuvitz (Wisconsin), J. Casey Pipes (Alabama), Mark D. Savin (Minnesota), Jack Sperber (Colorado), and Bradley Stout (Kansas). The “Lawyer of the Year” honor is unique, as only one lawyer in each legal specialty and in each designated metropolitan market is recognized for this honor. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Lawyers are not allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America is considered a singular honor. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive […]

Posted on Aug 23, 2019 in Uncategorized

The Nebraska Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s (PSC) to approve a route through Nebraska for the XL Pipeline, completing one of the final steps before construction of the controversial project can begin. A copy of the full decision can be read here. The project plan is to bury a 36-inch crude oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada to Southern Nebraska. First announced in 2008, it has remained the focus of controversy and litigation for eleven years. During that time, the project underwent two route changes through Nebraska, after acquisition of a majority of the needed corridor easements had already occurred. Several condemnation actions were dismissed as premature, until a final route was approved. In 2017 the PSC, an administrative regulatory body with the power to determine whether a major oil pipeline route is in the public interest, approved a route. Transcanada had requested approval of its second proposed route, but that route met with substantial opposition. In November, 2017, the PSC approved a different route, closely paralleling the route of Transcanada’s earlier Keystone pipeline. A number of farmers and ranchers along the approved route, joined by several native American tribes and environmental groups, appealed the PSC’s decision to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Although the appeal was thought to be placed on the fast track, over a year and a half later, the Nebraska Supreme Court finally entered its unanimous ruling. Rejecting the appellants’ various arguments, the court held that the question of whether a […]

Posted on Jun 28, 2019 in Uncategorized

OCA Member Robert Thomas seeks to alert all property owners in his recent posting on the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Knick v. Township of Scott: Heads up, property owners: last week the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling changing the way property rights lawsuits have been handled for the last thirty years. In Knick v. Township of Scott, the Court allowed property owners who sue to enforce their federal right to compensation because a municipal government has taken their property in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment by overregulating its use, to bring the lawsuit in federal court. You might reasonably ask: how could it be that since 1985, property owners who alleged a federalconstitutional violation were barred from suing in federal court? Well, the lawyers in our firm’s Land Use Practice Group who represent property owners in these type of cases had long asked the very same question. The details of why the Supreme Court—in the case Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank (1985)—had barred federal takings plaintiffs from federal court are not terribly important, and it is sufficient to understand that until Knick, these kind of claims had to be raised exclusively in state court. No other federal constitutional right was subject to this requirement, only federal property rights. Williamson County assigned to state judges and state courts the exclusive responsibility for enforcing the federal constitutional right to own and use private property. In Knick, the Supreme Court revisited theWilliamson […]

Posted on Feb 10, 2019 in News & Events

Owners’ Counsel of America has elected three accomplished eminent domain attorneys to serve on its Board of Directors for 2019. They are Hertha Lund with Lund Law, PLLC in Bozeman, Montana; Casey Pipes with Helming Leach Law Firm 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. She has served on non-profit boards and is actively involved in the leadership of her church. Casey Pipes is both the managing shareholder of his law firm and an active practicing attorney, representing landowners in condemnation actions throughout Alabama in both federal and state courts.  Casey is also 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 and is also a frequent speaker at national and state-wide educational seminars on the subject of eminent domain and real property litigation.  On the national level, he has presented papers at several of the […]

Posted on Apr 19, 2018 in News & Events

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 estate and commercial disputes. He has led the litigation practice group at Miller, Miller & Canby for more than 25 years. In addition to his legal work, Mr. Thompson has served the legal community at large by his participation with the county, state and national bar associations. He served as President of the Montgomery County Bar Association, President of the Maryland State Bar Association and was active in the American Bar Association with service in the House of Delegates. He currently serves on the Committee on Public Trust & Confidence, appointed by the Maryland Court of Appeals. For his record of excellence and commitment to his profession he received the Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award,  the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Century of Service Award and the Federal Bar Association’s Peter D. Dirito Endowment Award, bestowed annually to recognize public service in the enhancement of the legal profession and the advancement of justice.  He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, has been a named Super Lawyer for the state of Maryland every year since 2007. He was […]