Nossaman’s Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation Group Profiled by the Daily Journal
Nossaman’s Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation Group was profiled in the Daily Journal article “Building the Future: Nossaman’s Eminent Domain team shapes infrastructure across California.“ The article—which noted Nossaman’s group is the “largest of its kind in the nation” with more than 25 members—profiled the Group’s work in California and highlighted its recent expansion into Arizona, Texas and Washington state.
The article kicks off by discussing how Bernadette Duran-Brown’s practice “focuses on eminent domain” and how she “often represents public entities.” She finds it “especially fulfilling to represent San Diego and San Bernardino on trolley and light rail infrastructure projects aimed at reducing traffic,” since when she first moved to Los Angeles to attend the USC School of Law, she found the city’s traffic puzzling. She said [when she was growing up in New Mexico], “If it took you 45 minutes to get somewhere, you’re going 40 to 45 miles away…but in Los Angeles, I lived nine miles away from the USC campus and it took me 45 minutes to get there. I couldn’t fathom what was happening.” As a result of this, helping mass transit projects move forward in the region has become the focus of her work. “To get people from point A to point B not in a car is really exciting,” she said. “I love those projects.”
Further examining the Group’s work, the Daily Journal highlighted that Nossaman is assisting the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority on several infrastructure projects gearing up for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Brad Kuhn, who chairs the Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation Group, said Group members have “been working on the LAX airport expansion and the people mover project. That ties in not only with the airport but transportation around the area benefiting the Olympics...other Olympics-related projects we are involved in include the Westside Subway Extension and the Regional Connector Transit project in downtown Los Angeles as well as the Metro Gold Line Extension east out toward Montclair, Monrovia and Claremont.”
The article goes on to say Brad also is leading the Nossaman team representing the California Water Service Company in several inverse condemnation cases involving homes impacted by the landslides in Palos Verdes and representing public entities in the LOSSAN Rail Realignment, involving collapses along the coastal bluffs in Del Mar. “Many of the projects we are working on now feature difficult questions about how communities deal with the increasing impacts of climate change—the LOSSAN Rail Realignment is a particularly good example involving rising sea levels.” He continued by saying, “You have these competing interests of trying to preserve people’s homes but also trying to preserve the beaches and recreation and access. It’s a really challenging issue, and it’s one that’s probably going to be litigated a bunch in the future, trying to decide what can and can’t be done.”
Brad added he expects Nossaman’s Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation Group to continue to grow, both in California and nationally, in part because infrastructure work happens during weak or strong economies. “When things are going well and there’s money to be spent, there are new projects being built,” he explained. “And even when we’re in a recession, the government likes to try to tee up projects because it stimulates growth, it stimulates jobs for the economy. Infrastructure traditionally is a bipartisan issue, … and people can agree that we need to improve our roads, we need to improve our water, we need to improve our electricity. So, it’s something that seems to continue to be thriving year after year.”
Similarly to Bernadette, Brad said he finds working in the practice particularly satisfying. “Whether it’s delivering clean water, delivering renewable energy or making sure people can take advantage of transit opportunities — it’s improving the quality of life,” he explained. “And to me, it’s valuable and rewarding to be part of a team and contributing to that.”
