Under Nebraska law, Natural Resource Districts possess the power of eminent domain, delegated to them by the state legislature. The question in Estermann v. Bose, No. S-15-1022 (Apr. 7, 2017) was whether four of those NRD’s could, in turn, re-delegate that power to a new agency which they jointly formed under the Interlocal Cooperation
SCOTUS Amicus Brief: Forcing The Jury To Pretend A Terminated Easement Still Encumbered Land Violated Just Comp Clause
Here’s the third amicus brief filed in support of our cert petition in Bay Point Properties, Inc. v. Mississippi Transportation Commission, a case asking whether the Just Compensation Clause prohibits a court from instructing an inverse condemnation jury that it must value taken property as if it was burdened by a highway easement which the
Another Amici Brief Supporting SCOTUS Cert Petition: “Ordering The Jury to Return A Verdict For Peanuts Instead Of Millions” Violates Just Comp Clause
Here’s another amici brief (on behalf of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, and Owners’ Counsel of America, authored by takings/SCOTUS superstar Michael Berger) supporting the cert petition we filed last month which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court. Here’s the amicus brief which Pacific Legal
New SCOTUS Amicus Brief: Just Compensation Is Determined By Courts, Not Legislatures
Here’s the amicus brief, filed yesterday by Pacific Legal Foundation is support of the cert petition we filed last month which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
First, some background. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed “Toll Project No. 1,” the U.S. Highway 90 crossing of Bay St. Louis
Fed Cir: BLM’s Temporary Prohibition On Mining Not A Penn Central Taking
There’s a lot of backstory in Reoforce, Inc. v. United States, No. 15-5084 (Mar. 17, 2017), involving mining claims, federal patents, and public lands. An interesting read, we won’t go into the details.
But suffice it to say that Reoforce thought it had a pretty decent chance of obtaining a patent for federal land
La: “Something is wrong” – Post-Kelo Amendments Reduced Compensation For Levee Servitudes From “Full Extent Of The Loss” To Fair Market Value
When most jurisdictions reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S 469 (2005), they — naturally being aghast at the result — adopted legislation that either purported to make it easier on landowners, or harder on condemnors. Understandable, as the public uproar which Kelo caused has
Professor David Callies To Be Awarded Brigham-Kanner Prize At Property Rights Conference (Oct. 10-13, 2017), William & Mary Law School
Save the date: the William & Mary Law School’s Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Project has selected University of Hawaii Law Professor David L. Callies as the 2017 recipient of the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize.
The Project has also announced the dates for the B-K Conference:
When: October 10-13, 2017
Where: William & Mary
Wanted: Litigation Associate
From time to time, we’ve posted job openings here in the legal field in Honolulu. But never an opening on our home turf.
Well today, we’re soliciting applications for a litigation associate in our law firm, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert. We’re not going to reprint the official job posting (“challenging and rewarding environment, strong
8th Circuit: Not Using Easement For Granted Purpose = Trespass And Inverse Condemnation, But Not Unjust Enrichment
It’s flashback to Property I class today, folks.
Yesterday’s opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Barfield v. Sho-Me Power Elec. Coop., No. 15-2964 (Mar. 29, 2017) was about easements, and there wasn’t really a takings issue presented, but we thought we would post it anyway since it
Rickrolling Rail
Honolulu Civil Beat has an interesting editorial today about the Honolulu rail project, the 20-station, 21-mile elevated steel-on-steel project now being built at a cost that was first projected at about $3.8 billion, and at last count is somewhere in the $8 – $11 billion range.
The editorial, “Honolulu Rail: City Needs To Get