Protecting Your Property is our Practice and our Passion.

Eminent domain, government takings or "inverse condemnation", and property rights are at the center of many of our cases. Eminent domain permits the government and some private businesses to take private property for public use whether or not the current owner wants to sell. Landowners faced with the threat of condemnation, or who believe their property has already been taken, need committed advocates experienced in constitutional law, eminent domain statutes, land values, negotiation, litigation and legislative solutions.

Clients need to know:

• Is it constitutional for the state or the utility to take my property for this use?
• What are my rights under my state's eminent domain law?  
• Should I work to change my state's eminent domain law if it is not protecting citizens' private property rights?
• If my property is going to be taken, or has been taken, how can I be sure to get the maximum value for the land?
• What can I do about moving costs, business disruption and other expenses?
• Should I negotiate a deal or should I take it to court?
• Can I negotiate for limits on what the government can do on the property or how or when the work takes place?

We are experienced in answering all of these questions. Our clients consist of individuals and businesses, both separately and sometimes as members of class actions. They come to us when their land is sought to be taken for a public trail (under the rails-to-trails legislation), a telephone cable, a power line, a pipeline, a highway, a redevelopment project or a stadium. For example:

We represented NK Hurst, an Indianapolis company, when its sixty-eight (68) year old factory was threatened with condemnation so a parking lot could be built for a new sports stadium for an NFL football team. We defended the company with a strategy that included litigation, state legislation, mobilization of public opinion, and negotiation. We successfully negotiated a solution that permitted NK Hurst to stay in place and also receive substantial compensation.

During the past decade we have represented literally thousands of landowners in federal takings cases. We tried what is widely regarded as the leading national takings cases involving rails to trails. In Preseault v. United States, we obtained a federal court judgment that included full exemption for an eight-foot strip of land taken for a trail through Mr. Preseault's property in Vermont, plus nearly half a million dollars for damage to the remainder of Mr. Preseault's property due to severance that destroyed its development value. In addition, we recovered for Mr. Preseault attorneys fees paid by him in the takings litigation.

In our class actions, we defend the property rights of landowners against telecommunication, power and pipeline companies, and railroads when they install cables on private property. In consultation with our clients and depending on the laws in each case, we take the challenge or we negotiate or litigate compensation and terms.