Marzulla Law Blog
Taking Discovery Disputes to Court
On March 31, 1992, Mingo Logan and United Affiliates entered into a lease, which allowed Mingo Logan to operate a coal mine (known as Spruce No. 1) in West Virginia. In 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Section 404 wetland permit to Mingo Logan. Under...
Coronavirus Puts Kibosh in Spring Interns
Last week we sadly said goodbye to our Washington Center interns—Marie Brazeau and Alina Anderson —and our legal intern from George Washington University—Sadie Tetreault. All three interns were sent home due to the closure of their educational programs, in an effort...
Just Lemons—No Lemonade
Lemon Bay, LLC, acquired 5.64 acres of land on Sandpiper Key in Charlotte County, Florida. The parcel consisted of submerged areas, high-quality-forested-mangrove wetlands, and small upland regions. Lemon Bay intended to construct a 12-unit, single-family townhome...
Critical Habitat Designation for Endangered Jaguar is Reversed
The Tenth Circuit has reversed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s designation of 100,000 acres of critical habitat for the endangered jaguar in Arizona and New Mexico, ruling that the evidence failed to support the agency’s decision that either the jaguar occupied...
You Can Take That to the Bank
In the National Trails System Act, Congress authorized railway companies and state and local governments to enter into agreements to transform unused (“banked”) railway lines into recreational trails. Congress vested exclusive authority to approve these...
Security, but at what price?
In 2002, SecurityPoint Holdings, Inc. offered to allow the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to use its patented system of trays and carts for security screenings in exchange for the right to sell advertising on the trays. TSA understood that there would be...
Government Profits Sweep Challenge Off to Federal Circuit
Fairholme Funds, Inc. v. United States is the lead case of more than a dozen suits filed by shareholders of Freddie and Fannie stock alleging Fifth Amendment taking without just compensation and illegal exaction of an estimated $124 billion over the amounts originally...
Fields of Dreams
Patricia Fields was employed as an athletic trainer from June 7, 2010, to February 4, 2011, at the Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Base Camp in Lejeune, North Carolina. As a result of her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder during her employment at...
Infographic: How to Protect Your Property Rights in a Federal Taking
It happens: The Federal Government takes private property but fails to pay just compensation. Although government has the right of eminent domain, just compensation must be paid to property owners. So what do you do when the Government takes private property but fails...
Taking on Chrysler Franchised Dealership Terminations
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the new Fiat-Chrysler, was experiencing “brisk sales of high-margin Ram trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles. . . .” Eric Sylvers, Fiat Chrysler Rides Its Ram, Jeep Brands, Wall St. J., Feb. 7, 2020, at B3....