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You know the drill: permitting authorities know that if they take a definitive position about how a regulation works on a particular piece of property, a takings challenge is ripe. So in many cases we see either the authority taking affirmative steps to keep on saying “maybe,” or at least providing a definitive “no.” Or even where there’s a sold “no” from…
Time to sign up for the upcoming “Unpacking Private Property’s Bundle of Sticks” Symposium, sponsored by our shop and George Mason Law Review . September 15, 2026, 12:15 – 5:45 p.m., Arlington, Virginia. Here’s a description of the event: Property rights are often analogized to a bundle of sticks. But they are the guardians of our other constitutional rights and,…
Worth checking out: Northland Management & Constr., LLC v. City of Parkland , No. 25-2239 (Aug. 3, 2026), from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, hich affirmed the district court’s conclusion after a bench trial that the city had inversely condemned Northland’s property (under Missouri law) because the city denied a certificate of occupancy. The city approved a…
A brief one from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Sinclair v. Meisner , No. 26-1061 (Aug. 5, 2026). This is a spin-off from a successful home equity theft takings case, where some of the property owners’ lawyers were seeking an award of attorneys fees. The lawyers sought $4.2 million, the district court reduced the award to $1.36 million, and the Sixth Circuit — after…
It’s that time of the year again. Fall’s-a-coming, and that means that in a few days, we’re back at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia to teach two courses: Eminent Domain and Property Right s (W&M is one of the few law schools in the country that offer a course in eminent domain, just compensation, and takings) Land Use Controls (an especially hot topic at…
Nothing to do with takings. Just thought you’d appreciate the Fifth Circuit’s most epic stringcite we’ve ever seen, send along by a takings colleague. In re Acis Capital Management, L.P. , No. 25-10797 (July 17, 2026). And this is only the first page. There’s more. In re: Acis Capital Management, L.P., No. 25-10797 (5th Cir. July 17, 2026)
Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been closely following (because we represent the property owners!). In this Memorandum and Order , the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island invalidated the Town of Johnston’s ham-fisted attempt to take the property of a local family in order to move the current Town Hall from its present location in the center of town to the very…
Worth reading, if only for its somewhat odd logic is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s opinion in BBLI Edison, LLC v. City of Chicago , No. 25-1713 (July 22, 2026), where the court upheld, against a takings challenge, a city requirement (the “Keep Chicago Renting Ordinance”) that anyone who acquires a rental property via foreclosure must either enter into new…
Here’s the latest in an issue we’ve been following for a long time : must a property owner first try to change the law which is claimed to work a taking before bringing a takings claim in court? In other words, in order for the government to have made a “final decision” for Williamson County purposes does the legislature have to decline to amend the very law being…
Here’s the complete agenda for the 2026 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, October 14-16, 2026, in London. The Conference has gone international twice before ( Beijing (2011) and The Hague (2016) ). At the Conference, the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights prize will be presented to Professor James Penner , “whose scholarship has reshaped contemporary understandings of the nature…