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If there’s one downside to the law school experience from the teacher’s side of the lectern, it’s grading. Especially at a law school like William and Mary that has a pretty strict mandatory curve.

In an upper-division course like “Eminent Domain and Property Rights Law,” where we’re dealing with some very high-level stuff and the quality of the students is uniformly excellent, that makes for some hard choices at this time of year. But we’ve wrapped up grading, and have submitted the official scores.

Although I cannot share with you all the papers themselves, I don’t think my students would mind if I give you a sampling of the topics and titles, just so you can see how the next generation of lawyers is thinking about this area of law: 

  • One Man’s Castle is Another Man’s Parking Lot: A Homeowner’s Theory of Eminent Domain
  • Native Title: Concept and

…
Continue Reading The Circle Is Now Complete: A Sampling Of Final Paper Topics From William and Mary Law’s Eminent Domain & Property Rights Course

Here’s the latest in a case (and issue) we’ve been following. 

In Puntenney v. Iowa Utilities Board, 928 N.W.2d 829 (Iowa 2019), the Iowa Supreme Court answered a question that has been making its way around: what “public” does the “public use” requirement cover? For the Iowa Constitution, for example, does a taking have to be of direct benefit to the people of Iowa?

The court there addressed the issue by not answering the the question directly, but by concluding that the Iowa public is indirectly served by the taking of private property for a pipeline, even though there are no “onramps” or “offramps” for the oil in Iowa. The taking would have the other, usual, butterfly effect Iowa benefits: some jobs, cheaper gas, and the like. Kentucky and West Virginia courts have reached the opposite conclusion (the taking must directly serve the people of the state), but Ohio and…

Continue Reading New Cert Petition: It’s Not Enough For A Condemnor To Invoke A “Classic” Public Use

One does not simply walk to nashville

You can also fly, drive, or bike to the upcoming 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference. in Nashville. Limited space still available, so don’t delay further and register now. We’re on track to record attendance, so you don’t want to miss the best nationally-focused three-day program on our area of law.

Takings, Knick, compensation, appraisals … and a bit of fun thrown in. We have many new attendees, and many new speakers, too.  Continue Reading (Nearly) Last Chance To Join Us In Nashville For ALI-CLE’s Eminent Domain Conference

We were not as creative as our colleague Paul Henry (see below), but our Planning Co-Chair Joe Waldo and I wanted to personally invite you to join the “big guns” in our area of law at the 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference, January 23-25, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee.

We’ve assembled an excellent faculty, and an agenda that covers the hot topics of the day. Go here to view the complete faculty list and agenda. Water rights, Knick, appraisal, ethics, civil rights, and a whole lot more in three days of the longest (and we think best) conference in our area of law. Also, for those new to the field, Andy Brigham and Jack Sperber are again leading their “Eminent Domain 101” program. A great way to learn the topic, or for experienced lawyers to get a quick refresher on the basics. Your registration…

Continue Reading Don’t Miss Out: Join The “Big Guns” And Secure Your Space At ALI-CLE’s Upcoming Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan 23-25, 2020, Nashville)

Registration underway, so come join us! Agenda full of hot topics in takings and appraisal law! The best national faculty! Renew friendships, and make new colleagues! And Nashville! 

Download the brochure and make your plans for January. (Don’t wait, we’ve sold out the past three years.)Continue Reading Register Now! ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Nashville, Jan 23-25, 2020)

Untitled Extract Pages

One should never be surprised, we suppose, when the Supreme Court denies a cert petition due to the daunting statistics, but we really thought that maybe the third time was a charm for the quick-take-by-preliminary-injunction issue, and that the Givens petition had a real chance. The petition was strong, the issue (in our opinion) was compelling: can private pipeline companies obtain immediate precondemnation possession of land and start construction of a pipeline even though the Natural Gas Act delegates to them only the straight-takings power?  

Alas no, the Court today issued an Order declining to review the case (and gazillions of others). The circuit split is the Seventh vs everyone else, but apparently the Supreme Court is more interested in ensuring the circuits are consistent than it is about separation of powers issues, and making sure that the “despotic power” is wielded carefully, especially when it is private for-profit …

Continue Reading Cert Denied (Again) In Quick-Take-By-Injunction Pipeline Case

Arrest-em

Today’s post is kind of long, but we think the opinion is well worth your time. 

NGA Preliminary Injunctions

Regular readers know that we’ve made no secret of our disapproval of the prevailing practice in federal courts of using preliminary injunctions to allow private for-profit pipelines to grab immediate pre-condemnation possession of property using the Natural Gas Act’s delegated federal power of eminent domain, even though everyone agrees the NGA delegates only the straight (slow) taking power. 

Save the Seventh Circuit, every other federal appeals court that has considered this practice has figuratively shrugged its shoulders, rejecting arguments made by the property owners that this exceeds the powers which Congress delegated in the NGA, and violates separation of powers and basic eminent domain principles. The courts of appeals simply pay no mind. And two cert petitions have been denied, and one more is teed up. 

But yesterday, the…

Continue Reading What A Difference The Defendant Makes: The Federal Courts Finally Locate A Natural Gas Act Preliminary Injunction They Don’t Like