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David has specialized in representing public agencies throughout California in eminent domain and inverse condemnation matters since 1991. Working with Mike Nave (who retired in June 2004), David has acquired properties for a wide array of public uses, including freeway and interchange projects, road widening projects, light rail projects, redevelopment projects, flood control projects, park project, sewer trunk line projects, wastewater treatment plants, and many other infrastructure projects. He has acquired hundreds of properties (both "full takes" and "part takes") in fee and for temporary and permanent easements. He has extensive experience in handling all issues pertaining to valuation (including highest and best use, severance damages and loss of business goodwill), negotiation, acquisition and relocation associated with agricultural, industrial, residential, commercial and mixed-use properties.David is among the leading eminent domain trial attorneys in California. He has tried numerous jury trials and bench trials in Northern and Southern California. (See attached Recent Trial Successes by Meyers Nave Eminent Domain team.) David has had three eminent domain jury trials resulting in jury verdicts that were identical to the figure testified to by his client's appraiser. He has tried numerous cases where the jury verdict was far closer to his appraiser's value as compared to the appraised value of the landowner's appraiser. He recently completed the property acquisitions for a large freeway project in San Diego. Five cases went to jury trial for that project. The combined jury verdicts were $31,300,000 less than the landowners' appraised values and just $11,700,000 over the City's appraised values.David has also tried several bench trials. Landowners in condemnation proceedings have a right to challenge a public entity's ability to exercise its eminent domain authority (by raising a "right to take" objection). Landowners may also raise a "Klopping" claim, alleging that the public entity engaged in unreasonable pre-condemnation conduct or delay which damaged the subject property. David has successfully defended public entities against such claims in court trials.David has handled cases which have established important precedents in the body of eminent domain case law in California. (See Eminent Domain/Inverse Condemnation Published Decisions attached hereto.) For example, Mayer v. City of South San Francisco (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1350 confirms a public entity's ability to exercise its eminent domain authority to acquire property in which it already has a leasehold interest. Moreover, in Regents of the University of California v. Sheily (2004) 19 Cal.Rptr. 3d 84, David represented UCLA in the acquisition of a medical office building for the UCLA/Santa Monica Hospital. The Sheily case is the first published decision in California interpreting CCP SS1263.510(a)(2)'s requirement that, in order to be entitled to loss of business goodwill, a business owner must prove that he/she acted "reasonably" in attempting to relocate his/her business.David is a frequent lecturer for CLE International on eminent domain issues. He received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1984 (History and Political Science), and a JD from Hastings College of the Law in 1989. | 