News

On September 25, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted Lewis Rice’s motion for class certification of a putative class of almost 300 southern Indiana landowners. These landowners had their property taken by the federal government for the Monon South Trail, a recreational hiking and biking trail that crosses over the landowners’ property.

The City of New Albany, Indiana, and the Indiana Trails Fund started the process of turning the 62.3-mile railroad segment that runs between New Albany and Bedford, Indiana, through Floyd, Clark, Washington, Lawrence and Orange counties into a hiking and biking path in 2018. Landowners’ property underlying the railroad easement was seized pursuant to the National Trails System Act, which authorizes abandoned railroad lines to be converted to public parks.

Originally, these landowners had until February 2024 to file a claim for compensation for the taking of their property. Before the statute of limitations ran out, Lindsay Brinton and Meghan Largent, attorneys from Lewis Rice’s Federal Takings & Rails to Trails Practice Group, filed this motion for class certification. The grant of class certification allows these landowners to be paid.

“This is a landmark decision, as a class certification for a rails to trails case has not been certified by a district court in more than 20 years,” Brinton said. “We are pleased to be able to give hundreds more landowners the opportunity to obtain the just compensation that the federal government owes them.”

Since 2018, Lewis Rice has represented many other southern Indiana landowners in a series of cases, including Kay v. United States, Cessna v. United States, Popp v. United States and Lawrence County v. United States. All have been settled.

Lewis Rice's federal takings attorneys represent landowners throughout the United States pursuing takings claims against the federal government. One primary focus of the group is representing landowners in what is commonly referred to as rails to trails takings. Attorneys in this group litigate cases in the United States Court of Federal Claims on behalf of those whose property was taken by the federal government pursuant to the National Trails System Act, which authorizes abandoned railroad lines to be converted to public parks. The goal is to obtain compensation from the government for the taking of their land for the public recreational trail. The attorneys in the Federal Takings Practice Group focus on both proving the taking has occurred as well as establishing the value of the property that was taken. Their national work for landowners includes representing landowners coast-to-coast, including 11 states.