Real Estate & Property Law

Hawaii State Bar Association Gives CJ-Appointee "Unqualified" Rating

Posted on August 03, 2010
On Monday, August 2, the Hawaii State Bar Association gave Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard an "unqualified" rating. No explanation was available publicly. The only reference on the HSBA web site as of 6:20 p.m. was a press...

There Once Was Some Land In Nantucket ... Mass SJC Considering Public Trust And Torrens Title Case

Posted on August 02, 2010
Is there anyone who can resist, when something Nantucket-related (mostly SFW) comes up, to launch into a limerick? We sure couldn't. But we will spare you our bad poetry this time, and instead focus on an appeal now under consideration...

More Weigh In On Leonard Appointment As Hawaii Chief Justice

Posted on August 01, 2010
More prominent members of the Bar have added their support to the appointment of Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard as the next Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court: Seitz Attack on Kate Leonard completely inappropriate - Honolulu...

More 2009 Chief Justice-Nominee Leonard's ICA Opinions

Posted on July 31, 2010
Earlier, we posted a summary of the written opinions of Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard, focusing on her most recent work product (2010). An astute reader noted that we missed some earlier-produced opinions in cases that might be...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Live Blog Of Hawaii Senate Judicary Committee Hearing On Confirmation Of Katherine Leonard As Chief Justice (Tuesday August 3, at 9:30 a.m.)

Posted on July 31, 2010
On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, beginning at 9:30 a.m. (HST) -- assuming our technology cooperates -- we will begin our live blog of the Hawaii Senate Committee of Judiciary and Government Operations hearing on the confirmation of Katherine G. Leonard...

Minn Supremes: Property Can Be Taken To "Reawaken The Spirit And Vitality" Of City Without Statutory Development Agreement In Place

Posted on July 29, 2010
This just in: the Minnesota Supreme Court has issued an opinion in a case we've been watching, Eagan Economic Development Authority v. U-Haul Co. of Minnesota, No. A08-767 (July 29, 2010). This is the case in which the Court of...

How To Evaluate The Leonard Nomination

Posted on July 28, 2010
To add to our earlier summary of the opinions authored or joined by Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard -- Governor Lingle's nominee as the next Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court -- we have a few thoughts...

Wisconsin Ct App: Property Owner's "Check" Is Subject To Town's Condemnation "Checkmate"

Posted on July 27, 2010
There are a host of issues in DSG Evergreen v Town of Perry, No. 2009AP727 (Wis. Ct. App. July 22, 2010) (the appellant raised seven grounds for appeal in this condemnation case), but this is the one that caught our...

ABA Panel On "Careers In State & Local Goverment Law" (And Reception)

Posted on July 26, 2010
Heads up to all those who will be attending the upcoming ABA annual meeting in San Francisco. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, August 5 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Bingham McCutchen offices at Three Embarcadero Center for...

More On Chief Justice-Nominee Leonard's Opinions

Posted on July 25, 2010
Why we like law blogging: a commenter added to our recent post on Judge Katherine Leonard's opinions during her tenure as an Associate Judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals. In the 2009 Roxas case (regarding the extension of a...

Event: The Supreme Court And The Battle For Second Amendment Rights

Posted on July 23, 2010
Last night, I had the opportunity to attend The Supreme Court and the Battle for Second Amendment Rights, a discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court's two recent Second Amendment opinions, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the case in which...

Judge Leonard's Opinions

Posted on July 23, 2010
Yesterday, Governor Lingle appointed Intermediate Court of Appeals judge Katherine Leonard as the next Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court. The term of appointment is ten years, with the possibility of reappointment by the Judicial Selection Commission, with service...

Review Of The Supreme Court's Term 2010 - Northern District Of California Chapter, Federal Bar Association Event

Posted on July 22, 2010
Thanks to the Federal Bar Association (Northern District of California Chapter), today I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion of the significant cases from the Supreme Court's recently ended Term. The panelists discussed "Guns, Free Speech, Criminal Justice,...

7th Circuit: Political Chutzpah Lawsuit Not Ripe

Posted on July 21, 2010
So let's say you want to hold fundraisers for political bigshots in your home. When the crowd you are hobnobbing with includes Bill Clinton, you might expect the Secret Service to come along, and you might expect that your local...

North Carolina App: When Opposing Summary Judgment, Make Sure Your Declarations State Facts, Not Conclusions (Applies In Inverse Condemnation Cases)

Posted on July 21, 2010
Here's a case from the North Carolina Court of Appeals that is similar to last week's decision by the Kansas Supreme Court, in that it involves an inverse condemnation claim resolved by the burdens on the parties in the course...

New Book: Property Rights - Eminent Domain and Regulatory Takings Re-Examined (2010)

Posted on July 20, 2010
I recently picked up a copy of Property Rights - Eminent Domain and Regulatory Takings Re-Examined (Bruce L. Benson, ed., Independent Institute 2010), available on-line here. At 299 pages and with 13 entries, I haven't had a chance to read...

Cal App: No "Substantial Issue" Meriting Appeal To Coastal Commission

Posted on July 15, 2010
In Hines v. California Coastal Commission, No. A125254 (decided June 17, 2010, ordered published July 13, 2010), the California Court of Appeal (First District) held that the California Coastal Commission properly refused to hear the appeal of a neighbor who...

More On The "Judicial Takings" Case (Stop The Beach Renourishment)

Posted on July 14, 2010
More on the "judicial takings" case, Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (June 17, 2010). Remember that at the ABA Annual Meeting next month in San Francisco, the Section of State and Local...

Headlines No Condemnor Likes To See

Posted on July 13, 2010
We have no idea what these cases might be about, or whether there is any substance behind the property owners' objections, but these are headlines no condemnor could possibly like: Bedford County Widow Sued (via wjactv.com) - "A Bedford County...

Kansas: Inverse Condemnation Case Resolved By Summary Judgment Burdens

Posted on July 13, 2010
Here at inversecondemnation.com we also cover eminent domain, regulatory takings, land use, and environmental issues. We even cover election law when it strikes our fancy. But here's one that's in our core competency: in Frick v. City of Salina, No.....

New Article On Legislative-Adjudicative Distinction In Nollan/Dolan Analysis

Posted on July 12, 2010
Heads up on a new article of interest to those of us who deal with exactions and Nollan/Dolan: Matthew Baker, Much Ado About Nollan/Dolan: The Comparative Nature of the Legislative Adjudication Distinctions in Exactions, 42 Urban Lawyer 171 (2010). Here's...

Wisconsin: Taking Groundwater Is Not A Taking Of A Building Damaged By The Taking Of The Groundwater

Posted on July 12, 2010
If you can figure out the syntax of this post's headline, you've just figured out the rationale of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in E-L Enterprises, Inc v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, No. 2008AP921 (July 2, 2010). In that case, the...

Curb Appeal In South Dakota: No Special Benefit To Property Means That Special Assessment Is A Taking

Posted on July 09, 2010
A rule of law set out over 100 years ago and which remains (as we say) good law qualifies as "well-established" by any standard. Village of Norwood v. Baker, 172 U.S. 269 (1898) set forth the rule that a special...

HAWSCT Finds Zoning Statutes Are "Environmental" Laws - Court Creates A Private Right Of Action To Enforce Chapter 205

Posted on July 09, 2010
The Hawaii Supreme Court today by a 4-1 margin issued an opinion that has fundamentally rewritten Hawaii land use law. In County of Hawaii v. Ala Loop Homeowners, No. 27707 (cert. granted Sep. 2, 2009), the four-Justice majority in an...

Updated Opinion: Impact Fee Not Reasonably Related To Burden Created By Development

Posted on July 08, 2010
Last month, we summarized Homebuilders Ass'n Tulare/Kings Counties, Inc. v. City of Lemoore, No. F057671 (Cal. Ct. App. June 9, 2010), a case about the propriety of impact fees under California's Mitigation Fee Act (Cal. Gov't Code § 66000, et...

Book Review: Federal Land Use Law and Litigation, 2010 edition

Posted on July 07, 2010
I've just received my copy of the 2010 revision of Federal Land Use Law & Litigation by Brian W. Blaesser and Alan C. Weinstein (West, $225). Here's the description of the book from West's site: Examines all federal, constitutional, and...

Final Brief In Torrens Title And Public Trust Appeal

Posted on July 07, 2010
The State of Hawaii has filed a brief responding to the amicus brief we filed in June in In re Trustees Under the Will of the Estate of James Campbell, No. 30006, an appeal now under review by the Hawaii...

11th Circuit: Ixnay On The Vacay Rental Lawsuit

Posted on July 06, 2010
Not much new in Numont v. State of Florida, No. 04-13610 (11th Cir., July 2, 2010) (per curiam). There, property owners sued to enjoin a Monroe County (aka the Florida Keys) ordinance that prevents "vacation rentals." The opinion makes short...

New Jersey Monday

Posted on July 06, 2010
Two unreported opinions arising out of cases from New Jersey. We won't be reviewing them (they are not precedential after all), but you may want to check them out if you are interested in public use and redevelopment (case #1),...

The Verified Complaint In Equity: The Declaration Of Independence

Posted on July 04, 2010
We know lawyers are easy targets (we enjoy lawyer jokes as much as the next person, i.e., What's the difference between a good lawyer and a great lawyer? A good lawyer knows the law; a great lawyer knows the judge.)....

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.