Fifth Amendment Takings & Eminent Domain
ArentFox Schiff is currently representing more than one thousand landowners across the country who are pursuing Fifth Amendment takings claims against the federal government.
Our attorneys have litigated a number of cases in the US Court of Federal Claims involving land valuation arising from Fifth Amendment takings claims arising out of the federal government’s conversion of property under the National Trails System Act, with an impressive record of success at trial. Our work for landowners includes residents of Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Oregon, South Carolina, New York, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee
In securing judgments for its clients after trial and pre-trial settlements, ArentFox Schiff has secured multi-million dollar awards for these landowners.
Our Attorneys
ArentFox Schiff also has significant experience representing landowners in the Supreme Court of the United States, including filing an amicus brief on behalf of the Cato Institute, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Land Title Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the Public Lands Council in Brandt v. United States, a case in which the Supreme Court recently ruled in the landowners’ favor. ArentFox Schiff also filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation in PPL Montana, Inc. v. State of Montana, another case in which the Supreme Court ruled in the landowners’ favor.
The firm also recently scored a significant victory in a case tried in Tampa, Florida before the US Tax Court. The Court ruled in favor of ArentFox Schiff’s client in a challenge by the Internal Revenue Service to the valuation of a conservation easement involving a significant parcel of land in Sarasota, Florida. ArentFox Schiff has also prevailed in several appeals to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In one, ArentFox Schiff secured a victory for Arizona landowners in a closely-watched Fifth Amendment takings case against the federal government. In that matter, the appeals court reversed a lower court decision and ordered the federal government to pay Arizona ranchers for property taken from them.
