Real Estate Development After Kelo:
When is a Public Interest a “Public Use,” Justifying the Exercise of Eminent Domain?

When: Wednesday, June 8, 2005, at 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street.

Panelists presenting a variety of viewpoints will discuss the ramifications of Kelo v. City of New London, a case presently pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the city's exercise of eminent domain has been challenged by working-class homeowners seeking to block the city’s plan to replace their homes with a commercial development. In this controversial area, state courts have disagreed about whether the acquisition of private property by eminent domain for transfer to developers (who promise to make “better” economic use of the property) constitutes a valid “public use” required for condemnation. Included among the panelists will be representatives of both the homeowners and the city in Kelo.

Moderator:
CLAYTON P. GILLETTE, Vice Dean/Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

Speakers:
WESLEY W. HORTON, Horton, Shields & Knox, P.C., Hartford, CT; (Argued respondent municipality's case in the Supreme Court)

SCOTT W. SAWYER, Sawyer Law Firm, LLC, New London, CT; (Local counsel for petitioner homeowners)

THOMAS W. MERRILL, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

D. KENNETH PATTON, Director, New York University Real Estate Institute

DANIEL GOLDSTEIN, Spokesperson, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.

About the Association
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (www.nycbar.org) was founded in 1870, and since then has been dedicated to maintaining the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting reform of the law, and providing service to the profession and the public.