Here at our law firm, we’re getting ready as one of our colleagues prepares to argue the Supreme Court’s next takings case in a couple of weeks. Yes, this is what we’ve alternatively called the “home equity theft” or the “keep the change” case where government seizes property to satisfy the owner’s tax debt, and
Municipal & Local Govt law
New Article: Alex Boone, “The Tide’s Coming In: A New Case for Beachfront Property Rights in South Carolina” (Wm & Mary Envt’ L & Pol’y Rev)
Check this out, a new student-authored note from William and Mary third-year law student Alex Boone, “The Tide’s Coming In: A New Case for Beachfront Property Rights in South Carolina,” 47 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol’y Rev. 383 (2023).
Here’s the Abstract:
Part I of this Note explores the scientific data…
April 27, 2023, 5-7pm, Honolulu: Join Us To Celebrate The Work And Career Of Professor David Callies
Come join us on Thursday, April 27, 2023, from 5-7pm, downtown Honolulu, to celebrate the retirement of Professor David L. Callies from the University of Hawaii Law School.
Join U.H. Law School Dean Camille Nelson, Professor Callies’ colleagues, his students (present and former), the Hawaii legal community, and family and friends as we honor…
Join Us At The 22d Annual Texas Eminent Domain Conference, April 13-14, Austin
If you are in the Austin area (or anywhere in Texas for that matter), please consider joining us April 13 and 14, 2023 for the 22d Annual Texas Eminent Domain Conference.
Two days of great programming and talking shop, plus a chance to connect and re-connect with friends and colleagues. And, of course, all…
Bust A Deal, Face The Wheel: NYC Rendering Commercial Lease Guaranty Clauses Unenforceable For Co-19 Violates Contracts Clause
This just in: the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued this Opinion & Order in the case which challenges New York City’s rendering “guaranty clauses” in commercial leases unenforceable due to the declared Co-19 emergency.
This is a case we’ve been following. Earlier, the Second Circuit vacated the district…
CA4: Exactions Takings Claim Accrues When Owner Knows Of The Demand, Not When It Paid
As most of you probably already know, there’s a demon lurking out there in takings claims. Not of the Levon Helm-narrated The Right Stuff variety, but maybe just as deadly in litigation.
That’s right, the too-early-or-too-late thing (or in some cases, the too-early-and-too-late argument). Getting caught between arguments that a takings claim…
New Cert Petition: Do You Need Statutory Authorization To Sue For A Taking?
Check this out, a recently-filed cert petition in a case we’ve been following, filed by our friends and colleagues at the Institute for Justice. This one involves an issue we’ve been on top of also, most recently in these two cases (see here and here).
That is, what does the Supreme Court’s description…
Denying Uses (But Allowing Discretionary Ad Hoc Exceptions) Isn’t A Recipe For Rational Land Use
If a zoning statute or ordinance sets out the uses permitted in a zone, and the uses not permitted in the zone, and a property owner wants to make a use not permitted in the zone, all she needs to do is apply for a variance, or a Conditional Use Permit, or a nonconforming use…
One Guess What The Second Circuit Did With A Takings Challenge To Rent Control
Let’s say you know nothing else about an appeal except it is being decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the case is a constitutional challenge to rent control. What’s your best guess about the outcome (the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim)?
When the Second Circuit…
Property Owner’s SCOTUS Merits Brief: “Under no circumstances can government have an unbounded ability to confiscate entire properties of any size for even the most minimal tax debts.”
Here’s the merits brief, filed yesterday in the above-depicted Court by our law firm colleagues, headed by Counsel of Record Christina Martin in Tyler v. Hennepin County, No. 22-166, a case and an issue we’ve been following closely. This is the one, where, as recounted in the petition:
Hennepin County…






