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As we reported here, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii just finished a jury trial in a regulatory takings case (removed by the defendant State of Hawaii from Hawaii courts) involving a stalled development on the Big Island.

The jury has returned a verdict after 8 days of trial, concluding the State is liable under both Lucas and Penn Central theories, after only 15 minutes of deliberation after their lunch break. 

But there’s more to this story, because here’s the buried lede. The court yesterday made this entry in the docket: 

EO: The court proposes to enter an order awarding nominal damages of $1 to the plaintiff and then to enter judgment in this case. This will start the running of the clock not only for appeal but also for requests for fees and costs under Local Rule 54.3. If the parties have concerns about this…

Continue Reading Lunch And 15 Minutes: Federal Jury Finds State Land Use Commission Liable For Lucas And Penn Central Taking

A slight divergence from our usual fare today, because we’re looking at a tort case. A tort case? Yes, because this one has lessons for our appellate practitioner colleagues. The lesson: when you are in a court of last resort, “your” case isn’t all yours, and even if you have framed your issues carefully, sometimes the court may go where you made clear you didn’t want it to go.   

Here’s the set up. The largest part of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is discretionary review of decisions of the Intermediate Court of Appeals. Five Justices sit on the court. Our rules of appellate procedure do not specify how many you need to convince in order for the court to “accept” certiorari (we call it “accepting” review, not “granting” cert). The coconut wireless reports, however, that it takes three votes to review a case. Maybe that’s correct or maybe it…

Continue Reading Appellate Lessons: Even When You Frame Your Issues Well, “Your” Case Isn’t Really Yours

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Here’s the printable brochure with the details on the 32nd Annual Land Use Institute in Detroit, April 19-20, 2018. We’ve plugged the program before so we won’t do so again, except to say that you really should attend because (1) it’s a very good program that won’t take much of your time (fly in for the Thursday afternoon program, stay a night, fly home on Friday evening); (2) Detroit is the place to be these days; and (3) it’s one of the best deals in CLE credits, with tuition as low as $400.

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Continue Reading April 19-20, 2018: Land Use Institute, Detroit (Printable Brochure)

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Here’s an article (“Murr v. Wisconsin: The Supreme Court Rewrites Property Rules in Multiple-Parcel Regulatory Takings Cases“), which we authored along with a colleague, published in February 2018’s Zoning and Planning Law Report, about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Murr v. Wisconsin, the case about the “larger parcel” in regulatory takings.

As you might predict, we concluded that the Murr majority’s analysis was vague, unsatisfying, and generally not helpful. Strong letter to follow!

Here’s a passage from the Introduction:

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-3 long-anticipated ruling in Murr v. Wisconsin, expected to resolve the “larger parcel” or “denominator” issue in regulatory takings cases, has instead created a test that neither property owners, lawyers, nor government officials can understand or rely on.

The majority opinion, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, addressed a long-standing question in regulatory takings law: when a claimant who owns more…

Continue Reading New Article: Murr And Other “Blurred Lines”

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Mark your calendars, plan to come: Detroit, April 19-20, 2018. For what is perhaps the best deal in CLE (tuition as low as $400), the 32d Annual Land Use Institute, sponsored by our section of the ABA, the Section of State and Local Government Law.

The venue is the Detroit Mercy School of Law, and the conference hotel is the historic Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit. The Land Use Institute is being held in conjunction with the Section’s Spring State and Local Law Conference. Register for one conference, and you are free to move between sessions (no additional registration fees).

Planning Chairs Frank Schnidman and Dean Patrica Salkin have assembled an excellent faculty and program for the two days. Topics include: “Nuts and Bolts of Land Use Practice: Vested Rights and Regulatory Takings,” “Public-Private Partnerships,” “Climate Change and Resilient Development,” “Client…

Continue Reading 32nd Annual Land Use Institute: Detroit, April 19-20, 2018

Here is the video of last Friday’s oral arguments in a case we’ve been following, in which the owners of a mobile home park successfully challenged a California municipality’s rent control ordinance as a taking.

In Colony Cover Properties v. City of Carson, a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California jury awarded the park owner just compensation, concluding that under Penn Central, the rent control ordinance was a compensable taking. The total award to the park owner, including damages for lost rental income, attorneys’ fees, and interest, was over $9 million. As far as we can tell, this is the first case in which a mobile home park owner has succeeded in obtaining compensation for a taking for rent control.

Predictably, the city went ballistic, and its brief in the Ninth Circuit argues the City is the aggrieved party:

In April 2006, Plaintiff Colony Cove…

Continue Reading Video: Ninth Circuit Penn Central Oral Arguments

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We’re on our third day at the 2018 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Conference in Charleston, SC, and as usual, we’re having our headline presentations by takings guru Michael Berger (pictured above), who is updating us on the most interesting and important cases of the past year, and Jim Burling, who will be answering the question, “Should We Rethink Regulatory Takings Law? The Takings Clause, Privileges and Immunities, and Due Process.”

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Here are links to the…

Continue Reading ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference, Third Day: Berger And Burling On Takings

Our upcoming American Law Institute-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference in Charleston, South Carolina has SOLD OUT our in-person registrations. 

We will have a record attendance (with over 100 first-time attendees) and the conference hotel has informed us that we can fit no more people in the meeting rooms. We cannot remember this happening before, but it tells us that we will have an energizing and exciting conference. 

Thank you to all of you who signed up and are coming or joining in online for the webcast — we’ll see you soon at the “four corners of the law.”

And if you delayed too long in registering, please don’t despair. You can still attend from home or the office because ALI has set up a live webcast of the sessions. Go here for more on how to sign up to attend by webcast.

And stay…

Continue Reading ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Conference – In-Person Registration SOLD OUT (But You Can Still Join By Live Webcast)

35th Annual Advanced Course

Logo_150pxEminent Domain and
Land Valuation Litigation

Live Program | Video Webcast | Video Webcast Segments

Thursday – Saturday, January 25 – 27, 2018
Francis Marion Hotel | Charleston, SC

Do not miss this popular conference! Intended for all eminent domain and land use practitioners, both experienced and those new to the practice. You can even customize the unique curriculum to work for you: freely go between the Advanced and 101 tracks, with additional tracks for Practice and Substantive law.

With a faculty of national experts who offer both condemnor and property owner perspectives, this is the big program, and the one you don’t want to miss.

Recognized and experienced professionals representing the diverse stakeholders in these cases will discuss the issues hitting your desk today or in the future, including:

  • Overlap of condemnation and regulatory takings: Murr and other blurred lines
  • Takings and damaging by flood

…
Continue Reading ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Conference – There’s Still Time To Join Us In Charleston

Back in October, the William and Mary Law School awarded U. Hawaii lawprof David Callies the Brigham-Kanner Prize at a two-day conference in Williamsburg. Our summary of the conference is posted here.

We spoke at the conference, at the first panel entitled “The Future of Land Regulation and a Tribute to David Callies,” along with Professors Shelly Saxer and Jim Ely, and past B-K Prize winner Michael Berger. Of course, Professor Callies also delivered his opening remarks.

The law school has posted the audio from that session, which you can listen to here, or stream it above (via Soundcloud). 

We’re in the process of transforming our remarks into a short essay, to be submitted to the Brigham-Kanner Property Conference Journal if you want to wait for the expanded version. (Feb. 13, 2018 update: here’s the draft article.)Continue Reading Brigham-Kanner Podcast: “The Future Of Land Regulations And A Tribute To David Callies”