Vinson & Elkins Files Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioners in Willets Point Condemnation Lawsuit in the New York Appellate Division, Second Dept

January 26, 2012 — Vinson & Elkins has filed an Amicus brief in support of the petitioners in Serrone v. City of New York, a lawsuit challenging the City of New York’s planned redevelopment of the Willets Point area in Queens, New York.

The petitioners in Serrone, a group of Willets Point businesses and landowners, challenged the City’s redevelopment on a number of grounds, including compliance with New York environmental laws and the city’s planned use of eminent domain to take private property. The case implicates important questions about the protection of private property rights under the United States and New York constitutions, including whether there is a judicially-enforceable limit on the government’s exercise of eminent domain in cases where the government alleges that a property is “blighted” or of sub-standard condition.

Vinson & Elkins partner David Hawkins and associate Jeremy Marwell, together with co-counsel John S. Marwell of Shamberg Marwell & Hollis PC, filed the brief on behalf of the Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc., a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information and education about the right to own and use private property. The brief argued that the proposed taking is unconstitutional and that courts must retain an important role in articulating and policing constitutional boundaries on the government’s use of eminent domain.

Vinson & Elkins’ Condemnation and Land Use litigation group is dedicated to condemnation and land use trial and appellate work. V&E’s condemnation lawyers have significant experience litigating against federal, state, county, and local governments as well as private corporations that have been legislatively delegated the power of eminent domain. Our representation includes properties of all sizes, shapes, and uses including residential, commercial, industrial, ranch, and special purpose properties (schools and churches), as well as vacant land.

Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with approximately 760 lawyers across 15 offices worldwide. For more information, please contact Susan Peters at 1.212.237.0149.

Perkins steps up against eminent domain abuse

From the Columbia Spectator:

As opponents to Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion seek to get their case heard before the nation’s highest court, one prominent Harlem politician has officially stepped into the fray.

State Senator Bill Perkins urged the United States Supreme Court to accept the case by filing an amicus brief with the court on Oct. 25—a document, literally meaning “friend of the court,” written by a party not directly related to the litigation, but who has an interest in the case under consideration.

Perkins, a Harlem representative opposed to the use of eminent domain for Columbia’s campus, has long been an advocate of reforming New York state laws concerning eminent domain—the process by which the state can seize private property for “public use” in exchange for market-rate compensation. New York State Eminent Domain Procedure Law lacks transparency, accountability, and a set of explicitly defined terms, according to Perkins. As one of the few, if only, local politicians vocally against the University’s use of eminent domain for its construction, he has argued that the current state laws are rigged in favor of condemnors, who use the system’s ill-defined language and numerous loopholes to unlawfully seize private property.

“We’ve been concerned with questions of eminent domain and its abuse, and this is a case we think is significant in that regard, especially in terms of what is meant by ‘public use,’” said Perkins, who has held a series of eminent domain hearings across the state of New York in an effort to garner support for reform of the laws, but has been unable to get a bill passed in the state legislature. “When the door to the legislative process is hard to get through, there’s always the judicial process.”

Taking our fight to the courts

Willets Point United has been busy filing court documents and making appearances.

Our attorney, Mike Rikon, filed an Amicus Brief in the Goldstein v. Pataki case which is being heard October 15th in front of the NY State Court of Appeals. The Empire State Development Corporation tried to block the brief, but it was admitted by the court (see below).



Also on August 21st, WPU's attorney, Michael Gerrard, challenged the city's environmental impact statement in front of NYS Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden and we are awaiting her decision. Here is our brief in that case.