Serving the Eastern District of Louisiana
Land Litigation
When a government agency requires land or an interest in land (such as an easement) to carry out a project, the property may have to be acquired by an action known as a "condemnation proceeeding." Such proceedings are filed by this Office only after attempts to amicably purchase the interest from the owner have been unsuccessful.
In recent years, expropriation (another name for condemnation) cases have involved various of the wetlands in Southeastern Louisiana. Examples of such projects include the Canaervon and Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Projects constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers to restore wetlands damaged by saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico; and numerous condemnations on behalf of the National Park Service for its Jean Lafitte National Historical Park depicted below.
Other types of litigation involving property include land use, inverse condemnation and quiet title cases. Land use cases typically involve an enforcement action brought on behalf of an agency such as the Environmental Protection Agency, to enjoin an owner from using their property in a manner which inconsistent with federal regulations. Inverse condemnation lawsuits, as the name implies, concern allegations of unauthorized takings by the United States and puts the government in the position of being a defendant. Such suits are based on the U.S. Constitution which forbids the goverment from taking without paying just compensation. Suits brought to quiet title arise when a citizen wishes to obtain clear title to property in which the United States claims an interest.