California Eminent Domain Report

In its April 2010 volume, the Yale Law Journal published a Note by Zachary Hudson titled Eminent Domain Due Process.  My first reaction was a bit odd.  Having spent many years as a practicing eminent domain lawyer, I rarely get the opportunity to spend time with pure, academic writing.  Just reading the Note instantly took me back many years to long hours spent in a small dark room at Boalt Hall (before all the improvements), trying to make sure all the hyper-technical "Blue Book" rules were being followed as I slaved away as Associate Editor of the California Law Review.  (It still scares me to think that I actually knew all of those rules off the top of my head back then.)

Having shaken off those frightful memories, I noticed that Mr. Hudson's Note is a wonderful resource on the history of the interaction between eminent domain and due process, with some obvious effort to canvass the laws around the country.   I suspect I will find use for it as a resource in my practice for years to come.

I'd tell you more about it, but I'm still trying to recover from those "Blue Booking" memories.  Besides, eminent domain lawyer Robert Thomas prepared a nice write-up on the piece in his blog (that's how I found it in the first place).   And, if you're interested enough to still be reading by now, just go ahead and read the Note for yourself.