On February 5, 2013, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell (JMBM) filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court (Case # BS141623) against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of Tower Lane Properties LLP whose beneficial owner is Saudi prince Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdul-Aziz al Saud, the current Deputy Foreign Minister…
By Matthew Hinks Evidence of just compensation to be awarded in an eminent domain action is all but invariably put on through expert opinion. In a bit of good news for property owners facing eminent domain proceedings, the California Court of Appeal has issued a new opinion offering a relaxed…
By Matthew Hinks For those of us involved or merely interested in the seemingly endless spate of sign-related litigation, the Court of Appeal’s opinion in Summit Media LLC v. City of Los Angeles has been long anticipated. The Summit case was unlike many of the sign cases winding their way…
By Matthew Hinks In a question of first impression, the California Court of Appeal has held in, People ex rel. Department of Transportation v. Dry Canyon Enters., LLC, that “a business owner is entitled to a jury trial on the amount of goodwill lost by a taking only if he…
By Matthew Hinks The billboard wars rage on. In the latest battle, the court in West Washington Properties, LLC v. California Department of Transportation narrowly interpreted a provision of the Outdoor Advertising Act (“OAA”), which provides a rebuttable presumption of legality to advertising displays erected for more than five years…
By Matthew Hinks A new opinion from the Ninth Circuit out of the State of Washington — Laurel Park Community, LLC v. City of Tumwater — offers an interesting application of the Supreme Court’s regulatory taking jurisprudence. Background Citing increasing closures of manufactured home parks, the City of Tumwater in…
By Matthew Hinks The Ninth Circuit has issued a new “chapter in ‘the story of billboards.'” Billboard companies and advertisers should take note of the court’s opinion. Although the opinion refused to extend full First Amendment protection to billboards and advertising related to underlying expressive works, the court — recognizing…
By Matthew Hinks In an opinion containing echoes of the United States Supreme Court’s controversial and much maligned decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), the California Court of Appeal has limited the reach of California Code of Civil Procedure § 1240.350(a). That section provides…
By Matthew Hinks The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The Constitution does not prohibit the taking of private property by the government — so long as the taking is done…
News Release LOS ANGELES — On August 23, 2012, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the residential project proposed in the Benedict Canyon area by Saudi prince Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdul-Aziz al Saud, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, had been illegally subjected by the City of Los…