A big thank you to Clint Schumacher and his Eminent Domain Podcast for having us on the program (this is the sixth time, not that we’re counting). We joined Clint to chat about three breaking issues in eminent domain (highlighted by the intriguing cases we discuss), as well as to preview the upcoming 41st ALI-CLE
Indiana: Depriving Litigant Of Ability To Bring Class Action Challenging Co-19 Zoom Classes Isn’t A Taking
Like a lot of us, Ball State University student Keller Mellowitz didn’t care for “remote” or “Zoom” virtual classrooms which were imposed on us in varying degrees during the Co-19 thing.
But he didn’t take it lying down. Believing that remote learning wasn’t what was promised to him in return for his tuition dollars…
Closing Another William and Mary Law School Season

A crisp autumn day at the Old School (truly – founded 1779)
We have just wrapped another semester of dirt law classes at William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. Today was the last day of instruction in our Land Use course, as well as in our Eminent Domain & Property Rights class.…
CAFED: “Right of Way” For Railroad Shows Intent To Grant An Easement
The U.S. Court of Appeals’ opinion in Barlow v. United States, No. 22-1381 (Nov. 22, 2023), isn’t a groundbreaking opinion on takings (although yes, it did reverse the Court of Federal Claims’s dismissal of the property owner’s rails-to-trails takings claim), but is still worth a quick read.
The major issue was whether, under Illinois…
La Cour suprême du Canada Considering Effect Of “The Scheme” On Takings And Compensation
You know that from time to time — mostly thanks to our friend and colleague Shane Rayman and his firm — we cover property goings-on north of the border when a good property rights case comes before the Supreme Court of Canada (see here and here for past examples).
Well, here’s another…
Join Us For 100 Years Of Pennsylvania Coal (Pace Land Use Conference, Dec. 8, 2023)

22nd annual Alfred B. DelBello Land Use
and Sustainable Development Conference
Come, join us (and others) on Thursday-Friday, December 7-8, 2023, at Pace Law School in White Plains, New York for the Land Use and Sustainable Development Conference (this year’s conference theme is “Balancing Economic Realities with Environmental and Social Concerns”).
We’re speaking about the…
Harvard Law Review On Tyler v. Hennepin County: Reflecting The “Diminishing” Role Of State Property Law In Takings
Check this one out, the Harvard Law Review‘s summary of Tyler v. Hennepin County, the “home equity theft” takings case decided unanimously by the Supreme Court.
Some highlights:
Beginning with traditional principles, Chief Justice Roberts suggested that a property interest in surplus equity had English origins — King John proclaimed in the Magna…
We’re Thinkful For All You Dirt Law Lovers
On this Thinks…uh Thanksgiving holiday, we’re grateful for all you property law and property rights mavens out there. Drive on, friends.
And no Thanksgiving gathering would be complete without the obligatory dramatic reading of John Stossel’s timeless holiday classic, “Private Property Rights Made the First Thanksgiving Possible.” We’re certain your relatives are…
(Un)Happy 97th Birthday, Euclid!
On this day in 1926, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (Nov. 22, 1926).
You know this one (shame on you if you don’t!) – it is the case in which the Supreme Court first upheld — against…
“The courts don’t need Congress’s permission to enforce the self-executing constitutional right to just compensation.”
“No need to ask, he’s a smooth operator…”
Here’s the amicus brief we just filed in a case we’ve (obviously) been paying close attention to.
This is Devillier v. Texas, the case in which the Supreme Court is considering what does the it mean when it describes the Just Compensation Clause as “self-executing?”…




