Hawaii Attorney Robert Thomas Appointed to Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Advisory Board
Honolulu, Hawaii (PRWEB) October 21, 2014 -- Honolulu-based property rights and appellate attorney, Robert H. Thomas, has been appointed by the Property Rights Project of William & Mary Law School to serve on the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Advisory Board.
The Property Rights Project has selected a number of property rights scholars and lawyers from across the country to serve on the Advisory Board and assist with planning the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, an annual property law conference hosted by William & Mary Law School. Currently in its eleventh year, the Conference is renowned for its outstanding panel discussions assembling members of the bench, bar, and academia to discuss current topics in takings and property law.
Since 2004, the William & Mary Property Rights Project has recognized the extraordinary contributions of ten individuals to private property rights and their efforts to advance the constitutional protection of property by awarding the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize. Recipients of this prestigious honor include a number of legal scholars as well as retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. On October 30, 2014, the Prize will be presented to Michael M. Berger, a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Los Angeles and the first practicing attorney to receive the award.
The Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference and Prize are named in recognition of property rights advocates Toby Prince Brigham, a Florida attorney, and Gideon Kanner, a California lawyer and Loyola Law School Professor Emeritus, for their lifetime contributions to advance the constitutional protection of property rights.
“I’m honored to have been asked to assist the Project with planning the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference,” said Thomas. “Property rights are the foundation of our civil liberties, and I’m so appreciative for the opportunity to serve on the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Advisory Board,” he said.
Mr. Thomas is a Director with Honolulu-based Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, a law firm serving the Hawaii business community for over 50 years. His litigation and appellate practice includes representing property owners in eminent domain, inverse condemnation and land use matters as well as voting rights and water rights cases. He has tried cases and appeals in Hawaii, California, and the federal courts and has participated as counsel of record for amici parties appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. He is also the Hawaii member of the Owners’ Counsel of America, a national network of leading eminent domain lawyers dedicated to representing private property owners in condemnation and property rights proceedings.
Thomas received his LLM, with honors, from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his JD from the University of Hawaii School of Law where he served as editor of the Law Review. He currently serves as the Chair of the Eminent Domain Law Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section on State & Local Government Law and Co-Chair of the American Law Institute’s annual Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation continuing legal education course. He is also the Managing Attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation Hawaii Center, a non-profit legal foundation dedicated to protecting property rights and individual liberties.
Mr. Thomas frequently presents on land use and eminent domain issues in Hawaii and nationwide and regularly publishes scholarly and practical articles on topics relating to these practice areas. Additionally, he blogs about land use, takings law and property rights at inversecondemnation.com, one of the most widely read law blogs on eminent domain and land use law.
Catherine Newman, Owners' Counsel of America, http://www.ownerscounsel.com, +1 877.367.6963, [email protected]
Share this article