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Condemnation, Zoning & Land Use Committee

 

Mission

 

Our Committee continues to grow and offer new and exciting opportunities for members to educate themselves on recent developments in the law, network with other top professionals in the field, and promote their practice to colleagues in other parts of the country. We have over 600 members, across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico and Guam.

We strive to publish one to two e-newsletters per year, so there is always an upcoming edition of this publication. You are encouraged to contribute an article. We want to provide useful and comprehensive information on the most significant cases, legislative initiatives, and other legal developments for the past year throughout the country in the condemnation, zoning, and land use field.

Please contact our newsletter editor, Joachin Hernandez, if you are interested in being published in the newsletter.

We continue to expand and improve our 50 State Condemnation Law Project. We now have outlines of the Law of Eminent Domain from 30 states, covering 83 percent of our committee membership. We hope that the interactive map makes it easier to access the content you want in the state in which you’re interested. We’re excited that as time progresses, more and more state-specific information is becoming accessible through this portal.

Consider joining our committee and consider becoming a contributor either to this website or to the committee’s annual review. If you do not see your state (or a state in which you practice) in the compendium, please think about becoming a state editor. This offers substantial exposure for both you and your firm’s land use practice with a very modest time commitment. Contact Bill Blake, or one of our committee cochairs, J. Casey Pipes or Robert J. Will if you are interested. Already, several of our state editors have contributed case notes and commentary on interesting developments in the law, in addition to their state outlines, and have reported positive feedback (and referrals) as a result of the postings! You could join them.

Spread the word among your colleagues to bookmark this site as an essential resource for condemnation, land use, or zoning lawyers.

William G. Blake, Website Editor

Announcements

Call for Newsletter Articles

We are finalizing content for our next e-newsletter. The newsletter is read not only by your fellow committee members, but also by a nationwide audience of practitioners focused on condemnation, zoning, and land use disputes and litigation. It provides an excellent opportunity for publication.

Please let us know If you have an interest in submitting a paper on condemnation, zoning, or land use issues, or on general litigation skills and practice. Articles written about cases in which you have been involved are often the most interesting, and are the easiest to write, in that you can “repurpose” content you have already created and do not have to create an article from scratch. Articles need not be long, and should always be less than 2,500 words.

Please direct questions and submissions to our newsletter editor:

Joaquin M. Hernandez
Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, P.C.
Seattle, WA
(206) 407-1538

Message from the Chairs

 

Greetings! Welcome to the website for the Section of Litigation’s Condemnation, Zoning & Land Use Committee.

Welcome to all committee members and visitors to our website. We are pleased that you are using this valuable and free resource available to all members of the Section of Litigation. Our website editor Bill Blake ably describes the prime mission of our committee, which is to be the premiere source of information on new developments and techniques in this exciting area of law while also serving as a networking and resource tool for the litigators in our field. We are a mid-size but active committee in the Section, which we view as a benefit in that there are many opportunities for members (and potential members) to become immediately involved at a high level in our committee’s upcoming events and ongoing projects. Indeed, we are always on the lookout for new members wanting to become involved either in existing activities or in creating new ones, and find that committee involvement is rewarding both from a personal and professional standpoint (e.g, benefit other colleagues in the profession, increase name recognition and profile in the field, increase networking opportunities with others in the same field from across the country). Here is a sample of some of the activities in which our members are engaged:

Section Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., April 18–20, 2012
This year’s Section Annual Conference (SAC) will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, just blocks from the White House, Capitol building, and National Mall. This is the Section of Litigation’s premier annual event, and provides a wonderful opportunity for satisfying CLE requirements, networking with colleagues, meeting new friends, and reacquainting with old ones, all in one of the finest venues in town. We are excited to announce that our committee will be cosponsoring a CLE on trying complex cases in a “sound-bite” world, which promises to be both entertaining and informative. We also plan to continue our tradition of an informal committee luncheon with a speaker of interest. These informal lunches have proved quite popular over the past several years and provide a great opportunity to meet and interact with interesting and informative speakers who are experts in the field. Details of the CLE and luncheon plans will be forthcoming both by email and at our website. We strongly encourage you to register today for SAC. See you in D.C.!

The Fifty-State Compendium Is Going to Press!
Our Fifty-State Compendium of condemnation laws is now complete. We are pleased to announce that First Chair Press will publish the compendium as a desk book available for sale, we believe, sometime in 2012. When that occurs, the web-based compendium will no longer be available, but we will link to facilitate the easy purchase of this “must have” resource. In addition, we will post chapter updates and other cases or developments occurring between print editions so that you can have the most up-to-date information for each state. Website postings will be available to all Section members as a free benefit of membership. If you have any questions regarding the publication, please contact Bill Blake, the compendium editor.

Website Contributions
Our committee’s website is a great resource for news and developments as well as in-depth analysis and articles on important issues in our field. We are always looking for new content and for new contributors. Anyone who would like to contribute an article, case note, news, or other information to the website can contact our website editor, Bill Blake.

E-Newsletter
Our next newsletter is nearing publication, and we are already seeking articles for the subsequent edition to which you can contribute. These are generally slightly longer treatments of topics or cases than the case notes posted on our website. We strongly encourage those who have been involved in interesting or noteworthy cases in the past year or two to consider a contribution. We find that one can often create an article simply by “repurposing” briefing or other advocacy created for the case, with minimal editing. Not only does this make it easy for the author, but also our members consistently report that these kind of firsthand accounts generally are the most interesting and informative to read. We encourage anyone who has a topic of interest to contact our newsletter editor, Joaquin Hernandez.

CLE Program Ideas
We regularly sponsor or cosponsor CLE programs on timely topics in the field of eminent domain and land use, and are always looking for new ideas and presenters for regional CLEs, webinars, and programs for the Section Annual Conference (usually in April) and ABA Annual Meeting (usually in August). If you are interested or have any ideas, please feel free to contact our Programs Subcommittee chair, Christian Torgrimson, and she will be happy to discuss them with you.

Leadership Positions
One of the goals in our committee is to encourage active participation, and one of the direct benefits we can offer is a leadership position for active members within our committee. We have several active subcommittees, and are always open to creating a new subcommittee depending on your area of interest and activity. In addition, this year the Section has opened the process of applications for leadership positions to all Section members. So, if you would like to take on an active role in leadership, feel free to apply for a position with the Section. You may also contact Bob Will to indicate your interest in an existing subcommittees, or in creating a new subcommittee.

Robert J. Will

J. Casey Pipes

Cochairs, Condemnation, Zoning & Land Use Litigation Committee

Subcommittees

Find contact information for committee and subcommittee chairs: