About the Committee

Mission

The Real Estate Litigation and Condemnation Committee is involved with real estate disputes and their resolution, including issues of ownership, purchase and sale, title, casualty, and land use. The Committee is also focused on litigation relating to eminent domain and zoning law. We provide an essential wealth of information, resources, and practice support for our committee members through substantive updates and articles as well as opportunities to network with other professionals around the country. The Committee presents topical and relevant discussions at both the Section and ABA Annual Meetings for litigators involved in real estate disputes. The Committee also produces a periodic newsletter.

Message from the Chairs

Welcome to the 2022–2023 Bar Year

We are excited about launching our committee annual plan and continuing to serve as your Co-Chairs for the 2022–2023 bar year. This bar year we will round out our three-year term serving as your Co-Chairs. The last two years have been amazing working with all of our committee members. You have continued to step up with high quality contributions for our journal and timely and inspired programming. The challenges of the pandemic have continued to provide fertile ground for real estate litigation related content and our committee has continued to provide sought after information for the ABA membership and beyond. We look forward to working with each of you this bar year in providing cutting edge content and relevant initiatives to serve you and all ABA members this year.

Current Committee Leadership Roster

We want to thank everyone who is serving as a Vice Chair or Sub-Committee Chair for this bar year.  Please refer to the Committee Leadership Roster for more information about our leadership and who to contact to become further involved. 

Committee Leadership Opportunities & Openings

lease let us know if you are interested in continuing to serve or, if you are new to the committee or leadership, please let us know if you would like to step up to chair a subcommittee. We are always on the lookout for any committee member who is interested in leadership; so, please reach out to us if you would like a leadership position.

We hope you will consider serving in leadership. Please refer to the Committee Leadership Roster for a list of all of our sub-committees. We are open to ideas on new and exciting sub-committees. Please also send us any referrals you may have to other lawyers interested in leadership or becoming involved with our committee generally.

COVID-19

The ABA, and our committee, welcomes COVID-19 related content. Our committee has produced a number of COVID-19 themed articles, and we are looking for more COVID-19 content, particularly Practice Points. We look forward to hearing your ideas. Please be sure to also visit the Section’s COVID-19 resource page.

Racial and Social Justice

Our committee, along with the Litigation Section, stands with all who seek new paths to fair access to justice and equality at this time. We, as a committee, are looking to increase our diversity leadership, content and programming. To that end, please consider contributing content in the area of racial and social justice, inequality, and diversity and inclusion. Please check out the Section’s Resources on Racial and Social Justice. Additionally, if you are or if you know a diverse lawyer looking for leadership, publishing, or profile-raising opportunities (see below), please reach out to us with leadership initiatives and/or content ideas.

Publishing & Other National Profile-Raising Opportunities

The Journal of Real Estate, Condemnation and Trust Litigation

Please also consider writing an article or a practice point or referring us to lawyers who may be interested in publishing in our national newsletter and online journal. Publishing is a great way for lawyers of all vintages to build or expand their resumes or to showcase their expertise. One of our committee’s key missions is to deliver high-quality content, such as articles or practice points, to the general Litigation Section’s membership. Please check out our recently released edition of The Journal of Real Estate, Condemnation, and Trust Litigation.

Roundtables and Sound Advice Programming

Our committee is also responsible for delivering Roundtables and Sound Advice programs for Section members. Roundtables are free, national telephone seminars that are typically one hour in length and can touch on a wide variety of substantive and practice topics, often featuring a panel of subject matter experts. Sound Advice programs are short, pre-recorded podcasts that focus on several different areas—from substantive legal issues to practice pointers to diversity discussions, for example. The podcasts are then featured nationally on our website and in our newsletter.

Webinars

The Section is always looking for substantive and practice-focused national CLE webinar content as well. Check out past webinars our committee has hosted.

Books

Our Condemnation team has been working on a book project, a 50-state survey of condemnation laws. Richard Rodriguez has been spearheading this project. The book is close to being completed, except for several remaining chapters/states. Please reach out if you are interested in helping complete this project and adding a book chapter to your publishing portfolio. Please also send in any other book ideas that you may have.

SAC Programming

Join us at the ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference (SAC), May 4–6, 2022, in Miami Beach, FL, for our live CLE program, “Ethical Issues in Pro Bono Representation and Pro Bono in a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World: Ensuring Success and Stability for Residents and Businesses of Underinvested Diverse Communities.”

Committee Networking Opportunities

Our committee has traditionally rallied at ABA conferences, such as the Litigation Section Annual Conference or the broader ABA Annual Conference, with committee outings to sporting events and committee dinners. We look forward to getting back to in-person events this bar year.

Monthly Zoom Meetings

The Committee meets monthly via Zoom on the second Monday of each month at 3:00 p.m. Central. Please contact us for the Zoom link if you would like to join us to learn more about our initiatives and activities for this year.

LitigationConnect

Join us on LitigationConnect for further announcements and networking opportunities.

Karen L. Hart
Nicholas "Nick" Shapiro 

Co-Chairs, Real Estate Litigation, Condemnation & Trust Litigation Committee