The Largest Recovery in a Rails-to-Trails Inverse Condemnation Case in U.S. History

Attorneys Jim Helinger, Jr. and Tobyn DeYoung have tried dozens of high value, complex, and/or legally significant eminent domain and inverse condemnation cases throughout their careers.  Most recently were awarded over $20,000,000.00 federal valuation trial in an inverse condemnation case against the United States government, which was represented by no fewer than six Department of Justice lawyers out of Washington, D.C..  

The valuation trial was held in January and February 2024, four years after the Court’s adjudication of the United States government’s liability for a permanent taking of private property.    The case was exceedingly complex, involving four different properties, each with unique factual and legal issues, that were consolidated into a single valuation trial.     At the conclusion of the February 2024 trial, the Federal Court made the following pronouncements:

“I do want to thank all counsel for their pretrial preparation and their trial presentations in this case.  It is absolutely clear to this Court that each attorney in the case spent an exhaustive amount of time examining the universe of documents relevant to this case and the material in this matter.”
“And while the parties may disagree on a host of legal issues and factual issues, which made this trial necessary, counsel were never disagreeable, and, in fact, exhibited the highest ideals of ethics, integrity, and professionalism throughout this trial and all pretrial proceedings.”

With the $20,000,000.00 trial award, Helinger DeYoung set two recovery records:

• Largest trial award in U.S. history in a federal Rails to Trials inverse condemnation case
• Largest trial award to a single landowner in U.S. history in a federal Rails to Trials inverse condemnation case (one of the landowners in the four parcel trial was awarded $12,900,000.00).