Photo of Robert H. Thomas

Robert H. Thomas

A very short opinion we’ve been meaning to post for a while.

In Hickman v. Ringgold County, No. 19-0123 (Nov. 6, 2019), the Iowa Court of Appeals considered property owners’ claim that the taking of their land to create a access road for the neighboring concrete plant was not a valid public use. Seemed

One does not simply walk to nashville

You can also fly, drive, or bike to the upcoming 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference. in Nashville. Limited space still available, so don’t delay further and register now. We’re on track to record attendance, so you don’t want to miss the best nationally-focused three-day program on our area of

The holding of the Indiana Court of Appeals in City of Kokomo v. Estate of Newton, No. 19A-PL-1321 (Dec. 18, 2019) is deceptively simple: if a party does not own a formal interest in the property being taken, evidence of the damages which it incurred as a result of the condemnation isn’t relevant to

Okyoda

It’s 2020, so out with the old, in with the new.

We like any opinion that starts off with “[t]he facts giving rise to this appeal are complicated but do not require a lengthy recitation.” Because that signals the opinion writer has done the hard work, because in order to explain complicated facts in a

20170918_171029_Richtone(HDR)

We’re seeing a lot of “end of year” and “end of decade” wrap-ups, so figured we’d better chime in.

As the above graphic hints (this is detail of the doors of the U.S. Supreme Court), our biggest case of 2019 (and probably of the twenty-aughts) is Knick v. Township of Scott

Here’s the video of our October panel at the 2019 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights conference during which we spoke about “The New New Property: Public Resources and Private Rights.”

Our panel also discussed judicial takings, Stop the Beach, (a case in which speaker Ken Bell — then a Justice on the Florida Supreme

Untitled Extract Pages

Here’s the Complaint filed earlier this month in an Indiana federal court, which alleges that the State of Indiana is liable for a judicial taking in a case we’ve been following. Yes, a judicial taking! 

You recall that in Gunderson v. Indiana, 90 N.E.3d 171 (Ind. 2018), the Indiana Supreme Court concluded that the