Blog
Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh: Deference Is Not Abdication
On July 9, 2018, President Trump nominated D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. His twelve-year record on the D.C. Circuit gives us some insight into what we can expect if he is confirmed. His analysis and review of...
Key Property Rights Case to be Heard by Supreme Court in the Upcoming Term
If Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed by the Senate, he will hear arguments on October 3, 2018, in a key property rights case now pending before the Court, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Knick v. Township of Scott, No. 17-647, which involves the...
Is It Wine or Poison?
Gadsden Industrial Park, LLC, brought a taking claim, in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, alleging that EPA took 92,500 cubic yards of kish, slag, and assorted scrap, which are byproducts of the steel-making process. Gadsden alleged that the property was worth up to...
A Class Act
In 2012, a group of landowners, later certified as a class, filed a taking case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, seeking just compensation for the Government’s “railbanking” of their land “for possible future reactivation as a railroad under the National Trails...
Overworked and Underpaid
In 2012, Stephanie Mercier and Audricia Brooks sued in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on behalf of all advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their complaint alleged that the VA’s national...
A Lawsuit Within a Lawsuit
Under the Uniform Relocation Act, a prevailing plaintiff in a taking case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and cost. But all too often, trying to recover those rightfully incurred attorneys’ fees and costs results in more...
Form Over Substance
Sara Makowiec began her Master’s degree at Rennselear Polytechnic Institute on January 23, 2012. The next day, she signed an agreement with Benet Laboratories, part of the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. The agreement was entered into...
Temporary or Not, It’s a Taking
Five landowners owning 14 parcels of land brought a takings case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging that the United States had caused a temporary taking of their property when the Surface Transportation Board, acting under the National Trails System Act,...
No Strike Zone
Hanover Insurance Company and Lodge Construction, Inc. brought contract claims under the Contract Disputes Act in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In response, the Government originally filed answers raising no affirmative defenses or counterclaims. Later the...
No Second Chances
On March 19, 2018, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims gave the attorneys for prevailing plaintiffs in a rails-to-trails Fifth Amendment takings case a severe haircut on their attorneys’ fee petition. (See earlier blog entitled Judicial Hair Cut). At issue before the...