Practice Areas & Industries: Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Eminent domain and condemnation cases require a special skill set. With extensive experience in this area, Fulbright & Jaworski's Eminent Domain/Condemnation Practice Group has:

• Represented both condemning authorities and landowners in a wide variety of projects.
• Advised condemnors in projects for common carrier pipelines, roads, and fiber optic cables.
• Represented railroads, municipalities, and municipal utility districts.
• Offered legal services relative to land use and land valuation issues.

Services Available

The firm has experience in all aspects of eminent domain litigation. This includes serving as an advocate for clients in special commissioners' hearings and in jury trials, as well as representing clients in appeals to the Texas Courts of Appeal and to the Texas Supreme Court.

Advising clients about eminent domain is an important part of our practice. The firm regularly gives advice to condemnors concerning whether they possess the power to condemn, whether they have the power to acquire certain rights, and what procedures they must follow to properly exercise the power to condemn.

Fulbright also has extensive expertience in monitoring and guiding large condemnation projects, many involving the acquisition of hundreds of easements. Such representation includes coordinating title, surveying and appraisal work to comply with condemnation requirements, and then guiding the client through the administrative acquisition process. Such representation is enhanced by the firm's computer and data management capabilities.

Fulbright also regularly represents and gives advice to landowners whose property is being acquired by various governmental entities. Such representation includes evaluating the proposed condemnation, determining the impact of the condemnation on the landowner's property, advising the landowner concerning what is recoverable, and determining the property strategy for the best representation of the landowner. The firm has achieved very good settlements for landowners with governmental entities and has also obtained very good results for landowners in contested hearings.