Judicial Takings

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., No. 25-2935 (Dec. 11, 2025), isn’t one the typical readers of this outlet might notice.

After all, it’s mostly about a tech company beef, as the caption might indicate. And the opinion is about one aspect of that beef, where the district court ordered Apple to do something, and then … it didn’t.
Continue Reading CA9: District Court’s Contempt Order Isn’t A Judicial Taking

With our tongues firmly planted in cheeks, the Planning Chairs for the upcoming 42d edition of this popular and venerable Conference bring you this “breaking news” report from San Diego!

As you know, in addition to being the best nationally-focused conference on the subjects that we love and a venue that is nearly certain to have some of the warmest winter weather in the continental United States, and we went on-location from some of the local highlights: the beaches, Torrey Pines, the Zoo, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Coronado to name but a few.

More about the Conference here, including registration information.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Property Rights at the Supreme Court: DeVillier and Sheetz and What’s Next
  • Slow Take: Possession, Rent, Relocation, and Offset
  • The Jury’s View: How Jurors See Your Case
  • From Penn Coal to Penn Central: How to Prove “Too Far”
  • Leveraging Expertise in Eminent Domain Litigation: Working with Land Planners, Engineers, and Other Predicate Experts
  • Kelo at Twenty: What Changed, What Didn’t, and What’s on the Horizon
  • Viva Las Vegas: How the Nevada Judiciary Upheld Property Rights in 180 Land’s Inverse Condemnation Taking
  • Ethics: Guiding the Trolley: Perspectives on Professional Ethics in Eminent Domain for Lawyers, Appraisers, and Right of Way Agents
  • “I Think I Shall Never See” Just Compensation For a Tree: Strategies to Securing Recovery for Trees, Crops, and Fixtures

And more. Check out the complete agenda here. Registration information here

We especially welcome first-time participants, or those returning after an absence. Connect (or reconnect) with your colleagues from across the nation.

The 41st Conference was in New Orleans. Here’s a report of that event, and here are our reports from prior conferences in Austin and Scottsdale.

Don’t miss out on San Diego: we have had record attendance in recent years, so hold your space now. #EminentDomain2025Continue Reading Breaking News: Come Join Us For The 42d ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego, Jan 30-Feb 1

The owner’s land is a peninsula most of the time, but when Flathead Lake, Montana, rises a few months each year, it needed a bridge to access. So it asked the County “How about a bridge? We will only use it when the water rises.” County said yes, issued a permit.

NIMBY neighbors, however, had

Screenshot 2024-07-14 at 09-00-18 Sheetz v. County of El Dorado Legislatures Must Comply with the Takings Clause by Brian T. Hodges Deborah La Fetra SSRN

Check this out: our Pacific Legal Foundation colleagues (Brian Hodges and Deborah La Fetra we on our Sheetz SCOTUS team), have posted a new scholarly piece on SSRN, “Sheetz v. County of El Dorado: Legislatures Must Comply with the Takings Clause.”

Here’s the Abstract:

For more than 30 years, the Supreme Court

Here’s the latest in an issue we’ve been following.

In SCS Carbon Transport LLC v. Malloy, No. 20230149 (May 30, 2024), the North Dakota Supreme Court held that that’s state’s statute which allows prospective condemnors to enter land to conduct surveys and the like before instituting eminent domain without liability is not unconstitutional

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

In Romero v. Shih, the California Supreme Court recognized the doctrine of an “implied exclusive easement” (which sounds an awful lot like a fee simple interest, doesn’t it?) in a private easement disputed between Owner A and Owner B.

The owner on the losing

Gorsuch concurring

Note: this is the second of our posts on the recent Supreme Court opinions in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the case in which the unanimous Court held that exactions imposed by legislation are not exempt from the essential nexus (Nollan) and rough proportionality (Dolan) standards. Here’s our first post

A quick one from the Arizona Supreme Court that isn’t so much a true takings case, but more like “takings adjacent.” In our view, it well illustrates the way that takings arguments can shape how statutes are interpreted, even if there isn’t a taking.

The case — Cao v. PFP Dorsey Investments, LLC, No.

Be sure to check out this interview (“Rent Control Is a ‘New York Tragedy’“) on Hamodia, with law Professor Richard Epstein.

As you might expect, the interview is full of insights and bon mots. There’s even a reference to the judicial takings case, Stop the Beach Renourishment. And a lot of things