A developer whose $12.4 million eminent domain verdict against the town of Branford was overturned earlier this year by the state Supreme Court is readying an appeal to the nation’s high court, authorities say.
New England Estates LLC announced Tuesday the hiring of prominent Los Angeles eminent domain attorney Michael Berger to bolster its legal team led by the Hartford office of Shipman & Goodwin.
Shipman & Goodwin Partner Timothy Hollister, who has spearheaded New England Estates’ seven-year legal battle, said the case will debate the right of state courts to usurp established property rights under state law.
The Connecticut Supreme Court in February agreed the town was “dishonest” in seizing land by eminent domain in 2003 that New England Estates was eyeing for an affordable-housing development.
However, the state high court, in reversing a lower court decision, ruled the developer wasn’t entitled to damages because it did not actually own the land, holding only an option to purchase it.
Hollister said Berger is the nation’s best known property-rights lawyer, one who has argued several similar cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and filed papers in hundreds more cases.
Hollister said the plaintiffs plan to cite a recent June 17 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court about the taking of beachfront land in Florida.
The case, Hollister said in a statement, revealed a sharp debate among the justices about whether a state court can reverse established property rights.
New England Estates has until Sept. 24 to formally petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal.
