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Archive | Cases of First Impression

August 23, 2016

The Right to a Jury

Professor Gideon Kanner, once again, focused the law profession’s attention to the right to a jury in an eminent domain trial.  In an article published on August 19, 2016, in the Daily Journal, a California legal publication, Professor Kanner wrote, “Our eminent right to a jury….”  In his article, Kanner, one of America’s leading eminent domain scholars, states that the notion that there should be trial by the court and not a jury because “no such jury right existed in England and the colonies in 1791” is a myth.  The… read more

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April 14, 2016

Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules Eminent Domain Abandonment Right of First Refusal Does Not Pass With The Estate To Heirs

Under New York State Eminent Domain Procedure Law (“EDPL”) § 406, if the condemnor takes property by eminent domain and then abandons the project for which the property was acquired, and the property has not been materially improved, the condemnor may not dispose of the property for private use within ten years of acquisition “without first offering the former fee owner of record at the time of acquisition a right of first refusal to purchase the property at the amount of the fair market value of such property at the… read more

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Posted in Cases of First Impression, Eminent Domain, Future of the law, Recent cases
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February 19, 2013

Corridor Valuation

Written by M. Robert Goldstein and Michael Rikon. Recently, Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Houghton, P.C. partner Jonathan Houghton won an extraordinary case of first impression on a cross-appeal dealing with the issue of corridor valuation. Corridor valuation, discussed at length below, deals with the proper valuation methodology used by a court when the land which is condemned is part of a railroad corridor. Many early cases involving eminent domain involved railroads exercising their right of condemnation, such as South Buffalo Ry. v Kirkover, 176 N.Y. 301 (1903), which established the… read more

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Posted in Cases of First Impression, Eminent Domain, Future of the law, New York
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