Eminent Domain Report

For all you Southern California right-of-way folks, the next few weeks have quite a bit in store.  Here's what's going on in the local International Right of Way Association (IRWA) Chapters:

• IRWA Chapter 57 Meeting (2/6/13):  This Wednesday, February 6, IRWA Chapter 57 (Inland Empire) will be hosting its monthly luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Riverside.  The guest speaker is Mike Mason, MAI, from Overland, Pacific & Cutler.  Mike is a well-known eminent domain appraiser in Southern California, and his presentation is titled, "How Appraisers Lie Without Really Trying."  Sounds intriguing.  I'll be sure to take notes on all of Mike's admissions (so I can be sure to save them for a future cross-examination, of course). 
• IRWA Chapter 67 Meeting (2/12/13):  Next Tuesday, February 12, IRWA Chapter 67 (Orange County) will be hosting its half-day Winter program, Right of Way Engineering and Title Seminar.  I'm told there was so much interest that the morning seminar portion is already sold out, but regular members can still catch the lunch meeting which will incorporate the seminar topic.  The great line-up of speakers includes Jeremy Evans from Psomas, James Staudinger from HDR, Chris Maziar from Lawyers Title, and Dave Woolley from Woolley and Associates.
• IRWA Chapter 11 Meeting (2/20/13):  Finally, last but not least, the following Wednesday, February 20, IRWA Chapter 11 (San Diego) will be hosting its monthly luncheon at its usual spot, the Handlery Hotel.  I will be speaking with Ricardo Goni from Desmond, Marcello and Amster, and we're going to cover a case study on loss of business goodwill based on a recent eminent domain court decision, Caltrans v. Dry Canyon Enterprises.  Ricardo and I will provide the general framework on how to measure goodwill in a condemnation action, both in the "before" condition and "after" condition, followed by a summary of the Dry Canyon case and what it means for eminent domain attorneys, appraisers, business owners and public agencies.

Hope to see you all at some (or all) of these events!