Photo of Robert H. Thomas

Robert H. Thomas

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is BK-header-1-650x344.jpg

  • Vicki Been, Judge Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law and Co-Director, Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy, NYU School of Law
  • James Burling, Vice President of Legal Affairs, Pacific Legal Foundation
  • David L. Callies, Benjamin A. Kudo Professor of Law, Emeritus, Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii
  • James W. Ely, Jr., Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law, Emeritus, Professor of History, Emeritus, Vanderbilt University
  • Lee Anne Fennell, Max Pam Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
  • M. Nolan Gray, Senior Director of Legislation & Research, California YIMBY

In addition to the Friday speaking panels, on Thursday, October 23, the William and Mary Law School Real Estate Law Society (a student organization) is presenting a “re-argument” of the Supreme Court arguments in Kelo v. New London, in recognition of that case’s twentieth anniversary. Arguing for Susette Kelo will be her lawyer in the real case, the Institute for Justice. The Justices will be property law professors and eminent domain practitioners. 

Will the Moot Supreme Court reach a different outcome with the benefit of two decades of experience and hindsight? This event is open to the public, so please join us and find out! 

Continue Reading 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Speakers

Several years ago, Owners’ Counsel of America endowed a scholarship in the name of its founder, property rights advocate and trial lawyer Toby Prince Brigham (1934-2021). The scholarship is for a second- or third- year law student to attend the annual three-day ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference (the upcoming Conference will be

When government enters the pharmaceutical market as a participant, it naturally changes the dynamics. But when Congress does this, is it a taking? 

Medicare Part D is a voluntary prescription drug benefit program for Medicare beneficiaries. When Congress first created Part D in 2003, it barred the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) from

Darby

Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been following.

The federal government has asked (and been granted), an extension of time in which to file a cert petition in the Darby case.

That’s the one in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit allowed a claim that the federal government is

2011-05-14_16-31-39_422

Who likes paying a lot for prescription medications? Anyone?

Oregon sure didn’t like it, and it was going to do something about it. In 2018, it adopted a statute the “Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act,” which requires manufacturers to report to the State information about costs, revenues, and prices of certain prescription drugs. The Act

Texas court of appeals fifth

Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been following

Recall that a couple of months ago, the court of appeals held that the challengers were likely to succeed in their challenge to Dallas’s short-term rental ban. The case was up on appeal from a preliminary injunction, so there wasn’t a lot in that

Every year at this time, it seems, we realize once again that as you get older, you overlook birthdays. Time speeds up, or maybe slows down. Very Proustian.

Thus, it occurred to us only yesterday that that this blog’s “birthday” was looming and we almost let it slip by without notice.

It hardly seems

AZ unclaimed

Check out the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Garza v. Woods, No. 24-1064 (Aug. 25, 2025). 

The court concluded that Arizona’s abandoned property statute is not a taking, because the State was not exercising or claiming some kind of ownership of abandoned property (as in those cases where abandoned

Here’s one from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, involving ERISA (yikes!), which is the comprehensive federal regulatory framework for employer-provided pension plans, and takings.

In King v. United States, No. 23-1956 (Aug. 8, 2025), pensioners challenged Congress’s 2014 reduction of benefits as a taking, alleging both physical and regulatory theories.