Devillier v. Texas is largely about a procedural nuance, but the pictures contain a message for people in right of way that matters even if the procedural nuance involved doesn't change much day to day. The eponymous Mr. DeVillier along with more than a hundred other parties to this U.S. Supreme Court Case own property [...]
Is a claim to just compensation from eminent domain real property or personal property? Does a claim to just compensation transfer with the land or not? The answer may differ depending on various factors, including, among others, the jurisdiction in which the property is located, whether the claim stems from a formal eminent domain proceeding [...]
The first paragraph in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 5994 (2nd Cir. 2024), may have gotten some takings mavens excited about pretextual takings, when the court stated The Defendant Town of Southold ("Southold" or the "Town") authorized the creation of a park on a parcel to be taken by eminent domain [...]
The arrival of spring heralds the end of the regular session for Virginia’s legislature. While the General Assembly will return for a veto session in a few weeks (and may be forced to return for a special session if budget issues are not ironed out), the end of the regular session is a good opportunity [...]
We just came back from a meeting of the International Governing Council of the International Right of Way Association in New Orleans, so it seems appropriate to post about a recent case out of New Orleans, involving everyone’s favorite delicious New Orleans bite to eat, oysters. The United States Court of Federal Claims recently handed [...]
If you claim to have an implied easement, do you have to prove the actual location of the easement on the ground? Yes, you do, as the Virginia Court of Appeals recently found in Morris v. Parker, 2024 Va. App. LEXIS 28, affirming the defense win in the trial court. Credit for the win at [...]
The "Virginia Eminent Domain CLE" returns this year for its seventeenth iteration (if we're counting live and mostly for the landowner's bar anyway), this time at the lovely Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, May 9-10, 2024. The conference agenda is available here. My law partner Dave Arnold and I will be presenting on two different interesting [...]
Expert witness testimony is a cornerstone of eminent domain litigation, and the key aspect to eminent domain trial work is expert witness preparation. Even the best of experts will not fare well at trial if not sufficiently prepared. And as we all know, being familiar with an appraisal assignment—including methodology and conclusions of value—will not [...]
In 2020, Virginia revised its partition laws by incorporating provisions of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (“UPHPA”). In doing so, it sought to mitigate the inequitable procedures that often plagued these judicial proceedings – mainly those dealing with partitioning heirs’ property. You may be wondering: What are partition suits? What is heirs’ property? [...]
Listen to a podcast episode about this topic here: Infrastructure Junkies: The Bridge That Goes Under Water. Inching along the bottom of the Elizabeth River is an unlikely creature: Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine. The tunnel boring machine is an integral part of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project. The HRBT adds to Virginia’s [...]