Eminent Domain Report

Along with my colleagues Brad Kuhn, Ben Rubin, and Katherine Contreras, I'm here in Hartford at the IRWA Annual Education Conference.  It's been an interesting few days as we discuss eminent domain issues in the shadow of New London, Connecticut, battle ground of the infamous Kelo decision.  

I spoke yesterday on a panel moderated by Orell Anderson, alongside attorneys Jim Ray and Jeff Pollack.  Our topic involved how contamination issues are handled in litigation.  It was a great session, even though it did not go at all as we planned it.  The extremely engaged audience consumed nearly the ...

One of the trickiest circumstances to deal with in an eminent domain case occurs when the property being condemned suffers from a contamination issue.  This presents a number of thorny issues and, quite frankly, is an area of law which is shockingly undeveloped in most jurisdictions. 

• Should the cost of the remediation be offset from the value of the property? 
• Should the contamination be ignored since the owner is being compelled to "sell" the property, often against his or her will? 
• Should the appraisers treat the contamination as they would any other circumstance affecting the ...

So I'm off to Atlanta for the IRWA's Annual Education Conference.  I'll be there from Saturday night through Wednesday, and along with our outgoing President Michele Folk from OPC, I'll be representing Chapter 67 in Orange County as its nearly-installed President.  (Ironically enough, I'm missing my own installation, which takes place during the Conference.) 

It will also be a bit of a Nossaman Eminent Domain reunion for me.  In addition to my current Partner, David Graeler, who will be there as President Elect of Chapter 1, two of my former Nossaman colleagues, John Murphy and Brad ...