Welcome to 'Just Compensation'
Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 140: Listen and Learn -- Regulatory Takings
#WorkforceWednesday: Mandatory Vaccination, Tipped Worker Rule, and SCOTUS Rules Against Organized Labor - Employment Law This Week®
How Property Owners Can Maximize Their Recovery When the government exercises its power of eminent domain – the right to take private property for public use – it must pay the property owner just compensation. But what does...more
A central issue going to both the valuation of damages and the extent of a taking in eminent domain cases is whether the government or utility is required to take an entire parcel, beyond just a portion that may be required...more
This article examines whether increased mortgage interest costs and property tax assessments should be compensable under the Fifth Amendment's Just Compensation Clause. While courts have traditionally limited compensation in...more
It is one of the most common assumptions made by clients in litigation: “If I win, the other side will have to pay my attorney’s fees, right?” Unfortunately, that assumption is often wrong—especially in North Carolina. The...more
In a significant victory for property owners in Pignetti v. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has relaxed the standard for establishing that two noncontiguous parcels of...more
Condemning agencies contemplating the use of eminent domain at times hire third-party acquisition agents to purchase properties ahead of an incoming infrastructure project without the provision of written good faith offers....more
When the government exercises its power of eminent domain to take private property for public use, the U.S. Constitution requires it to provide “just compensation” to the property owner. But what does “just compensation”...more
In a significant victory for property owners, the Arizona Supreme Court held this week that damages in condemnation cases can include compensation for the reduction in value caused by the proximity of homes to a new highway...more
What is Eminent Domain? If you’re seeking a definition of eminent domain, you’ve likely recently received unsettling news from a government body or other entity with the power to take your property. It’s natural to ask,...more
Appraising a property being acquired through eminent domain involves a number of unique valuation rules, including highest and best use, larger parcel, date of value, and unique evidentiary restrictions on comparable sales...more
When a public agency acquires property for a public project, property owners have a constitutional right to receive just compensation. But what about the businesses that operate on the property – are they entitled to...more
To address the diminishing capacity of our region’s electric grid, a New Jersey-based corporation known as the Public Service Enterprise Group (“PSEG”) is set to build 70 miles of aboveground power lines through Baltimore,...more
Last summer, I wrote a blog about why just compensation—which is based on the ‘objective’ standard of what a property would sell for on the open market—shortchanges residential property owners subjected to eminent domain. In...more
Procedures governing eminent domain actions differ in some respects from other areas of law. Notably, all issues, except the sole issue of compensation, are adjudicated by the court....more
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that members of a homeowners’ association are not entitled to severance damages to their residential parcels when common areas are condemned....more
Update - February 2024: We have been following the progress of House Bill (“HB”) 64 in Ohio’s 135th General Assembly (formerly HB 698 in the 134th General Assembly) (the “Bill”), which proposes numerous changes to Ohio’s...more
In California, a fundamental principle of eminent domain law is that an owner of property acquired by eminent domain is entitled to just compensation for the property interests taken (Code Civ. Proc. §1263.010)....more
In California, a business operating on real property being acquired, in whole or in part, for a public project may make a claim for loss of goodwill and be entitled to compensation if the business operator establishes the...more
In my last blog, I wrote about the shortcomings of compensating displaced property owners based on the ‘objective’ standard of the market value of their property. That standard ignores the owners’ ‘subjective’ losses, such...more
When we take on an eminent domain case, our primary goal is to put our client in the best position possible. In some cases, that means fighting the taking itself, as my dad (and boss) did in the well-known Wayne County v....more
The payment of “just compensation” for the taking of private property includes more than merely writing a check to the property owner after a jury determines the current fair market value of the taking. A property owner is...more
Local government agencies sometimes enact short-term building moratoriums for certain areas to further assess changes in land use patterns or slow growth. Those moratoriums imposed across a large area usually do not...more
Facts: The property owner alleged a per se taking and inverse condemnation in the expansion of a road that increased surface and stormwater runoff flowing under the property and ultimately a sinkhole in the parking lot. The...more
When the government forces a property owner to sell private property, it is usually done through an eminent domain action (a direct taking), and the government is required to pay just compensation. But what if the forced sale...more
Some might argue that challenging the necessity of an appropriation involving a public utility or common carrier is a futile act, given the presumption of the necessity under R.C. 163.09(B)(1)(c). In State ex rel. Bohlen v....more