Court of Federal Claims | Federal Circuit

Subscribe to Court of Federal Claims | Federal Circuit via RSS

1126181629e_HDR

We’re almost there, but we still have room remaining. At the 2018 Conference in Charleston, we both sold out the registrations and the conference hotel, so we planned ahead for the upcoming 2019 Conference in Palm Springs at the Renaissance Palm Springs Resort. 

Register here. You will also be able to download the print brochure (above), or find out more details about the agenda and faculty on line. As always, we have assembled a great faculty — many of them new speakers — on the hottest topics in eminent domain and takings law: pipelines, jury presentations, challenging the take, an update on the most important decisions of 2018, pre-condemnation planning (from both the condemnor and property owner perspective), the border wall, and relocation. 

And of course, ethics and the “101” track for those new to the field, or experienced lawyers who would like a refresher on the…

Continue Reading Space Remaining Is Limited – Register Now For ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Palm Springs, Jan. 24-26, 2019)

Reading the fact section of the Federal Circuit’s recent opinion in Katzin v. United States, No. 16-2636 (Nov. 19, 2018), will make your eyes glaze over. It’s all about some property on an island near Puerto Rico, and is full of maps, diagrams, history, and even a photo of some “Keep Out” signs the feds erected. Important, but for someone who isn’t involved in the case, somewhat of a slog to get through.

Give it a read and see if you don’t agree.

But here’s the short story: both the plaintiffs and the feds think they own the land, a ten-acre parcel whose most prominent feature is an old gun emplacement. The Court of Federal Claims after a trial concluded that the plaintiffs owned the property, and that it had been physically taken when a federal official sent a fax to a prospective purchaser claiming that the feds, not…

Continue Reading Fed Cir: Feds Claiming Ownership Of Property And Killing The Market Isn’t A Physical Taking, The Statute Of Quia Emptores Notwithstanding

Get ready. In this and upcoming posts, we’re going to be featuring the items on our agenda for the upcoming ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference, January 24-26, 2019, in sunny Palm Springs, California. 

ALI-CLE has released the brochure, which those of you on the mailing list should have received — or will be receiving — in your brick-and-mortar inboxes. If not, download it here. Looking it over, you will see that we have assembled a great faculty with expertise in the range of issues that are driving our branch of the law, locally and nationally.

And, as always, one of the best aspects of this conference is the collegiality. Our attendees and faculty find that one of the most beneficial parts of the conference is to meet your colleagues from across the country, and talk shop about the issues we love.  

Of course we …

Continue Reading ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Palm Springs Brochure Is Out

Retroactive continuity — or “retconning” — is, according to that authoritative source Wikipedia, a “literary device in which established facts in a fictional work are adjusted, ignored, or contradicted by a subsequently published work which breaks continuity.”

For example, compare the real-world explanation for why the 1960’s Star Trek show’s Klingons didn’t have butt heads, but the later-produced shows and movies did. The real-world reason was that the TV show had a bare-bones budget, so couldn’t afford the required intricate make-up. The later-produced stuff, having larger budgets, could. But to those concerned with an in-universe explanation that had to line up with the production realities, it turned out to be a big source of contention. Fandom as well as the later shows’ writers struggled to come up with a narrative that accounted for both Klingons with butt heads, and those without. 

Sorry for the impossibly nerdy…

Continue Reading Knick And Klingon Foreheads: Retconning Williamson County

MRGO

Here’s the amici brief filed late last week on behalf of a lot of us (me included, check it out) in the MR-GO case we’ve been following closely ever since it was filed in the Court of Federal Claims.

That court concluded the Corps of Engineers built MR-GO (the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet) shipping channel, essentially a shortcut to New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico, but then, despite its own knowledge that its lack of channel maintenance over the years would amplify the “hurricane attack” (the Corps’ words, not ours) when the next big one hit, the Corps did not respond. Well, as we all know, Katrina smashed the Gulf Coast in 2005, and sure enough, MR-GO was like a hurricane bowling alley, allowing the storm surge to barrel up the channel, amplifying its effect. New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish were the pins at the end of…

Continue Reading Amici Brief: There’s No “Direct” vs. “Indirect,” Action vs. Inaction Distinction In Takings

20181002_154246_HDR (1)

Last week, the 15th Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference saw the gathering of legal scholars, judges, lawyers, and law students at the William and Mary Law School to award the B-K Property Rights Prize to Cardozo lawprof Stewart Sterk, followed by a day-long conference focusing on Professor Sterk’s work and the latest developments in property rights law.

Professor Sterk joins the pantheon of property law scholars (and a judge and a practitioner) who have been awarded the Prize. Pretty impressive:

WIN_20151002_13_15_51_Pro

As always, the program starts off with a candlelight dinner and award presentation in the historic Wren Building, definitely a highlight of the Conference. More about the Conference here. 

And there’s nothing like spending the following day addressing some of the most pressing issues in our area, along with the brightest minds in the business (below is the final panel of the day, with Professor John Echeverria…

Continue Reading 2018 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Report: Emerging Issues

Our colleague and co-planning chair Joe Waldo was in town yesterday, so we walked through historic Williamsburg, Virginia (cradle of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights), to invite you to join us for the 36th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (January 24-26, 2019, in Palm Springs, California).

As we wrote in this post, the Conference will feature the nation’s best eminent domain faculty, presenting on the topics we love.

Register now here. Early registration and group discounts available. The 2018 Conference in Charleston sold out, so be sure to sign up now so you don’t miss out. Continue Reading Join Us For The 36th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference In Palm Springs (Jan 24-26, 2019)

MRGO

Here’s the cert petition we’ve been waiting to drop in a case we’ve been following closely. 

Last we checked in, the Federal Circuit (any guess on which judge?) held that the catastropic Katrina flooding — caused mostly by the federal government’s construction and maintenance of a navigation project, the Mississippi River Gulf-Outlet canal (known as MR-GO) — could only result in tort liability, for which the federal government has already been determined to be immune. MR-GO was an attempt to improve navigation, and it obviously wasn’t the sole cause of the flooding, but by all accounts (and the proof in the Court of Federal Claims) it ended up worsening dramatically and magnifying the effect of Katrina. The CFC concluded this was a taking, and awarded just compensation.

Now, St Bernard Parish has asked the Supreme Court to step in. Here are the Questions Presented:

In…

Continue Reading New Cert Petition (MR-GO Katrina Case): Can Government *Inaction* Lead To A Taking?

20180126_111558_HDR

You’ve known for a while that Palm Springs, California, specifically the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel (a resort facility, but right in town, so you will have many options for “off campus” activities like art museums, the aerial tram, golf, and whatever suits your fancy, and close-in to the Palm Springs Airport), is the venue for our 2019 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 24 through 26, 2019.

Of course, you also knew that the programming would be the usual spread of topical and cutting-edge topics, presented by some of the nation’s experts. But we didn’t give you the details. So here are some of the programs we’re having: 

  • Keynote Address: “Property Rights: Foundation for a Free Society” – Taylor Revley, most recently the past President of the College of William and Mary, and also former law school Dean (as well as a

…
Continue Reading ALI-CLE 2019 Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, Palm Springs Agenda – Register Now!

Here’s what we are reading (or listening to) this Tuesday:

…
Continue Reading Tuesday Reading List – Flood Takings, Cuba Property, Beach Access, And … Space Aliens